Justin Fields Named Ohio State Starting Quarterback

The news is not exactly a big surprise, but it’s now official: Justin Fields is the starting quarterback for the 2019 Ohio State Buckeyes.

Head coach Ryan Day announced the decision on Monday.

Fields beat out graduate transfers Chris Chugunov and Gunnar Hoak for the job. Monday, Day was not willing to commit to either Hoak or Chugunov as the clear-cut backup to Fields.

The race for the starting job was an unusual one this year in Columbus. Shortly after Fields announced that he was transferring from Georgia to OSU, Tate Martell put his name in the NCAA Transfer Portal. He ended up transferring to Miami.

Following spring practice, Matthew Baldwin also entered the Portal and transferred to TCU.

That left only Fields and Chugunov as scholarship quarterbacks on the roster until Hoak announced that he would transfer in from Kentucky.

Throughout the spring and summer, Day insisted the competition for the QB1 slot was wide open, but Fields took the vast majority of snaps with the first-team offense.

He targeted the end of the second week of fall camp as the time when he wanted to know who the starter was going to be. That second week ended with a scrimmage over the weekend, where Fields did enough to win that starting job.

Last Wednesday, Day hinted pretty strongly that Fields was doing what he needed to earn the top position.

“I feel better than I did last week at this time,” said Day. “I do think Justin has taken a stride in the last couple days and the last week. He’s moving the team nicely. Taking care of the ball better the last couple days. Throwing the ball on time. Improvement’s there and leadership is improving.”

Day was initially somewhat reserved in his evaluation of Fields this fall, but has been impressed with what the sophomore has shown – even comparing his game to a top NFL signal-caller.

“When you think of the Russell Wilsons of the world and mobile quarterbacks who can create, I think you want to give him the opportunity to play within the offense, but then also, you know, make plays with their feet,” Day said. “I think Justin gives us that opportunity. But at the same time, he’s smart. He’s going to know and he’s going to have to put his pads down and run and when he has to get down, slide, get out of bounds and that’s part of playing quarterback.”

Now as the team starts to shift its focus from internal improvement to game prep, Fields has two full weeks of practice as the official starter.

The Buckeyes kick off their regular season on Saturday, August 31 against Florida Atlantic.