It looks like Tate Martell sees the writing on the wall at Ohio State. According to Letterman Row’s Jeremy Birmingham, Martell has put his name in the NCAA’s transfer portal. This means that other schools can begin to contact Martell about the possibility of transferring.

Martell was very vocal in the run up to the Rose Bowl about how he believed he was going to be the starting quarterback Ohio State next year. He was very critical about the possibility of any quarterback, which many believed was Fields, coming into Ohio State and competing for a job.

“Why would I leave for someone who hasn’t put a single second into this program?” Martell told the Athletic’s Ari Wasserman. “I have put two years of literally working my ass off into something that I’ve been waiting for and a dream I’ve had my whole life. To just run away from somebody who hasn’t put a single second in at winter workouts and doesn’t know what the program is all about? There’s not a chance.”

At the time of the comment, Fields had been heavily rumored to be transferring to Ohio State but nothing was official. Fields announced that he was in fact transferring to Ohio State on Friday.

Martell also went on to send a cryptic tweet regarding Fields as well. That tweet has since been deleted. Martell was a highly-rated 4-star quarterback coming out of the 2017 recruiting cycle. Martell was also featured in the documentary QB1, which also starred Georgia’s current quarterback Jake Fromm.

As for what this means for Fields, it would seem to indicate that there might be a better chance that he’s able to play right away. Fields’ attorney Thomas Mars has told multiple news outlets that he expects the Fields eligibility situation to be wrapped in the next six weeks.

Fields spent one season at Georgia and played in 12 of Georgia’s 14 games, but he did not start in any of them. With Fields gone, Georgia signed two quarterbacks during the early signing period in JUCO Stetson Bennett and 4-star quarterback Dwan Mathis. Georgia also has a commitment from quarterback John Rhys Plumlee, though he has not yet signed his letter of intent as Georgia intends to blueshirt him, meaning he will count towards next year’s scholarship total.

Georgia still also has Fromm firmly entrenched as the starter. In his sophomore season, Fromm threw 30 touchdowns compared to just 6 interceptions.

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