Jake Fromm is a sophomore quarterback for Georgia football. He will look to get the Bulldogs off to a strong start on Saturday when they take on Austin Peay at 3:30 p.m. ET.
While he has been pushed by freshman Justin Fields, Fromm will look to quarterback Georgia to another strong season, after Fromm went 12-2 as a starter last season.
Here is what you need to know about Fromm.
Jake Fromm led Georgia to an SEC Championship as a freshman
Fromm was named the SEC Freshman of the Year as he threw for 2,615 yards, 24 touchdowns and 7 interceptions. He also guided Georgia to its first SEC title since 2005, and its first appearance in the College Football Playoff.
In the College Football Playoff, Fromm played perhaps his finest game, as he played a key role in turning a 17-point defect into a thrilling 54-48 win in double overtime to beat the Oklahoma Sooners. Fromm completed 20 of his 29 pass attempts for 210 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Jake Fromm has drawn comparisons to Roquan Smith and a number of NFL quarterbacks
Teammates love to gush about Fromm. As Kirk Herbstreit laid out, Fromm seems to posses that “it factor” when it comes to playing quarterback. Fromm’s starting center compared him to two of the best quarterbacks to play the position.
“He’s just comfortable, like Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, whoever you can think of,” senior center Lamont Gaillard said of Fromm. “Him being him, he’s just outstanding.”
Another teammate, wide receiver Tyler Simmons, compared him to 2017 Georgia football leader Roquan Smith, which might even be higher praise.
Jake Fromm was a very early believer in Kirby Smart
Fromm believed in Smart even before Smart had been named the Georgia coach. While Smart was still the defensive coordinator at Alabama, Fromm initially committed to the Crimson Tide. But when Smart took over at Georgia, he made sure that he was going to do everything he could to make sure Fromm also followed him.
And he did as the 4-star quarterback flipped his commitment from the Crimson Tide to Georgia. Safe to say the decision paid off for both parties given the early success. In addition to being rated as the No. 44 overall prospect in the 2017 class, per the 247Sports Composite rankings,
Fromm is also one of the most accomplished quarterbacks in Georgia high school history. He nearly set a number of Georgia high school state passing records in his time at Houston County High School.
Jake Fromm isn’t all that worried about Justin Fields
While Fromm was a highly-touted recruit, he wasn’t as highly ranked as Justin Fields. Georgia’s freshman quarterback this season was rated as the No. 2 overall prospect in the country. With as much talent as Fields’ has, some Georgia fans are clamoring for him to take the field over Fromm, who was always solid but rarely spectacular last season.
But for the Austin Peay game at least, Fromm will in all likelihood be the first quarterback on the field. While Smart hasn’t officially announced a starting quarterback, he’s made it very clear that Fromm has been working much more with the first team offense in practice.
“Both of those kids have visited frequently with us, as coaches, and we’ve let both of them know where they are,” Smart said on Monday. “Jake’s been going with the ones the whole time.”
Last season, few would’ve pegged Fromm to overtake Jacob Eason but he did just that. So Fromm has proven in the past that he’s more than capable of winning the quarterback job over a 5-star talent.
Jake Fromm loves to fish and sometimes that’s caused some injuries
While Fromm is beloved by UGA fans, he did manage to make some off the field news as he had to separate incidents on the water this summer. The first came when he got a fishing lure stuck in his leg and had to make a visit to the hospital to get it taken out.
Then Fromm broke his non-throwing hand in a separate accident when a rope recoiled while Fromm and some friends were waking boarding. Despite the injury, Fromm will be good to go for the week 1 game against Austin Peay.
“I haven’t decided it’s too dangerous yet,” Fromm said of his favorite pastimes of hunting, fishing and boating. “I’m still going to play around with that and see how much I can still do and stay safe.”
Jake Fromm 2018 stats