Getty Georgia QB Jake Fromm and the Bulldogs take on Baylor in the Sugar Bowl.
Jake Fromm’s NFL draft stock got a bit more complicated after Justin Herbert announced he is returning to Oregon next season. Fromm is a sophomore and will not be eligible to enter the NFL until 2020 at the earliest. Fromm could be joined by other top quarterbacks like Herbert and Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa.
Bleacher Report’s Matt Miller has been outspoken about NFL teams being high on the Georgia quarterback.
“Jake Fromm would be my QB1 if he were draft eligible,” Miller tweeted in September.
The 2020 class looks to be very deep at quarterback compared to the upcoming class that appears to be a bit thin. USA Today suggested that Herbert’s announcement hurts Fromm’s draft stock.
About four months ago, Fromm looked like a future No. 1 overall pick. Now the Georgia sophomore might be the third-best quarterback prospect in the 2020 draft. If Tagovailoa continues to rise and Herbert does show major improvement as a senior, Fromm may want to consider following Herbert’s lead and stick around Athens for an extra year.
Prior to the start of the college football season, Miller reported NFL teams were skeptical of the 2019 draft class and are already looking ahead to 2020 with a Fromm potentially being at the top of the list.
“That kid at Georgia (Jake Fromm) and the one that left (Jacob Eason) are legit dudes,” one scout told Bleacher Report. “They could go 1-2 and they were at the same school! Those are the ones to watch.”
Jake Fromm Helped Turn Georgia Into a Winner
Georgia head coach Kirby Smart deserves a lot of credit for the Bulldogs transformation, but Fromm has been a big part of the turnaround as well. Fromm led Georgia to the national title game in his freshman season. The Bulldogs went to the Sugar Bowl ranked No. 5 in the country this season.
It is important to note that Fromm beat out two No. 1 quarterbacks in different recruiting classes for the starting Georgia quarterback job. Eason ended up transferring to Washington, and Justin Fields is exploring his options as well.
NFL.com’s Chase Goodbread broke down Fromm’s potential (via 247 Sports).
We’re looking a long way down the road with Fromm, who enters his true sophomore season at UGA this fall. But there is no denying he’s already established as one of the top quarterbacks in the college game. Georgia’s perennially strong rushing attack helped him get acclimated to the starting role last year, and it will only aid his effectiveness as a play-action threat going forward. Without suggesting anything about Fromm’s pro potential, one SEC coach told NFL.com that Fromm’s poise and decision making remind him of former Alabama QB AJ McCarron, who signed with the Buffalo Bills this offseason.
NFL Network’s draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah discussed Fromm’s outing in the national championship game against Alabama.
There was a lot more good than bad from the other true freshman QB in Monday night’s game, Georgia’s Jake Fromm. He didn’t make enough plays late in the game, but he certainly didn’t fall apart against the vaunted Alabama defense. He was in full attack mode, going 16 of 32 for 232 yards, 1 TD and 2 INTs.
He’d like to have some throws back, but he has all of the tools of an NFL QB.
The future for Alabama and Georgia looks very bright, and these two young QBs are a big reason for the optimism.
Fromm has a chance to be the No. 1 pick in 2020, but he also has plenty of competition as NFL teams continue to evaluate the entire quarterback class.