Georgia quarterback puts in extra work alongside former national champion

Justin Fields recently took some extra instruction alongside a young and accomplished professional quarterback.

The Georgia freshman signal caller spent a summer day with Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson, who was a Heisman Trophy finalist and national championship winner at Clemson. Fields posted a photo on Instagram of himself with Watson, along with Ohio State quarterback Dwayne Haskins and independent quarterback tutor Quincy Avery. Avery runs the Quincy Avery Quarterback Academy in the Atlanta area.

Fields arrived at Georgia as a five-star recruit and at one point was considered the No. 1 overall prospect in the nation, according to the 247Sports.com composite rankings. However, Fields' late-season finger injury allowed Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence to move to the top spot in the final list.

Given his high school prowess at Harrison, Fields would have a great shot at starting at plenty of major college programs around the nation. At Georgia, Fields has a tough challenge in trying to unseat starting quarterback Jake Fromm. After taking over for an injured Jacob Eason early in 2017, Fromm started 14 games for a Georgia team that took Alabama to overtime in the College Football Playoff National Championship.

While Fromm is a traditional pro-style quarterback, Fields offers a dual-threat skill set. Fields has earned comparisons to Watson due to his play-making ability as a passer and runner. As a senior at Harrison, Fields completed 63.8 percent of his passes for 1,417 yards, 18 touchdowns and two interceptions in the seven games he appeared in. In these outings, Fields also ran for 920 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Watson excelled as both a passer and runner at Clemson. In 2015, Watson threw for 4,109 yards and ran for 1,105. He scored 47 total touchdowns that season. Watson's Tigers made it to two consecutive national championship games and played Alabama in each of them. In the 2015 national championship, Clemson fell to Alabama 45-40, with Watson throwing for 405 yards and four touchdowns. In the 2016 title game, Clemson beat Alabama 35-31, with Watson totaling 420 passing yards and three scores.

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart was Alabama's defensive coordinator for the 2015 national title. While Georgia didn't recruit dual-threat quarterbacks often under former head coach Mark Richt, Smart made sure to go after Fields once it became apparent he could be a star at the college level.

“You want to get the quarterback that gives you the best chance to win,” Smart said last year at SEC Media Days. “If that’s a dual-threat guy, then absolutely.”

Arkansas head coach Chad Morris, who was Clemson's offensive coordinator from 2011-14, recruited Watson out of Gainesville. While it took time for Watson to start at Clemson, Morris knew he would one day be a superstar. It was just a matter of building Watson's confidence.

“We knew he was going to be special,” Morris said. “But we knew also that if you weren't careful putting a guy in a position too early it could set him back. We were so much about when was the right time.”

This story was originally published June 25, 2018 at 10:05 AM with the headline "Georgia quarterback puts in extra work alongside former national champion."