Former UGA quarterback Jake Fromm made the media rounds at Super Bowl 54 on Thursday.
Fromm has kept a low profile since earlier this month, when he announced that he was forgoing his senior season at UGA for the NFL draft. Fromm opened up a little more about his decision on Thursday.
“It was a tough one,” said Fromm told FanSided’s Mark Carman.
“It was something that kind of really struck my heart a bit. You know, being from the state of Georgia. So many things I wanted to accomplish there as being part of the football program.”
“But it was tough. The NFL was always a dream (of mine). I’ve never prayed about anything harder than I’ve ever prayed about this one. And I just had a gut feeling the last five days up until the decision, and now I’m here.
“I’m three or four weeks into this process. I have no doubts. I’m here taking it on one day at a time and trying to get better any way I can.”
ESPN’s Mel Kiper defends Fromm’s junior season
As expected with any high-profile quarterback, there are mixed opinions about the NFL Draft status of Fromm. One of Fromm’s biggest supporters has always been Mel Kiper, the famed ESPN NFL Draft analyst.
While Fromm left UGA as one of the school’s all-time greats at quarterback, he clearly struggled at times this past season.
This week, Kiper strongly defended Fromm’s performance in 2019 with some nice compliments during the “First Draft” podcast.
“The easiest (comparison) in this draft is Jake Fromm to (Cincinnati Bengals quarterback) Andy Dalton. From competitiveness, leadership, smarts, size … all of (Fromm’s) touchdowns were gone.
“Think about (former UGA players) Riley Ridley, Mecole Hardman, Terry Godwin, Isaac Nauta then he also lost Elijah Holyfield who was the No. 2 or 1-A running back with Swift, who had a big year. And he lost his center as well. You can’t take that away with anybody.
“It’s the same with Sam Darnold (of the New York Jets) and Josh Allen (of the Buffalo Bills) when they went into their final years in college. … Yes, he missed some throws, but you can’t take all of that talent from a quarterback at that level and say, ‘put up the same numbers.’ … Jake Fromm didn’t all of a sudden become an inaccurate passer.”
Where does Kiper project Fromm to go in the draft? Kiper has Fromm as the No. 5 overall quarterback prospect, and Fromm has plenty of time to rise up the charts before April’s draft with his workouts for NFL teams.
What’s the latest with Fromm? Obviously, he has been prepping for the draft in Mobile, Ala., along with mentoring younger quarterbacks as a coach.
