A final thought on the Logan Gray decision

A couple of weeks ago, I posed this question:

(2) Hale is reporting that, “From what I’ve been told, he truly wants to play receiver now and that’s not much of an option at UGA apparently.” Does that mean that the coaches would rather have him leave the program entirely than change positions now?

Keep that in mind as you read this quote from Richt that Hale posted yesterday.

… After spending all spring — and the first month afterward — assuring fans that no quarterback had won the starting job yet, Richt relented somewhat Wednesday, saying that it would be likely that Murray, a redshirt freshman, would be the starter and appeared ready for the job.

“He’s to the point, in my opinion, where he just needs to play,” Richt said.

So, yeah, it looks like this came down to a duel between Gray, insisting that a move to receiver was in his best interest if he wanted a chance to see the field in a meaningful way, and the coaches, with their (justified) concern about the lack of depth such a move would create at quarterback.  In the end, it looks like Richt graciously conceded on the matter.

Although he sounds like a man who’s not completely shutting his options down,

… While Richt said Gray’s work at receiver would likely eliminate his chances of being the starter — and thus making Aaron Murray the de facto winner of the competition — the position change wouldn’t necessarily mean Gray would be dropped from the depth chart altogether.

“I don’t know what (Mason) can do,” Richt said. “If he’s ready, he’ll still play. If we don’t think he’s ready, I would be more than happy to have Logan continue to be our No. 2 and then just go from there.”

… it’s hard to see how you can give a lot of meaningful snaps in practice to someone who’s willingly relegated himself to little more than an emergency option at quarterback.

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