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Monday, May 23, 2011

Official depth chart released: A few mild surprises

We've all had our stabs at what the Georgia football team's position ranking might be at this point, and now the coaches have offered up theirs as well. Here's a link to the official depth chart, released on Monday afternoon.

A few notes after a quick scan of the chart:

- Caleb King is listed first at tailback, which is no shock, but then it gets interesting: Carlton Thomas is second, followed by spring walk-on sensation Brandon Harton, and THEN Ken Malcome.

So put the brakes on the Malcome train, at least for a bit. And bottom line, this position is Isaiah Crowell's for the taking if he doesn't blow it.

- Bruce Figgins is listed first at fullback, over Zander Ogletree. Figgins just switched there from tight end before spring practice. The third fullback is walk-on Dustin Royston.

- The starting offensive line is the way Mark Richt listed it a couple weeks back. The backup spots are a bit more interesting:

After the departure of A.J. Harmon, Austin Long is now the top backup at right tackle, while walk-on Hugh Williams is the top backup at left tackle. Yup, getting a bit thin there. ... Kolton Houston is the top backup at left guard, while Brent Benedict is the top backup at right guard. I suspect new offensive line coach Will Friend isn't done moving players around.

- Sanders Commings remains at cornerback, at least according to the depth chart. In fact Branden Smith is listed as the top backup to Brandon Boykin. I'm not sure whether to read something into that or not. But it does seem quite interesting.

- Shawn Williams enters the summer as the starter at strong safety, with Jakar Hamilton the backup to Bacarri Rambo at free safety. But that's a very tenuous hold on the position for Williams.

- There are no surprises in the front seven. Richard Samuel is the top backup to Alec Ogletree at one inside linebacker spot. Abry Jones is the starter at end opposite DeAngelo Tyson.

- No surprise that Huston Mason is listed as the top backup to Aaron Murray, with Christian LeMay third. I still think it's likely that Mason plays this season and LeMay redshirts, but I wouldn't rule out Mason taking the redshirt.

- Marlon Brown retains his hold on the No. 2 receiver spot, with Michael Bennett and Israel Troupe listed behind him. Rantavious Wooten and then Chris Conley are behind Tavarres King.

Of course, all of this is quite temporary. The recruits who will vie for playing time right away include John Jenkins (nose tackle), Crowell (tailback), Malcolm Mitchell (receiver), Ray Drew (outside linebacker) Damian Swann (cornerback), Corey Moore (safety) and Nick Marshall (cornerback). And the way that offensive line looks, I wouldn't rule out Zach DeBell, Watts Dantzler, Hunter Long and David Andrews playing right away.

9 comments:

ben said...

Ken Malcome....wtf?

David Basham said...

Carlton Thomas is an incredible liability every time he runs the ball up the gut, which is what Bobo seems to want to do with him.

Russ said...

Please save us Isaiah!

Doug said...

Sigh... Another year of Carlton Thomas up the middle.

Riley said...

Malcombe was injured for most of Spring, though. I wouldn't be too concerned just yet.

OZAM said...

Am I in the minority regarding the incoming freshmen class?

While I have no doubt they are athletically gifted and have the potential to be key contributors over the next few years, to somehow expect more than a marginal contribution in 2011 is VERY UNREALISTIC! College football schemes are just too complex for most 18 year olds to learn in a few weeks.

IveyLeaguer said...

It's a scary thing to see Baccari Rambo head and shoulders above everyone else at safety.

Nothing new, it's been that way for a while, but just as scary as ever.
~~~

Joeski said...

OZAM, if the freshmen are athletically gifted enough to compete, and physically able to take the abuse, the coaches will make adjustments and give them limited portions of the playbook that they can digest.

This happens on every level. It's called coaching.

I'm not alarmed by much on the depth chart, but that's mostly because I understand that a 'spring depth chart' has very little bearing on what the situation is going to be in the fall. Its purposes is mainly to provide the fans with some information and the players with some motivation, and that's it.

EatingVeggies said...

Crowell struggled against physical high school teams. It will be a big adjustment for him at the next level. Not the kind of back to carry the load, this season.