JT Daniels announces transfer from USC football to Georgia

JT Daniels announced his decision to transfer from USC football to Georgia.

The rumors that swirled wildly are now confirmed. JT Daniels is leaving USC football.

The quarterback took to Twitter on Thursday afternoon to announce his decision to head east to Georgia.

Daniels will join the Bulldogs ahead of the 2020 season, but it’s not clear if he will be eligible to play until 2021.

JT Daniels leaves USC football for Georgia, but future still unclear

Hopes of a change to NCAA transfer policy, allowing a one-time transfer waiver for all football players, were dashed when a decision on the legislation was pushed to next year.

Daniels could still seek a waiver for immediate eligibility, but his likelihood of receiving one still seems low.

Short of a transfer waiver, Daniels will have to sit out the 2020 season while preparing for 2021.

It all could work out for the quarterback and the Bulldogs, who already picked up All-ACC Wake Forest grad transfer Jamie Newman. He is likely to hold the starting job this campaign, but he will also need replacing in 2021.

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That’s where things get complicated.

In a perfect world, Daniels will be able to take over as a starter as a redshirt junior. However, the Bulldogs have five-star quarterback Brock Vandagriff committed for the class of 2021. He will undoubtedly factor in as an early competitor for the starting job.

By leaving USC now, Daniels is taking a risk. Had he stayed, he might have been able to reclaim his starting job whether by outperforming Kedon Slovis or taking over in the case of injury. He won’t have the same opportunity at Georgia.

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Still, the rewards for leaving now are there. He will be able to integrate himself into the Georgia team and spend a season learning the playbook ahead of his run for the starting job.

Either way, the Trojans are now down to just two scholarship quarterbacks for 2020, including Slovis and Matt Fink. The addition of former Vanderbilt quarterback Mo Hasan as a walk-on will help depth.