Georgia QB, Heisman Candidate Jamie Newman Opting Out of Season

Georgia quarterback and Heisman candidate Jamie Newman is opting out of the 2020 college football season, he announced Wednesday. As recently as this week, Newman was listed at +1600 to win the Heisman, tied with Alabama's Mac Jones for sixth-best odds in the country.

Newman was a graduate transfer from Wake Forest who was expected to not only be the Bulldogs' starting quarterback, but compete for a Heisman Trophy and national championship. However, UGA found itself in the midst of a strong quarterback competition when former USC starter J.T. Daniels also transferred to Athens and was granted immediate eligibility.

With both, Georgia had likely the best quarterbacks room in the country, but Daniels's arrival softens the blow of losing Newman a bit. Regardless, the loss of one of the most coveted graduate transfers of the year will sting for Bulldogs fans, particularly if anything were to happen to Daniels.

Newman will be an interesting player to watch in the 2021 NFL Draft, especially now that he has lost a chance to put up a season of film against SEC competition. In his lone full season as Wake Forest's starter in 2019, Newman piled up 2,868 yards on 60.9 percent passing with 26 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.

Even with Daniels in tow, Newman's departure just three weeks before Georgia's opener against Arkansas is certainly not the news the team or Bulldog fans wanted to hear.