You think Mark Richt is happy? Mark Richt is happy.
“I’m kind of speechless,” Richt said. “This guy is exactly what we need to really make this 3-4 (defense) go. John is the cherry on top (of the recruiting class). That’s the biggest cherry I’ve seen on top of an awesome class that we have. First of all, John’s an awesome kid. He’s just got a great personality. He’s a hard worker and has a great spirit about him.
“He’s going to show up to work every day with a smile on his face ready to go. For a guy that big to be a high energy guy, it’s hard to find. His attitude is going to be very contagious on this defense, on the team and even our fans. Everyone is going to love this kid. He’s a big, massive guy who can play the center of our 3-4 defense. This is the first year we had to recruit a guy like him. To get a player who I think is the No. 1 nose in America is awesome.”
Make that awesomely happy. Me too. I told a friend of mine as we were walking to Stegeman yesterday that this signing excited me more than any other in this year’s class. Why? Here are a few reasons:
- Beating out Florida for a top recruit is always good for a cheap thrill, at worst.
- Just as the case with Crowell, Richt took an enormous strategic gamble by not recruiting any other immediate help at the nose position, and wound up winning big. (Or maybe more accurately, not losing big.)
- Grantham is sold on this kid. I get the feeling he’s already got a strong idea of how he’s going to strategize against running quarterbacks, an admitted weakness last season.
- The one person in Athens I suspect is more thrilled with Jenkins’ signing is DeAngelo Tyson, who moves to end, a position to which he is much better suited.
- Indeed, as Garner and Grantham both point out, Jenkins allows them to sort out the bodies on the defensive line nicely.
- In case you were wondering, Boise State’s starting center is 5’11” and weighs 285 pounds. (He was a first-team All-WAC selection.)
- And the real cherry on the sundae: “There might be a play or two [on offense] for him. If you look back, there’s been some big guys that have lined up in the backfield before.”
Welcome, Big John.
Get The Picture 
It imediately helps us at nose AND at end.
So, it strenghtens two of the three positions of what is probably the most important unit on any SEC team.
What could be better than that?
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Absolutely! A much bigger get in terms of need than Crowell. Here is a guy that may take up 2 maybe 3 OL on some plays. Now we need to start recruiting another one. Even Cody had Josh Chapman as a backup.
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Geathers ought to be able to back up Jenkins, particularly after a season’s experience and growth. We are in good shape at nose now. That said, another one would still be good.
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I agree but don’t rule out “Bean”. I think he will finally find his best position at the “Nose”.
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Right 39. Forgot about him. We have several guys at that position so there should be plenty of competition and good back-ups. BTW, since Bean got injured so early last season is he going to be able to get another year of eligibility? Anybody know?
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Per the AJC when Bean went in for surgery “Anderson is a junior and would have one more season of eligibility.”
I don’t know if he redshirted last year (can he redshirt even though he played in the first game?), and since he was a true-junior I don’t know if he would get a medical extension to keep playing.
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He would be eligible for one but he spent 1 year at prep school & 2011 will be his 5th at UGA. Six years since he graduated from high school & another year would be 7.
He may think that it is time to move on. I think that he is the oldest Dawg on the team already. But again you never can tell. Is the NFL in his future?
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“Bean” is likely to move back to offensive line.
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Every position needs a backup, of course, but my impression was that Cody’s was more important than is typical because he wasn’t built to last a high percentage of downs. It appears to me that Jenkins is in much better shape. That’s not to say he necessarily will be better than Cody was, but that he’ll be able to see more snaps and likely have better consistency.
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Agree, Big John is likely to be the most significant impact player for the 2011 season signed this week. Not minimizing other talented players that made the commitment to UGA, but we got seriously gashed between the tackles in 2010. Many a drive continued because there was always 2-3 up the gut available. I not only like this young man because of his physical abilities, I think he REALLY committed to Georgia in his comments. It was obvious, there was never any real competition for JJ after he and Mom met Mark Richt.
And a big assist to Ray Drew for his efforts in helping the staff to land a sterling class, I think we have a definite leader coming on board for the defense. Something tells me this whole class is going to police themselves better than some in the recent past.
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I think the only reason UF was going after Big John was to try and keep him from coming to Athens. They recruited 2 5* DT’s last year and still have Omar Hunter and a couple of other upperclassmen. It seemed to be a strategic move on their part.
While I think it’s probably the most important get of this class, let’s not forget that Nick Fairley was largely invisible his first season at Auburn. While it would be great for Big John to come in from Day 1 like Cody did at Alabama, that is probably a bit unrealistic.
As others have mentioned, this really strengthens the rest of the line and will help the inside LB’s immensely. If Jenkins does nothing else but take on double teams every play, we will see much more negative yardage running plays.
One thing Jenkins does not do is solve the riddle of 3rd-and-long, which was Grantham’s biggest weakness last year. Big John can do his part to get it to 3rd and 12, but from there, the rest of the guys are going to have to play football.
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Less we forget, UF is going to be a 3-4 team too and the DT’s they got last year are not Nose big. Muschamp was going for his Mt Cody just like we were. Not to say we will do any better against UF than we have in the past but they are changing everything Spread to Pro-set and 4-3 to 3-4. IF we don’t get them in 2011 we won’t ever get them.
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Let’s not be overly dramatic 69. I remember hearing that last year, too. We’ll get them plenty of times in the future whether we win in ’11 or not.
