COLUMBUS, Ohio – It appears that it will be the Justin Fields show at quarterback after it was learned on Thursday evening that redshirt freshman quarterback Matthew Baldwin intends to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal per program sources, allowing schools to contact him about a potential transfer.
Fields, a transfer from the University of Georgia and Baldwin were locked in a battle over the spring, each vying for the starting nod at quarterback for the Buckeyes and replacement to the departed Dwayne Haskins. While both quarterbacks shared reps with the first team, it appeared that Fields had moved ahead in the race to be the No. 1 and that has led to the state that the Buckeyes and Baldwin at in today.
Entering the portal does not mean that Baldwin will absolutely transfer away from the Ohio State program but does seem to be a precursor to an impeding transfer. The Buckeyes lost quarterback Tate Martell to transfer shortly after Fields was granted immediate eligibility.
Baldwin was with the Buckeyes in 2018 but took a redshirt as he was recovering from a knee injury that was suffered during the Texas UIL state playoffs. Baldwin tried to fight through the injury to lead his team but ultimately had to shut it down and undergo surgery and go through a year-plus rehabilitation cycle.
The Austin (Texas) Lake Travis product will now have some big decisions to make in terms of what his next step is going to be. The NCAA has been lenient as of late in terms of granting immediate eligibility to transferring players. Baldwin could look at getting back closer to his home state or could really just look at depth charts elsewhere with a focus on trying to find the quickest path to the field.
This of course leaves Ohio State in a major bind at the quarterback position with only two signal callers on scholarship for the 2019 season with Fields and redshirt senior and graduate transfer Chris Chugunov. The former WVU quarterback has game experience during his days with the Mountaineers, playing in eight games during his career with 536 career passing yards on 43-90 passing with three touchdowns against two interceptions.
Ohio State does have the verbal commit of a quarterback for the class of 2020 with Jack Miller. The Buckeyes would have two quarterbacks on scholarship for that 2020 season with Fields and Miller and it opens the question if Baldwin does leave, could the Buckeyes bring in a second quarterback in the recruiting class to get the numbers in the room up to three, still one less than the preferred four. It is just the nature of how roster management is going to be in the day of the free-and-clear transfer and short of the NCAA changing the rules, programs like Ohio State and others will have to accept this reality of major flux in terms of numbers in positions where only one player can play.
It is all still up in the air until we learn if Baldwin will follow through with the transfer, however. One thing is for certain though, regardless of what Baldwin decides, the Buckeyes have little margin for error at quarterback with or without Baldwin in the fold and this is the first real challenge of the new Ryan Day-era as head coach.
