It’ll be a successful preseason for Georgia if…

Let’s skip past the obvious, like injury avoidance and having enough functioning bodies at the running back position.  Here are three keys I see to feeling good heading into the Dome in nineteen (!) days:

1. Stability on the offensive line.  They’ve settled on a starting five.  Early reviews from the coaches have been positive.  Even more encouraging, two freshmen have been identified as being contributors from a depth standpoint.  One difference between Searels and Friend I’ve noticed, besides their blocking scheme philosophies, is that Friend seems less wedded to cross-training on the line than his predecessor was (tempered by depth considerations, that is).  Given that they’re lining up new faces at four of the five positions on the line, that’s a good thing.  If things stay set, prepare to be pleasantly surprised.
2. Establishing a rotation at wide receiver.  It’s as worrisome as the situation at running back, if you ask me.  The good news is that the pool of reliable options doesn’t have to be that deep starting out, given the stockpile of talent at tight end.  The bad news is that aside from Tavarres King, it’s hard to see where the rest of the rotation is coming from.  You sense the coaches are crossing their fingers that Marlon Brown’s time has finally come (“Marlon Brown would probably be the No. 1 guy. I’ve just been really, really pleased with how he’s played. He’s making a ton of catches over the middle, outside.”), but I doubt they’re ready to bet the ranch on that.  Malcolm Mitchell has wowed everyone with his athleticism and speed, but he’s also showed in practice and in scrimmage that he’s still a freshman learning how to play the position in college.  They really need to come out of the next two weeks with at least three receivers that Aaron Murray can rely on.  I’m not positive they will.
3. Defensive personnel and the learning curve.  We don’t know yet if Todd Grantham is the second coming of Brian VanGorder, but say this for the man, he knows what type of players he wants in his defense.  He demonstrated that in how active he was in the recruiting process for this year’s Dream Team class, and he’s showed it in the personnel moves he made after last season, from the obvious (Tyson to end) to the startling (Ogletree to inside linebacker).  Now comes the challenge of making the pegs fit the holes better than some did last year.  And there are little indications here and there that things are coming together reasonably well.  In that regard, Branden Smith, who many thought might be a bigger contributor on offense than on defense this year, may be the canary in the coal mine.  Grantham had similar praise for Ogletree.  It all still flows from having a real presence at the nose, but the more players who are comfortable in their roles, the faster and better Grantham’s defense is going to play.

Add your thoughts on what you want to see in the comments.

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UPDATE:  Maybe I should have said something about scooter avoidance.

https://twitter.com/#!/Dawgs247/status/103089320524644352

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UPDATE #2:  Hey, at least no charges were filed.  That’s a positive development, right?  Right?