2020 NFL Draft: Jake Fromm surprisingly leaving for NFL

The 2020 NFL Draft is a deep crop of quarterbacks already, and it just got deeper with Jake Fromm’s announcement he will be leaving Georgia early.

Somewhat shockingly, Georgia quarterback Jake Fromm is entering the 2020 NFL Draft.

With Joe Burrow’s emergence in 2019, the news that Tua Tagovailoa would be leaving Alabama a year early, Jordan Love entering early, Justin Herbert being a lock first-round pick, and Jacob Eason of Washington also leaving early, it seemed like Fromm might go back to Georgia for another season.

Fromm obviously feels very good about what he’s put on tape for the three years he’s been a Bulldog, leading his team to the College Football Playoff in his first season on campus and keeping Georgia in playoff contention all throughout his time there.

This past season, his stock took a bit of a hit with a number of skill players around him heading off to the NFL, specifically at wide receiver.

Specifically, Fromm lost receivers Riley Ridley and Mecole Hardman, two players who combined for 78 receptions and 16 touchdowns the previous season.

Still, Fromm’s completion percentage dipped from 67.4 in 2018 to 60.8 in 2019, which will need to be dissected. He was still making big plays for the Bulldogs but his consistency didn’t seem to be there in terms of accuracy. There was a five game stretch this season where Fromm didn’t exceed a 48.3 percent completion rate.

Among the more impressive things on his resumé?

• Led Georgia to a National Championship game as a true freshman
• 3 SEC East titles
• Highest completion percentage in school history
• 78:18 TD to INT ratio

Perhaps more so than any of that, Fromm made himself indispensable to the Georgia football program despite the presence of two other potential future first-round NFL Draft picks in Jacob Eason and Justin Fields on the Bulldogs’ roster.

Fromm is a coach’s dream from an intangible perspective — not that those other guys aren’t — who is the quintessential example of a team-first player. Obviously he’s not as physically talented as a guy like Fields, who was excellent for Ohio State this season, and he doesn’t have the arm talent of Jacob Eason, who may have the strongest arm in the 2020 NFL Draft, but he’s proven himself in big games — many of them — in three seasons.

Has he always been perfect? No. But Fromm obviously loves this school and that’s one reason I felt it was so likely he would return for another season. Alas…

So what is an NFL team getting in this kid?

He’s run a pro-style offense for three years to near perfection. He doesn’t care about stats — he only cares about winning games.

Fromm has been excellent in his career on third down and he throws one of the prettiest back-shoulder balls you will see.

As far as arm talent? Fromm is not going to be the king of this class in that regard, but he has good enough arm strength and anticipation skills to make every throw at the NFL level, and it’s not like he’s out there tossing up wounded ducks. He’s got an arm, it’s just not his greatest asset.

Fromm’s decision making has to improve, but from a mechanical standpoint, he is pretty good, especially having operated a pro-style attack at Georgia. He strikes as the kind of player who hates to lose more than he loves to win, or at least, those two are pretty close together.

There are holes in Fromm’s game but he’s more NFL-ready than not and in a deep QB class, he’s a solid option.