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Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Spring practice position battles

Or maybe skirmishes is a better way of putting it. The recruiting haul for the Georgia football program last month takes a bit of the suspense out of spring football practice, which begins Thursday.

Some starting spots may be decided, but a lot will be in a holding pattern. For instance, John Jenkins should be the starting nose tackle unless he shows up in May looking like he’s been hanging out with Charlie Sheen.

If I were guessing, and I am because it's my right as an American, I would pencil in the following starting spots:

QB Aaron Murray, WR Tavarres King, TE Orson Charles and Aron White, LT Trinton Sturdivant, C Ben Jones, RT Cordy Glenn, DE DeAngelo Tyson, NT John Jenkins, OLB Jarvis Jones, ILB Christian Robinson, CB Brandon Boykin, S Bacarri Rambo, K Blair Walsh, P Drew Butler. Alec Ogletree is also a heavy favorite at ILB, unless he has trouble adjusting to the position.

That leaves the following competitions:

Washaun Ealey vs. Caleb King vs. Ken Malcome vs. Carlton Thomas: That’s the order I would put them in entering practice … but there’s a guy still attending high school in Columbus I’d put ahead of all of them. Still, Richt left the door open for one of the returning tailbacks to “hold off the young pup." (I assume he meant Isaiah Crowell, not the actual puppy Crowell held up at his signing ceremony.)

So with Ealey reinstated, King academically eligible, and Malcome not able to redshirt, all of these guys will be given a chance to show that all the eggs don’t have to be put in the Crowell basket. (Sorry for the cliche', but sometimes it's the best way of putting it.)

Christian LeMay vs. Hutson Mason: The team has the luxury of three scholarship quarterbacks this spring, so ideally the team will be able to redshirt LeMay or Mason. It’s not clear the “winner” of this position battle will actually play next fall; but with Logan Gray gone, the spring and preseason camp will be spent deciding which is more ready to play if something happens to Murray.

Bruce Figgins vs. Zander Ogletree: The fullback position is wide open, and Richt seemed excited by the idea of Figgins, the converted tight end, in the backfield. But can he carry the ball? Ogletree has experience, but only one year of it, and doesn’t bring Figgins’ size. The Bulldogs also have Cameron Allen, Dustin Royston and Matt Sweat.

Marlon Brown vs. the pack: I wouldn’t regard receiver as a fierce position fight, considering anybody in the two-deep will see snaps. But with Tavarres King the favorite for one starting spot, the coaches seem to want Brown to be the No. 2 if he can show dependability. If not, Israel Troupe, Rantavious Wooten, Michael Bennett and early enrollee Chris Conley are around. And then Malcolm Mitchell comes this summer.

A bunch of people at guard:
The tackle and center positions are basically set, and Kenarious Gates is the leading candidate to start at one of the guard spots. So that leaves a slew of guys who will try to prove they belong: Brent Benedict (6-5, 301, R-Fr.), Chris Burnette (6-2, 300, R-Soph.), A.J. Harmon (6-5, 320, Jr.), Kolton Houston (6-5, 291, R-Fr.), Dallas Lee (6-4, 300, R-Soph.) and Austin Long (6-5, 302, R-Soph.) and Justin Anderson (6-5, 326, R-Sr.) New offensive line coach Will Friend will have plenty of choices.

Kwame Geathers vs. himself at nose tackle: DeAngelo Tyson has moved to end and Anderson back to offense, so who’s left? Mike Thornton, who redshirted as a freshman, will get a look. But it’s clear that Geathers will have every chance to show he deserves snaps in the fall, or at least be the top backup to Jenkins.

A bunch of people at edge rusher: I feel more comfortable calling it that rather than slotting specific people at OLB and DE, at least as far as the uncertain starters. (Jarvis Jones seems set at OLB and Tyson at one DE spot.) Cornelius Washington seems a favorite at OLB, but he has to have a good spring because Ray Drew will be arriving in the summer. Abry Jones and Derrick Lott will compete at DE, but Garrison Smith could be a factor too, as could Washington if he slides down to the line. And Dexter Morant and T.J. Stripling, who won’t participate in spring practice, will get a chance if healthy by the preseason.

Alec Ogletree vs. the field at ILB: I think Ogletree has the job if he shows he can handle the transition. But Mike Gilliard and Richard Samuel would like to make a case.

