There were more than a few eyebrows raised the other night when Mark Richt said this about Washaun Ealey, his embattled tailback.
““Washaun has a ways to go still to show me that he deserves to start or even play right now,” Richt said during his speaking tour in Augusta.
Richt was asked Thursday night in Macon to expand on that.
“The bottom line is we don’t have a tailback right now that deserves to start, in my opinion,” Richt told my colleague Mike Lough at The Telegraph. “We don’t have a guy that has proven he can do all the things that we’re going to ask that guy to do. Washaun is one of them.”
So it isn’t quite clear whether Richt meant Ealey was coming up short off the field – he was suspended earlier in the spring, and later reinstated – or just on the field. He missed most of spring practice with a hamstring injury. It could be both, although in Macon Richt emphasized his discontent with the tailbacks’ on-field decisions.
Richt said it was “consistency period. Hold onto the football. Block. Don’t stumble through a hole that’s gaping. Make a good decision and hit it, you know.”
Speaking before the entire crowd, Richt expressed similar frustration, according to Lough:
“All those guys have had ample time in my opinion to take a hold of it,” Richt said, pointing also to upperclassman Caleb King. “No one has. That’s been the most disappointing (thing for) me probably the last couple seasons is that, that position didn’t get solidified by somebody there who was capable.”
If you needed more evidence that Isaiah Crowell will be given every chance to start right away, there you go.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
14 comments:
And what happens if Crowell comes in this summer and does the exact same thing that Ealey, King, and the rest are currently doing?
There are a lot of eggs in the Crowell basket for Richt right now...maybe he thinks that he has another Knowshon, I don't know.
There has been a lot of rhetoric from Richt talking about "the young pup" coming in; it seems like he is really trying to light a fire under his current RBs but they are just not listening/performing and it appears that he has become very frustrated by that.
What I do know is that if Crowell comes in and does not light it up in practice right away, we are going to see the same running game that we have seen for the past 2 years...inconsistent and ineffective.
zdud, so? it happens....
Hey Mr. Murray hater, feast on this quote from the first wide receiver taken in the NFL draft this year:
On playing with a freshman QB at Georgia last season …
"It was sometimes frustrating. All I could do was do my job, but he's a great quarterback. He's going to be a great one.” - AJ Green
But you know what, I'm sure that you're better able to predict our future QB situation than AJ Green is... I trust your judgement and analysis over his...
he signed the number one tailback in the nation because his other backs were not taking care of business. what the hell else do you want him to do, petition the NCAA for more eligibility and tote the rock himself.
what is your point?
I don't think anyone is denying that Crowell COULD be the starting RB. But many do think it's silly to say it's "his job to lose" when he hasn't even joined the team yet.
I don't think its right for Richt to call out his plyers in the media. Look in the mirror. You have had a stable of highly rated running backs for 10 years and only 1 has panned out. Is that the players? Maybe its the contant shuffling. Make a decision, pick a back, give him the rock and live with the choice.
only 1 has panned out?
Musa Smith
Thomas Brown
Kregg Lumpkin
It's called "trying to light a fire".
Players without potential don't garner these types of comments by Coaches.
Anon @12:28
Musa was inherited so I don't count him. I think you solidify my point by having Thomas Brown and Lumpkin on your list. Why not add Danny Ware he has had the best pro career.
@califdawg: It should be noted that in 2005 with those 3 backs, we averaged roughly the same yards (about 4.5) per rush as 2007 and 2008 OMGKNOWSHON. 2002 was about a yard lower in average per rush.
Look, I'm not crazy about the playcalling at times either, but to act like Richt is a running back killer isn't supported by the facts. Yes, he and bobo seems to prefer balancing the workload more than you (or me) would like. But the appearance that we never seem to have a stud TB is because the carries are spread out but the results are essentially the same.
Lets face it McClendon has as much to do with our under performing RB's as anyone. He's only a few years older than they are and as far as I can tell he knows nothing about coaching RB's. They whiff blocks, they never change hands when they run to the side line and they fumble at the worst possible times. Why the heck don't we go get Robert Edwards from his HS coaching job and let him be a grad assistant the RB coach for us.
I actually like him calling out his players in front of the media. I would completely disagree with it if he called a player out who works his tail off and made a couple mistakes. Obviously, he just doesn't see the effort from these guys that we need. He is trying anything he can to light a fire under these guys, lets hope this works!
Seth,
When you compare Ealey's productivity to Georgia greats like Moreno & Walker, and Ealey comes up better in yard per carry and td's per touch than Walker, and is close to Moreno is both, do you agree with Richt's assessment of Ealey, that Ealey hasn't shown Richt enough? I don't know what more Ealey could do, average 12 yards a carry and score a td every carry? Likely, Richt's just making room for Crowell. I wonder if Richt feels Ealey's already made up his mind to transfer.
How is leading the team in rushing for the past two years and getting 5.5 yds per carry not solidifying the job at tailback? Richt is a complete idiot.I think he has something personal against Ealey.
Post a Comment