Georgia football QB competition: Teammates observing, experience or athleticism?

ATHENS, Ga. — Jake Fromm’s experience or Justin Fields’ athleticism?

Georgia tight end Isaac Nauta doesn’t seem to have any preference in who starts at quarterback for the Bulldogs, but he does have some key observations.

“Both of those guys will make each other better,” Nauta said, “and I’ve seen a different grind out of both of them.”

Safe to say, when Georgia football coach Kirby Smart was talking about the best players not practicing at their best, he wasn’t referring to Fromm or Fields.

Smart has said the quarterback position, like every other, is open for competition.

It’s part of how Smart is expertly avoiding the type of quarterback controversy and hard feelings that threaten to derail defending national champion Alabama.

All of the Bulldogs’ players interviewed to this point, roughly a dozen of them, seem indifferent to Georgia’s QB competition.

“At the end of the day I have to catch the ball,” Receiver Riley Ridley said with a shrug of the shoulders.

Nauta, who’s looking for a big year as a blocker and receiver, points out how much respect the team has for both players.

“With what Jake did last year, that’s pretty tough to do as a freshman in the SEC,” Nauta said. “So that’s something you can’t teach, experience, and that’s something Jake has over Justin.

“But Justin has all the physical tools and he looks and acts the part of the No. 1 player in the country coming out of high school, so it will be an interesting battle.”

Not that the Bulldogs’ players have too much time to pay attention.

“At the end of the day, nobody’s job is safe,” Nauta said. “If you underperform, somebody can step in and take your spot.”

Georgia football TE Isaac Nauta