Sanders Commings vs. Branden Smith and others: Commings is the heavy favorite by virtue of his size and having started nine times last year. Still, this is more of a playing time battle, what with all the nickel and dime coverages the Bulldogs will employ. Jordan Love, Derek Owens and Blake Sailors will be factors. And everyone needs to play well, because a slew of top recruits (Damian Swann, Nick Marshall, etc.) arrive soon.

Jakar Hamilton vs. Shaun Williams and Marc Deas: Ogletree’s shift to linebacker gives a second life to all these guys. But continuing the theme, they need to show that incoming freshmen Corey Moore and Chris Sanders won’t be needed.

36 comments:

Anonymous said...

Battles will be on the defensive side, as usual. Grantham seems to actually believe in competition.

Bobo & Richt go with their favorites on offense, there are no battles, just entitlement. Offense is Murray, T King & Brown, Charles, Crowell.

Anonymous said...

My guess is whichever QB Richt tries to redshirt, transfers.

j.leonardjr said...

Anon 11:25,

Why?

I would want to be the red shirted QB. They both know they won't play this year unless Murray gets hurt so it would be better to red shirt and get some separation from Murray in graduation year.

Plus, Lemay has already said he would be fine with red shirting.

j.leonardjr said...

I would be very surprised if Abry Jones wasn't the starter at the other DE.

BicDawg said...

where is Bill Shanks and his "we dont have any QBs at UGA" bellyaching self? "It is all Richts fault we dont have any QB's" Boo hoo hoo. He should be saying it is all Richts hard work that we have 3 very good QBs beginning 2011.

Anonymous said...

Don't you know BicDawg, according to BS Shanks all of our QB's must suck simply because they play for Richt. Shanks is the kind of guy who fusses about paying the taxes after winning the lottery.

Anonymous said...

I agree, whoever redshirts will leave the team, just like Mettenberger & Gray have left, no play time means bye bye.

Anonymous said...

I think Gray & Mett left due to the entitlement policy of Georgia, it was Murray all along, and when both guys crushed Murray head to head over Spring, they decided to head on to work under a coach that keeps his word and allows competition at QB. If anyone tries to compete with Murray, Richt has ways of making sure they transfer.

Anonymous said...

Guys don't like to redshirt, they like to play, especially when a QB goes 6-7, and 0-6 against winning teams. They don't expect that QB to continue starting, neither does anyone with common sense.

Anonymous said...

Am I the only one who remembers why Mett is no longer on our team? Idiots.

BicDawg said...

And UGA is the only college in the country that has QBs that dont win the starting job and end up transferring. All Richts fault. I have favorites just like Richt does. It is players who play well. Murray is one of those.

Anonymous said...

Wont matter anyway. UGA and McGaritty will make a head coaching change come December. Im looking foward to 2012.

Anonymous said...

Here's the stats on how bad Murray did last Spring, and then, was named #1 starter.

http://dawg-extra.blogspot.com/2010/04/mettenberger-shined-during-scrimmages.html

BicDawg said...

Like I told you last week Anon 1:37. BYE! see you in 2012 then. The rest of us Dawgs will suffer through GA winning the SEC championship game in 12/2011 together without you.

PTC DAWG said...

I see the GT trolls are out in force again...

Don't feed the trolls.

Dawg99 said...

The spring practice running backs are competing to see who will back up Crowell, the "chosen one" in waiting.

Bob K in NC said...

What about Damian Swan at Safety. He is good. One of the top players in the country. Could play either cornerback or safety in college. Excellent speed. Forty yard dash: 4.49 secs, bench max: 185, squat max: 260, shuttle: 4.2, vertical: 31 inches. He looks good coming off the bus 6-0, 170 lbs.

Anonymous said...

Are you a betting man BicDawg? I didnt think so.....

Brian said...

Does Richard Samuel still play for this team? If so, is he likely to see the field? Any chances of Smith playing receiver? I do hate to see talented folks not playing.

Anonymous said...

Gosh! Did someone leave the door to the asylum open or something? There are some real nuts on here today!

We have one of the best QB's in the country and people want to talk about a guy who a) hasn't shown ANYTHING in college but that he can't stay out of trouble.

Michael said...

Should we just go ahead and call Anonymous BuLlDaWg or however he spelled it? Or give him a nickname: MurrayHater?

I wish he'd actually identify himself by his old Bulldawg name instead of going anonymous so he can kinda sorta think he is making people think more than 1 person shares his stupid hate opinion of Murray.

