There was a time, not too long ago — after their senior years of high school — when there was a debate: Justin Fields or Trevor Lawrence? The pure passer in Lawrence or the athletic freak in Fields.

Now it seems hard to believe, considering how their respective freshmen seasons went. Lawrence led Clemson to a national championship as a true freshman and is now considered the best quarterback prospect in years. Fields barely played at Georgia and transferred to Ohio State.

But it just shows the immense potential experts saw in Fields, who was rated behind Lawrence as the No. 2 prospect in the nation entering college a year ago.

“To me, that’s yet to be seen,” Matt Dickmann, Fields’ coach at Harrison High School (Ga.) said in a phone interview, when asked about the two quarterbacks. “He hasn’t had an opportunity.”

He’ll be getting one now.

Fields, a physical specimen at 6-foot-3 and 223 pounds, will be given the ball from the jump for the Buckeyes and new coach Ryan Day, beginning Saturday against Florida Atlantic at Ohio Stadium. Also a standout high school baseball player, he’ll have the chance to show everyone what all the hype was about on the gridiron, why so much promise was predicted for the high school All-American. But the spotlight is nothing new for Fields, who Dickmann described as having “ice in his veins.”

“He’s been a high-profile recruit,” Day said of Fields, who threw for four touchdowns and ran for four in limited action in his one year at Georgia. “I think he understands what the limelight means. I think he’s always prepared for that. I don’t think this is something that hit on him the last couple months. I think he’s always been ready for the spotlight.

“How he handles it, we’ll see. It’s not going to be perfect. There are going to be mistakes along the way. The only way he grows is by failing.”

Fields hadn’t done much of that, before his year watching at Georgia. Dickmann raved about his former star’s off-field attributes as much as his physical gifts. He was a 4.0 student and terrific leader, self-motivated and a relentless worker.

In two years as Harrison’s starter, he threw for 4,187 yards and 41 touchdowns and ran for 2,096 yards and 28 scores. He was Mr. Georgia Football as a senior and won the invite-only Nike-sponsored Elite 11 quarterback competition.

“He’s got a strong arm, he’s articulate, and he can run,” Dickmann said. “He’s your prototypical college quarterback that checks all the boxes. … Justin’s always been, I guess you can say, very mature for his age. A lot of kids, yeah, they want to be great, but they don’t want to put the work in all the time. That’s not Justin. He’s one of the hardest workers I’ve gotten to work with.”

He’s got the body of a Greek god, built like a linebacker with sprinter’s speed and a big arm. ESPN analyst and former Ohio State quarterback Kirk Herbstreit said he’s “like a Cam Newton-type of guy.”

“That’s a ridiculous skill set for a guy when it comes to speed and power,” Herbstreit said.

Dickmann said he never heard Fields complain about the situation at Georgia, not playing for the first time in his career. After the season, he realized the opportunity wasn’t there, with junior Jake Fromm in place. Ohio State was the natural fit, with Dwayne Haskins going pro. Fields and Haskins spoke about the situation there, and what Day as the offensive coordinator did for him as he set conference records in touchdown passes (59) and passing yards (4,831). It made it an even easier choice.

“It was just a business decision,” Dickmann said.

Fields was granted immediate eligibility after applying for a waiver based on “documented mitigating circumstances that are outside the student-athlete’s control and directly impact the health, safety and well-being of the student-athlete.” Fields was reportedly the target of a racial slur from a Georgia baseball player, but his lawyer has said that was not the basis of the waiver.

The expectations in Columbus will be enormous, not just for Fields, but Day as well. Despite his lack of playing time at the college level, Fields is considered a Heisman Trophy candidate, asked to replace Haskins.

Ohio State is viewed as a co-favorite in the Big Ten along with Michigan, contingent on Fields thriving and Day being able to do the job. Day is the first full-time head coach at Ohio State since 1946 without previous experience, and he’s replacing a legend in Urban Meyer. In that way, the two are tied to the hip more than most quarterbacks and coaches.

“It’s an interesting dynamic,” Herbstreit said. “The natural tendency is to question if [Day] is ready to fill those shoes [of Meyer’s] without head-coaching experience and then the quarterback is filling the shoes of a guy [Haskins] who threw 50 touchdown passes a year ago and broke almost every passing record in school history.

“You put it together, and both are under a lot pressure.”