Reggie Ball’s heir apparent

It looks like freshly minted Georgia Tech recruit Jaybo Shaw may become my new favorite Yellow Jacket.

“I told [Johnson] that I was going to be his first quarterback to beat Georgia,” said Shaw, who backed out of a commitment to Middle Tennessee for a verbal commitment to the Yellow Jackets. “He liked the sound of that.”

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Dwayne Allen’s fat lady.

She may not be warbling yet. Ching is reporting there may be some last minute drama with Georgia’s class.

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UPDATE: She done sung, in the key of orange. Best of luck, keed.

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UPDATE #2: Maybe Mark Richt knows a fat lady himself.

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UPDATE #3: Dawg fans, you won’t want to miss this.

Which in-coming freshman will have the biggest impact in the coming future? Is there another Knowshon Moreno out there ready to make an early impact? It might be too early to tell, but we’ll be talking about that and more all day long on Wednesday. Don’t miss your chance to chat with some of college football’s future campus heroes! And when we’re not chatting with the recruits, we’ll bring in some of our Scouts Inc. guys to take all your questions!

Wednesday’s Schedule:

3:00 p.m. – Dwayne Allen – TE (Georgia)

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UPDATE #4:  Westerdawg takes stock of Georgia’s life without Allen.   It’s not an earth shattering loss, although you have to figure the coaches really liked this kid, considering what they were willing to put up with, but we won’t know the full story until we see who the open slot gets filled by.

That was then, this is now.

Ryan Mallett wants the NCAA to grant him a waiver on having to sit out a year as a result of his transfer from Michigan to Arkansas. And the University of Arkansas has announced its “support” for his appeal.

Now first let me say that I think the NCAA ought to look into some sort of modification of the eligibility rule for kids who find themselves in Mallett’s shoes. I think it’s a pretty safe bet that if Rodriguez had been the head coach a year ago that Mallett would neither have been recruited by or signed with Michigan.

“He didn’t fit the system there,” Debbie Mallett said. “It’s not his fault that the university hired Coach Rodriguez. Certainly, Coach Rodriguez should be allowed to run the offense he wants to run. And when I tried to talk to Ryan about possibly staying through the spring, he said, ‘ He didn’t recruit me out of high school. He’s not interested in me. That’s not the type of quarterback he wants to run his offense. ‘ Ryan said he thought that it would be a total waste of his time…”

That being said, it’s a little disconcerting to hear things put so baldly by his parents.

“If they had maintained the same style of offense with Rich Rodriguez there,” Debbie Mallett said,” Ryan would have never transferred. It’s not a personality thing. It’s not that he didn’t like Michigan. That offense is not in his best interest to get him to his ultimate goal which is one day hopefully to be in the NFL. He needs to be where he can start realizing that opportunity if at all possible. We are hoping they will at least entertain the idea and listen to the arguments and go from there.”

Yeah, the rule sucks for someone like Mallett. But it is what it is right now. How does the NCAA justify giving Mallett a waiver and ignoring countless other student athletes who have been in the same boat? That’s simply not fair.

And while I’m at it, what can you say about the ballsy hypocrisy of the Arky administration? They had no problem holding up kids like Mustain when they wanted to leave the program, but now, Mallett is worthy of their support. What a joke.

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UPDATE: Some thoughts about how to update the eligibility rule here.

Class of 2008: who sees the field?

Chip Towers has a post up speculating about which kids in the incoming class have the best chance to have an impact on the field in 2008.  His top five are as follows:

1. OL Ben Jones: By all accounts this guy’s is going to be the Dogs’ starting center next season. That’s pretty significant.
2. WR A.J. Green: Reportedly Georgia’s biggest signee at wideout since Reggie Brown.
3. PK Blair Walsh: Think about Georgia without Brandon Coutu or Billy Bennett the last several years.
4. RBs Dontavius Jackson OR Richard Samuel: One of them is going to play and the other will redshirt.
5. WR Tavarres King: Early reports from this early enrollee are that he has unbelievable hands. But he’s skinny.

Out of that bunch, I think Walsh is the closest thing to a lock.  He’s the perfect storm of talent and need.  (Although note that the coaching staff seems to have done a little bet hedging with this kid, which is prudent.)  The question with him is whether he’s got the mental makeup to be a place kicker in the meat grind of the SEC.  Just remember that nobody questioned Andy Bailey’s leg strength.

I also think the AJ-C guys are right about the two frosh RBs.  One will get on the field, particularly if there’s an injury during the year to either Moreno or King.  (Although it looks like Samuel might prefer to line up on defense.)

I’m not as sure about the wide receivers, though.  There’s no question about the level of Green’s talent.  It’s jawdropping.   But he’s on the thin side, and with the increasing emphasis on the running game, it’s imperative that Georgia’s wide receivers be able to block well.  King is a small kid with great hands and speed, but again, you wonder how much he’ll be able to contribute to the running game.  He does have the plus of a January enrollment, so we’ll see if the extra time in the program is a benefit to getting him on the field early.

As for Jones, you’ve got to love the work ethic.  I mean, here’s a kid that played in the Under Armour All-American game, finished and then drove straight to Athens to enroll in classes.   But starting a freshman center in the SEC?  That’s a tough call.  Given what’s at stake this year, I don’t think the coaches would do that unless the kid gives them the confidence he can handle the job.  Again, the early enrollment may make the difference.

Looking at the commitment list, there are a couple of other possibilities for action this season.   One would be Akeem Hebron.  Yeah, I know that’s kinda cheating, but he’s there.   The other one is Carlton Thomas, who strikes me as someone that fills a niche that Bobo wanted filled.

I ‘m not sure any of the linemen see the field this year, but of the bunch, if I had to pick one, I’d look at Toby Jackson, who’s evidently up to around 260 pounds now.  If that hasn’t cost him any speed, I could see him working into the rotation at DE as the year went on.

No doubt there’ll be a couple of surprises.  In any event, it looks like this shapes up as a helluva class – lots of talent, lots of speed and (most importantly) lots of needs addressed.