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UF will not run a base 3-4. Muschamp intends to run a base 4-3 with an occasional 3-4 set mixed in.
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Not meaning to do a rain dance, but I was under the impression Chris Mays was recruited as a nose, too.
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Not an insider, but have read multiple places that Mayes will not be joining the team until 2013.
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‘Kinda broad at the shoulder and narrow at the hip,
and everybody knew you didn’t give no lip,
to Big John’
Pretty vanilla but kind of catchy.
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Well done gentlemen.
Now if we can be willing to take such gambles with our play calling…
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I hope he is as good as advertised. No excuses next year.
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Phenominal recruiting class bt Richt and Co. JJ is a quick boost to the position that anchors the 3-4 defense. We need to continue recruiting NGs though… He will be gone in 2 years so highschool players we recruited this and last years will need to be ready to step in and be dominant when he graduates. I’m not sure we have that guy on campus yet. Presuming we still run the 3-4 defense two years from now, of course…
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An Opinion: With Drew, Jenkins, & maybe 1 ILB from the new guys, the D is a solid 2 deep at all positions. Time for Grantham to show his stuff.
Also, besides the OL, the O is also a solid 2 deep, including WRs. If the new OL coach can get an OL that can get the job done, the 2011 Dawgs have all the pieces in place to have a very sucessful season.
Finally, this optimist has confidence in Richt, in Grantham, & in Bobo to make 2011 a very sucessful season. GATA.
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Great headline.
~~~
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Let us call the Crowley and Jenkins Tandem as “Cootie and Cork”. John Jenkins is THE BIG CORK who will plug all the holes and leaks in the dike i.e. trenches.
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Isn’t “Cootie” Harrow’s nickname, not Crowell’s?
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Sorry, I meant Crowell for Crowley.
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Sorry you were in the Steg for that stinker. Whew.
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Re. “There might be a play or two [on offense] for him.”
To quote the sage, “Two words: Charles Grant.”
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That play where Grant got injured was (and still is) the worst bonehead call in the history of UGA football (and that is really saying something after some of the calls last season). To put things into perspective, the Chicago Bears had been Super Bowl champs and had a fondness for putting Refrigerator Perry in the offensive backfield as a blocker in short yardage situations. The Bears let him carry the ball a couple of times, too (I think he once even scored a TD). That gave Donnan the idea. But instead of using the concept correctly, Donnan called for a play where Grant got the ball deep in the backfield and ran WIDE. A DB hit him low and took out one of his knees. Out for the season. Grant was UGA’s best D-lineman during that period and was lost for the year because of that bonehead call. He played in the NFL for years, mainly with the Saints, that’s how good a D-lineman he was. Don’t do it CMR. Please don’t do it.
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Pretty sure they’ll only use him as a blocker on goal line sets, so I wouldn’t worry aobut. And The Fridge actually scored a TD in the Super Bowl.
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You realize that a D-lineman stands just as good a chance of being chop blocked playing on defense and have a season-ending injury, right?
If they put Jenkins in the backfield, it would almost certainly be as a FB, in which case he wouldn’t be doing anything differently than what he does at NT. Plow ahead and take up bodies.
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You sure convinced me. You’ re right ‘Cide. That playcall by Donnan was pure football genius. Just bad luck Charles Grant got his knee blown out. Why don’t you e-mail CMR and recommend that he run Jenkins on that same play in the first game of the season. I’m sure he will appreciate it.
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You were right the first time, Mayor. I remember being on the sidelines and deciding, “It’s time to call that play that gets the running back’s knee blown out every time we run it. And let’s put Grant in there to run the play.”
You have made me see how stupid it was. If I had only left him at DE, he would have easily played the entire year with no injuries. We all know how safe a position DE is.
I also agree with your assumption that luck is nonexistent on the football field. Every bad outcome is the result of a poor decision by the head coach.
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Coach, thank you so much for getting my knee blown out. If you hadn’t called that wide play with me carrying the ball, I would have had to play the whole season at DE. If that happened and I had played all year I would definitely have been injured so badly by a chop block that I never would have played pro football and never would have made millions of dollars like I did. Thank you, thank you, thank you for putting me in the backfield and calling that run for me to get hurt. If that hadn’t happened and I had played all year long you probably would have won more games at UGA, too, and you might never have been fired. So I know you gave up a lot for me to get that injury. I’ll never forget you. Your Best Friend, Charles
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Charles,
You obviously haven’t read the Mayor’s convincing analysis of that situation. As the Mayor has pointed out, you would never have been injured by playing DE. DEs, as we all know, have it pretty easy. Most of the time, they’re not even blocked. So cut blocks aren’t even a factor for DEs.
Obviously, it’s a lot safer for linemen in the trenches, crowded with bodies, than it is for players running in space. That’s why you never see linemen wearing knee braces. Only running backs use those.
Apologetically yours,
Jim
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“I agree but don’t rule out “Bean”.”
I know Bean, and I hope he gets a lot of playing time at either NT or maybe back on offense. He’s a good kid, and a physical beast when he’s healthy.
All the D-lineman are going to have to rotate in and out; Athens is too hot in the early season not to, I don’t care how good the new conditioning program is.
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+ 1.
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Hearing that Bean may be moving back to offense after this signing. We have the depth on DL now that we don’t need him there.
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He’s going to wear #6!!!! I can’t wait.
Let him play a little offense. Let’s be fun and creative again. Nothing wrong with that.
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Hopefully the dive play just became obsolete.
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