Jake Fromm is taking the leap.
The Georgia quarterback announced Tuesday that he will forego his senior season and enter the 2020 NFL Draft.
Fromm, 21, put together an impressive three years with the Bulldogs, finishing with a 35-7 record as a starter. Despite Fromm’s college prowess, there is some debate about whether or not he’s a guaranteed first-round pick.
Fromm threw for a career-high 2,860 yards this season, with 24 touchdowns and just five interceptions. But he posted the lowest completion percentage (60.8) and quarterback rating (141.2) of his college career, leading to him dropping in many NFL draft projections.
“This decision and process has been unbelievably difficult,” Fromm wrote on Twitter. “But through much prayer and counsel, I have decided that it is time for me to take on the next challenge in my life and pursue my lifelong dream of playing in the NFL.”
Late in the season, he had a stretch of five straight games where he failed to complete 50% of his passes. Once viewed as a potential top-10 pick, some analysts are now predicting that Fromm will fall into the second round.
However, ESPN NFL draft expert Mel Kiper Jr. says that he expects the Georgia native to be a first-rounder. Kiper ranked Fromm, who led the Bulldogs to three consecutive SEC East titles, as the fifth-best quarterback eligible for the 2020 draft. LSU’s Joe Burrow, Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa, Oregon’s Justin Herbert and Washington’s Jacob Eason were ranked in front of him.
ESPN’s Alex Scarborough has long thought Fromm is a top future draft prospect out of Georgia, along with running back D’Andre Swift and offensive tackle Andrew Thomas.
“What he lacks in flash, he more than makes up for in substance,” Scarborough said before this season. “Just look at how he carved up Alabama’s defense in the SEC championship game (2018). He’s accurate, with a career completion percentage of roughly 65 percent, and his touchdown-to-interception ratio (54-to-13, so, better than 4-to-1) is out of this world.
“In an NFL that still values the prototypical pocket passer, Fromm fits the bill.”
Thomas is considered to be one of the most talented left tackles in the country and expected to be a top-10 pick, yet Scarborough would still rank Fromm above him.
Matt Miller of Bleacher Report pointed out how Fromm’s pre-snap ability and durability will likely lift his draft stock.
“I’m higher on Jake Fromm,” Miller said on the “Saturday Down South” podcast. “I honestly am. I love Tua. I love watching Tua play, but with him, I worry about arm strength a little bit. I worry about how long he holds the ball in the pocket. Obviously being banged up this year made it tough to get a good evaluation of him because by the time I really started watching not just to enjoy the game or to break down the college aspect of it, he was hurt. It was hard to watch. They’re almost polar opposites.”
— With AP