BREAKING NEWS:

Justin Fields Transferring to Ohio State

After weeks of rumors, multiple reports are now indicating that Justin Fields, the No. 2 overall recruit in the 2018 recruiting class, is transferring from Georgia to Ohio State. The Kennesaw, Ga., native was the top dual-threat quarterback in the country coming out of high school last season and was rated behind only Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence nationally.

Lettermen Row’s Jeremy Birmingham is reporting that according to multiple sources, Fields will be on campus today, and will move in over the weekend in time to begin the offseason workout program.

Fox Sports’ Bruce Feldman seems to have similar intel, but wouldn’t go as far as to make the transfer official.

Fields is a 6-foot-3, 225-pound quarterback who trains with the same quarterback-coach as Dwayne Haskins. At the Rose Bowl, while Haskins said that he didn’t know what Fields would do, he did admit that he had answered questions about Ohio State and new head coach Ryan Day for the would-be transfer. He also called Fields a “freak of nature.”

OSU’s current backup QB Tate Martell has been very outspoken about his intention to start for the Buckeyes in 2019 should Haskins decide to enter the NFL Draft. In fact, he has sent out multiple tweets seemingly warning Fields not to make another mistake in choosing a school, as he apparently did when going to Georgia.

While Fields has been very quiet throughout the transfer rumors, things quickly soured for Fields in Athens following a September incident in which one of UGA’s top baseball players yelled a racial slur about the QB from the stands. After an investigation, the player, Adam Sasser, was kicked off of the team; he eventually apologized to Fields.

Many have speculated that this incident could be grounds for Fields to request — and receive — a transfer waiver from the NCAA to play immediately at his new school. Fields is expected to be represented by Tom Mars, the attorney who guided Michigan’s Shea Patterson through the NCAA petition process in order to play for the Wolverines without sitting out.

If Fields is indeed joining the Buckeyes’ quarterback room, that almost certainly confirms that Haskins is (as he should be) heading to the NFL. That would mean that Ryan Day and the newly hired Mike Yurcich will have Fields, Martell, Matthew Baldwin, graduate transfer Chris Chugunov, and a pair of walk-ons in the QB room

Of course, nothing will be guaranteed to him at Ohio State, either. Haskins has yet to publicly announce his plans for 2019, though most expect he’ll enter the NFL Draft. That would leave Tate Martell as the likely favorite to land the starting role for Ohio State in 2019, especially since Fields will likely have to sit out the 2019 season due to transfer rules. Odds are Fields will appeal that ruling, but there’s no way to know if he’ll win the case. Ohio State also has Matthew Baldwin, who was a four-star QB in its 2018 class who redshirted this season.