Florida’s top 2018 target, five-star QB Justin Fields, decommits from Penn State

By Adam Silverstein
June 6, 2017

Football

The Florida Gators have seemingly put all of their eggs in one basket when it comes to adding a quarterback as part of the 2018 recruiting cycle. And they did it all for a player who was committed to another top-tier program. That is no longer the case.

Five-star QB Justin Fields (Kennesaw, GA), who had been pledged to the Penn State Nittany Lions since Dec. 1, 2016, decommitted from the program on Tuesday night.

“I know that I will disappoint some people by my decision and for that I apologize. This decision was not easily made,” he wrote in an extended note posted on Twitter.

The No. 6 player and No. 1 dual-threat signal caller in the nation, Fields is everything Florida has desired in a quarterback recruit since head coach Jim McElwain took over the program. He has a strong arm, can flash with his mobility and simply turns heads while throwing the football.

Two of the top recruiting experts on 247Sports have predicted that Fields will ultimately wind up with the Gators when all is said and done. He would be the first five-star quarterback commitment for UF since Jeff Driskel in 2011 and the highest-rated overall pledge since junior left tackle Martez Ivey in 2015.

Fields will be considering Florida, Penn State, Auburn and Florida State, which are the leaders for his services. Recruits can sign National Letters of Intent in late December 2017 or early February 2018.