Ohio State Football: Comparing Justin Fields, Trevor Lawrence
The Ohio State football team and the Clemson Tigers both have generational talents in quarterbacks Justin Fields and Trevor Lawrence, but how do they stack up?
Justin Fields and Trevor Lawrence are far and away the two most talented quarterbacks returning to their respective teams for the upcoming season. In 2019 college football fans were blessed with a number of elite signal callers in addition to Fields and Lawrence such as Joe Burrow, Tua Tagovailoa and Jalen Hurts.
Looking ahead to the 2020 college football season, it is tough to discount the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Clemson Tigers as the two best teams. The Buckeyes and Tigers appear to be on a collision course and one of the largest reasons for that is who each team has behind center.
Unless other college quarterbacks step up, Fields and Lawrence will remain in a league of their own. Let’s take a look at each QB in comparison to one another starting with Fields.
Ohio State landed a sensational talent via the transfer portal in January of 2019 which was Ryan Day’s first true recruiting move as the head coach of the Ohio State football team. The Georgia native seemed to be undervalued in the Bulldogs system behind a great QB in Jake Fromm who is occasionally limited, but nonetheless talented.
Day immediately saw a diamond in the rough and brought Fields in allowing him to shine and showcase his outrageous skill set. His first touchdown as a Buckeyes was a 51-yard run to the end zone in which all of Buckeye Nation joined announcer Gus Johnson in saying “Hello, Columbus” as he crossed the goal line. With that run, the QB officially arrived as a Buckeye in front of 100,000+ faithful in The Shoe.
Fields went on to have a historic season for the Scarlet and Gray including a signature touchdown pass to Chris Olave in the Big House. It was on the first play after he came back onto the field following an injury that instantaneously sucked the air out of the state of Ohio.
He accounted for 51 touchdowns during his first year as a starter (41 passing) while completing 67% of his passes, only three of which were intercepted. Should’ve only been two, but we’ll carry on.
Fields exuded toughness all season as he was hobbled as the year wore on due to a lingering knee injury. Speculation has pointed to him being less than 75% healthy during the postseason but it was never confirmed. In Fields’ biggest moments on the largest stages, he shined and proved to be elite.
His skill set is unique because he is 6’3 223lbs and can beat you equally as badly with both his arm and legs. Fields can make every throw in the playbook while also possessing the escapability of Houdini as he makes something out of nothing to extend plays or create a new one off script.
Defenses are forced to take a pick your poison approach when attempting to contain him, but spoiler alert, it doesn’t work. Now with the opportunity for a second year under Day, expect Fields to operate on an even higher level in 2020 as the Buckeyes look to complete unfinished business.
Now for Justin Fields’ rival.