The rest of the universe is apparently stupid for thinking the kid had an excellent year and has a bright future.

Anonymous said...

The Georgia Tech troll posts lies about Murray to get an emotional response from others. That's what trolls do. Ignore her.

Anonymous said...

You guys go easy on Murray, Murray played great against Idaho State & Louisiana Lafayette. Lost to every winning team, but Murray played great against the losing teams. 16 of his 24 td's were against losing teams. Better pass completion ratio too against the losing teams.

dawgofdasouth said...

Well one thing is for certain,Murray has to step up and show he can play in the big games.A bad day against USCe and he is benched.He also has to learn to throw a screen pass,he could not do that last year.He must perform at a higher level this year Richt can't afford to take a hit for him.
After saying all of that,I must say I liked Murry and most of the way he performed last year.I supported him whole heartedly.Then after all was said and done and I looked back on the season I saw exactly what Bulldawg has been harping about.Like it or not it is what it is.Hoping Murry has a stellar season.

BicDawg said...

anon 4.51. you still sore about the $5.00 you lost to your mother in law on the bowl game? No. not a gambler but I like the song.

BicDawg said...

If my memory serves me correct. Murray had us playing close in every big game. Maybe Murray should play DB since most of UGAs problems were huge defensive breakdowns. I dont see how BuLLDawg can hang defensive play around Murrays neck.

ReservoirDawg said...

Seth,

I know that some former UGA players, who are now in the NFL, are planning on coming to Athens to train if there is a lockout. Jeff Owens is there already. I would be interested if these players will be working out with the current squad. Also, how they feel about the S&C changes and how they compare to their NFL programs.

Anonymous said...

Don't see how BuLLDawg can try and hang Murray's lousy play against winning teams on the defense, but it figures. Sure, it's the defense's fault Murray ranks last in 4th quarter passing accuracy in college football.

Anonymous said...

Wins and losses aren't the only factor in evaluating a QB (obviously, because he is one of 10starters on offense and doesn't play defense or special teams). Example that I've used before: Tim Tebow won the Heisman during his worst W-L season at Florida. They barely made a bowl game that year, and they lost to Michigan at it's worst. The question you have to ask yourself is... if Murray played for another SEC team last year, would the team have been better, worse, or about the same? So, if he played for South Carolina last year, do you think the team would have done better, worse, or about the same? I think better.

Anonymous said...

Murray ranked #80 or worse in all pressure packed areas like:

3rd down accuracy
accuracy in 4th quarter
accuracy in red zone
3rd and long (10+ yards)

Against winning teams, Murray'sd true colors shine:

#119 in passing accuracy

The guy just chokes. It's not the defenses fault, it's Murray's fault he ranks so low.

Anonymous said...

Dear Tech Troll,

You wouldn't hate him so much if he weren't doing so well. Think about how much we, as UGA fans, hate Tim Tebow and Cam Newton. Pretty good QBs, eh? It's pretty obvious how much you hate Murray. How much did you hate Joe Cox? Not a whole lot. See the correlation here?

Anonymous said...

Opposing fans don't hate losers... they hate winners. Think about it... UGA could have cared less about GT for almost a decade (on the flip side, Tech has hated us for the last decade). Then, Tech won a game... and we started caring again (granted, that feeling has subsided now that we're building a new winning streak). But still, we hate all the great ones... if you are hating on Murray as an opposing fan, that can only be a good thing for us...

dawgofdasouth said...

*Stating facts about Murray's play is not hating on him.And if Murray played for USCe they would have been about the same.
If Murray is going to be successful against the top 10 teams he has to have help,first from the oline and second from a successful run game.While our oline was good enough against lesser opponents it sucked against the better teams,and that would effect any qbacks results.
But my earlier comments were that Murray himself has some weaknesses he has to improve on i.e. screen passes or Richt will have to bench him.

Anonymous said...

Murray did set a record--LEAST TD's against winning teams. Only 8 in 2010, Joe cox had double that.

Anonymous said...

Hard to believe Murray is 2x worse than Joe Cox, but Joe Cox did throw 2x more td's against winning teams than Murray.

Anonymous said...

http://blogs.ajc.com/junkyard-blawg/2011/03/10/questions-loom-as-dogs-open-spring-practice/?cp=1#comment-132671

Seth - not the first time he's yanked one of your stories w/o attribution. Thoughts?