Chicago Bears 2019-2020 QB - Justin Fields (2x B1G OPOY, 2x B1G QBOY, '19 Heisman Finalist, 2x B1G Champion)

He exceeded expectations. That is hard to do at Ohio State.

A full year in the program and a full spring..............watch out college football.

 

Ryan Day has coached quarterbacks for seven years, but Justin Fields will become his first multi-year starter next season. https://t.co/JYmapxJhRX

— Eleven Warriors (@11W) January 5, 2020

 

2. JUSTIN FIELDS, OHIO STATE
While the Buckeyes came up just short of a College Football Playoff title game appearance in 2019, they should be optimistic for 2020 considering they’ll return the second-best quarterback by PFF passing grade in Justin Fields. The greatest strength of the second-year quarterback is his pocket passing. In addition to owning the highest pocket-passing grade, he threw the third-lowest rate of uncatchable passes when passing beyond the sticks. Fields’ patience in the pocket shines, and pressure doesn't throw him off his game like most other quarterbacks due to his elite athleticism. Under duress, Fields’ passing grade is still near the top at seventh, and he has averaged over 7.4 yards per scramble.

Fields has been near perfect when he throws a quick pass in 2.0 seconds or less, ranking first in grade and throwing the lowest rate of uncatchable passes (3.7%). He’s second for now, but he is by no means locked into that spot. Nine of his 14 games have ended with a passing grade above 80.0. At the level he’s playing at, he’ll enter the season as one of the highly coveted prospects in the 2021 draft class and could end the year as the most coveted.

 

JUSTIN FIELDS - QUARTERBACK

This one is a no-brainer considering Fields backed up Georgia quarterback Jake Fromm during the 2018 season before transferring to Ohio State.

In Athens as a true freshman, Fields threw for 328 yards and four touchdowns, with another 266 yards and four scores on the ground, before arriving in Columbus.

Fans expected a lot from Fields in year one at Ohio State and by any measure, he exceeded expectations in spades.

In his first year as a collegiate starting quarterback, Fields threw for the third-most passing yards in a single-season in school history (3,273), tossed the second-most touchdowns (41) and recorded the second-best completion rate connecting on 67.2% of his throws.

Fields added another 10 scores via the ground giving him 51 total touchdowns, good for the second-most in a single-season in Ohio State's illustrious history. The 6-foot-3 signal-caller threw just three interceptions in 354 attempts.

Against Ohio State's five toughest opponents, Fields tallied 13 total touchdowns with eight of those coming in the last three games versus Michigan, Wisconsin and Clemson despite playing almost 10 of those 12 quarters with a sprained MCL.

Fields finished third in the 2019 Heisman Trophy voting behind Joe Burrow and Jalen Hurts.

 

Ryan Day was vague, citing privacy concerns, when asked if Justin Fields required a surgical procedure on his knee. I’ve learned that Fields did not need surgery.

— Bill Rabinowitz 🗞 (@brdispatch) January 15, 2020

 

Ohio State football coach Ryan Day sees 'huge ceiling' for QB Justin Fields https://t.co/M5Fdgm5u3O

— BuckeyeXtra.com (@BuckeyeXtra) January 19, 2020

 

Justin Fields Was Hampered By Knee Injury Down Stretch of 2019 Season, But Ryan Day Doesn't Expect “Any Issues Moving Forward” https://t.co/hT1nrvpFVh via @11W

— OSUBasketballJunkie (@ScarletBuckeye2) January 18, 2020

 

8. JUSTIN FIELDS IN 2019
Admittedly, this might even be a little bit low for what Justin Fields accomplished in his first season as a starter. But because of the talent surrounding him on both sides of the ball, he wasn’t forced to dominate games quite as frequently as others in the 2010s.

Either way, Fields was as efficient as anybody could imagine in 2019. He completed 67.2 percent of his passes for 3,273 yards with 41 touchdowns compared to only three interceptions. He only threw a single pick in the first 13 games of the season combined.

At the forefront of a team that ran the table in the regular season, decimated Michigan, won the Big Ten championship and appeared in the College Football Playoff, Fields exceeded already high expectations in 2019 to become one of Ohio State’s two Heisman Trophy finalists.

Fields, an early 2020 Heisman frontrunner, could make a run at a spot on next decade’s list in the fall.

 

'Zero' Restrictions On Justin Fields Following Knee Injury https://t.co/q3A9zu4wyw via @TomOrr4

— Tony Gerdeman (@TonyGerdeman) January 23, 2020

 

Justin Fields was a MACHINE this year 💪🔥😤#GoBucks @justnfields https://t.co/cpv1UG3O5R

— Ohio State Buckeyes on SR (@SRBuckeyes) January 31, 2020

 

Here's a sample of what Day had to say.

ON JUSTIN FIELDS' SECOND SEASON

• "The first time you do it, it's just surviving."
• "The exciting thing for me, is this is the first time I've had a quarterback that's returned as a starter."
• "It's exciting because now we can kind of take the next step."
• "Having a whole season under our belt is exciting."
• "We have so much to go upon ... We're going to throw a lot of stuff at him and see what he can handle."
• "I thought he played some great football down the stretch, but there's so much more there."

 

Justin Fields allows Ohio State offense to continue to evolve https://t.co/4igDsRmcYh

— Lettermen Row (@LettermenRow) February 14, 2020

 

The adjustments may have been subtle, but Justin Fields found a new gear when his team needed him most last fall. https://t.co/JqFzcVie1e pic.twitter.com/lnv2mijYIT

— Eleven Warriors (@11W) February 20, 2020

 

The Chase Continues.. pic.twitter.com/MmM0B42NNK

— Justin Fields (@justnfields) February 25, 2020

 

QB Justin Fields
Fields has been in competition with Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence since they were both high school superstars in Georgia. Fields beat Lawrence in the Elite 11 quarterback camp. Then they had to compete last season in the Fiesta Bowl, with a trip to the national title game on the line. Lawrence won that. Fields is going to be a first round pick in the NFL Draft a year from now. The only two questions are whether he’ll have another shot at Lawrence in college with another title on the line or if he’ll just have to beat Lawrence in the draft process and become the No. 1 pick. Fields will be in the conversation for that top spot, especially with another strong season.

Five Buckeyes who could be first-round picks next spring https://t.co/7PmWBxmcwE

— Lettermen Row (@LettermenRow) April 24, 2020

 

It took 354 pass attempts for Justin Fields to put together one of the best seasons ever for an Ohio State quarterback. I went back and watched them all. Spoiler, he’s very good.

Here’s what else I learned: https://t.co/XBC6jLLljW

— Bill Landis (@BillLandis25) April 16, 2020

 

Poetry in Motion.. ✍🏽

🎥: @Str8LikeThat89 pic.twitter.com/MuLhedLZee

— Justin Fields (@justnfields) April 23, 2020

 

Justin Fields and Ryan Day in all likelihood have one more year together at Ohio State as they try to win a national championship before Fields becomes a first-round draft pick. https://t.co/dl82jYyh3g

— Eleven Warriors (@11W) April 27, 2020