KENNESAW, Ga. – The nation’s No. 1 recruit is paying even more attention to his finalists.
Quarterback Justin Fields is the rare quarterback to be still uncommitted this late in the recruiting process. After injuries to Florida State QB Deondre Francois and Georgia QB Jacob Eason, Fields hasn’t yet changed anything in decision process.
“I’m considering Florida State, Georgia, Auburn, a little bit of Alabama, Penn State and Florida still too,” said Fields Wednesday after being presented with his Under Armour All-America Game jersey.
But Florida State and Georgia, in particular, have more to prove to Fields. With Francois being lost for the season due to a patella tendon injury and Eason being out indefinitely with a knee injury, both suffered in their team’s first games, the Seminoles and Bulldogs have both turned to true freshmen.
“I’m not really worried about things I can’t control,” the five-star Fields said. “I want to see how Coach Jimbo [Fisher] develops the offense because of a freshman being in there. It’s not really going to change my decision because you have to compete wherever you go, so it’s really seeing how the coaches deal with having a freshman quarterback in there.”
With true freshman James Blackman now starting for FSU and Bailey Hockman, another true freshman QB on the roster, the depth chart in Tallahassee is suddenly very crowded. At Georgia, Fromm is also a true freshman, while Eason is a sophomore. Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs have put added emphasis on landing Fields, not wanting to see the top-ranked player in the state leave.
(Georgia is) the thing as Florida State,” the 6-foot-3, 221-pound Fields said. “No player is ever going to veer me away from a school because if I want to go to a school, I’m going to that school. Just seeing what the coaches do with the freshman quarterback and football players is a focus of my recruitment.”
As far as Auburn is concerned, Fields will be watching to see how the passing game develops this season.
“I just want to see them incorporate more passing into their game because I know they ran the ball a lot because they could on teams,” Fields said. “I want to see more passing,”
The top-ranked prospect in the ultra-talented Peach State doesn’t have any official visits scheduled yet, and having already made a number of unofficial visits to those in serious contention, taking official visits prior to a decision is not paramount.
“I have taken a lot of visits to Florida, Auburn, Georgia and Florida State, so I think I would be able to make a decision,” Fields said. “It will be based on this season goes, and what I see on the offensive side of the ball and just the situation I will be in when I get there. I don’t think I need to take officials to make my mind up.”
Fields, who says LSU is also pursuing him, is looking forward to getting the decision behind him, but doesn’t want to rush into a commitment again after previously being committed to Penn State and knowing all eyes are on him with his decision being impactful for a number of programs.
“It’s really just when I know what school I want to go to it when I’m going to commit,” he said. “I want to get this all over with to be honest with you. … I don’t really feel any pressure because I have already committed to a school before. I just want to make the right decision because I don’t feel like decommitting again. Once I commit to this next school, I’m done.”
Fields will take part in the Under Armour All-America Game January 4 in Orlando, Florida. Fields will join Leonard Fournette, Jadeveon Clowney and Robert Nkemdiche as No. 1 recruits to participate in the game.