Jake Fromm the hero Georgia football fans need right now

Georgia football fans have at times voiced concern over starting quarterback Jake Fromm, and his lack of flash and “Heisman moments” as compared to other top QBs.

Don’t deny it, Georgia football fans. I’ve seen you on Twitter and in the local watering holes salivating over what Justin Fields has been doing at Ohio State this season. You see Fields shredding Big Ten defenses with his arm and breaking ankles with his legs, and then you look at what Georgia has.

Jake Fromm. Plain ol’ Jake. The quiet, unpretentious, underappreciated and overlooked Jake Fromm.

There was a time when even I believed that Fields might be the better option for the Bulldogs. I wasn’t convinced Jake Fromm had that “it” factor to push Georgia where they needed to be. But if you watch Fromm closely, you’ll see that he has it and more.

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Fromm has forced two different 5-Star quarterbacks to pack their backs and leave town by doing nothing more than playing to the best of his abilities. Jacob Eason couldn’t unseat Fromm once he recovered from his injury, and Justin Fields had every opportunity to simply outplay the UGA incumbent.

No such luck, and it’s not because Fromm is the coach’s pet. Anyone who’s seen Kirby Smart‘s practices, listened to him speak or knows how he views competition, knows that nobody’s job is safe, not even the starting quarterback. Smart’s firm, roster-savvy jaw was chiseled out of the same mold as Nick Saban’s.

You field the best players and the best team, every week. There is no “my job” there is only the people who play the best.

Fromm doesn’t have Eason’s howitzer arm. He doesn’t have Fields speed and elusiveness. He’s never going to be those guys, nor will he be Jalen Hurts or Joe Burrow. What he is going to be is Georgia’s best chance at winning every game until he moves on to the NFL.

But this kid from Warner Robins, Ga. has something few college quarterbacks possess. He has an almost uncanny football mind, and he eats, sleeps and breathes the game. He makes pre-snap reads unlike anyone in the country, and that’s why he so seldom finds himself in precarious positions that lead to turnovers.

From PFF’s latest college quarterback grades (where Fromm lands at number six):

"Not asked to do much so far this season, Fromm has launched just two big-time throws but taken remarkable care of the ball without a turnover-worthy play to his credit through three games. He’s running the Georgia offense admirably and with their biggest test to date coming up against Notre Dame, he can look to his solid play of top-20 figures in a bevy of clean-pocket metrics to rely on as he stands behind the nation’s second-best offensive line unit."

I get it. Georgia fans want a hero. They want Fromm to unfurl that cape and dazzle spectators with his antics. They want to see him run like D.J. Shockley and spin it like Matthew Stafford. But that’s not who Jake Fromm is. He may not be the hero Georgia fans are hoping for, but he’s the one they need right now.

No, Fromm is not a “game manager” so don’t even attempt to saddle him with that label. A game manager has his plays handed to him, has no autonomy once the huddle breaks, and simply avoids making dumb mistakes. Fromm is much more than that.

Georgia’s identity isn’t Jake Fromm, it’s because of Jake Fromm. They are a team with a massive offensive line, a stable of running backs to top anyone in the nation, and a quarterback who knows exactly how to make a defense pay if they take him too lightly. Fromm runs that offense and runs it well. Through his unselfishness and ability to see what the defense is giving him, he makes the guys around him look really good.

Fromm will control the ball, keep the defense guessing, and take his shots as they come available. And usually, he hits on those shots. R.I.P. your defense if you try to load up the box on him.

He’s not Superman, bursting into the air in a flash of color and drawing a chorus of ooooooo. He’s the Lone Ranger, quietly doing his job and leaving nothing but a silver bullet behind to show he’d been there.

Who was that masked quarterback?