Honestly, this is the kind of stuff that drives me up the wall about present-day recruiting coverage:
Johnson, who delayed his college decision two weeks after signing day so he could visit Mississippi State last weekend, gives UGA some much-needed momentum after a disappointing finish on signing day. The Bulldogs went 0-for-4 on high-profile prospects who announced their decisions on ESPNU.
The missed recruit that hurt the worst was Montravius Adams, the 5-star defensive tackle from Dooly County High School who surprisingly picked Auburn over Clemson and UGA. What was really surprising about Adams’ decision was that he didn’t decide to visit Auburn until less than a week before signing day – and then ended up signing with the Tigers. A lot of it had to do with his longtime friendship with Rodney Garner, the former UGA recruiting coordinator who was hired away as Auburn’s defensive line coach.
I hate to pick on Carvell here, because he’s far from the only one who indulges in bullshit like this, but he’s convenient.
If you think that signing Toby Johnson was a great get for Georgia because it makes up for a disappointing signing day rather than because he’s a talented kid at a need position for the Dawgs, you have badly missed the forest for the trees.
And I know it interferes with the narrative, but I bet if you polled the Georgia coaching staff, they’d tell you that losing Tunsil hurt worse than losing Adams.
Get The Picture 
He ain’t never got nothing good to say straight up
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Carvell enjoys the long hanging fruit
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Carvell, and the AJC as a whole. A primary reason I encourage all to no longer patronize their pages.
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First!
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As is often true Carvell finds a way to put negative spin on good news for UGA. Don’t know if Johnson will be great but his big body will be appreciated.
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Toby tore his ACL and MCL. He needs to gain weight and get use to additional weight on that repaired wheel. He is not a space eater. He is not playing nose tackle the same way as his NFL bound predecessors. I don’t think he sees the field this year.
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He’s not playing the nose. He’s playing the end, although he’ll move inside on nickel packages.
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The knee has to be a concern though. Although the redshirt option makes that slightly less long term, but a concern for this season’s depth. Still a great signing.
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Agreed, although I continue to be amazed by the shorter time it takes these days for many to make a full recovery from ACL surgery.
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These knee injuries to kids are always kinda vague. Sometimes the press doesn’t even correctly name the right ligament or damage. He injured it in November. Both ACL and MCL. To get both by playing football vs skiing it is common for the knee to bow inward as well as rotate. Allowing him two or three weeks to work it some and allow for the the swelling to dissipate prior to surgery, I would think it would be closer to 6 or 8 months before he started to get full range of motion and comfort knowing where it is while playing without thinking of it. I wonder just how much meniscus damage there was. There was some I’m sure. With spring ball looming is he healthy enough to take advantage of it? It he can’t how far does that set him back? If he is playing the 1 gap and his strength is his pass rush how much of that first step does he lose? Who is in front of him? He is a young guy so his body can bounce back from this. It will take a lot of grit and
determination.
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He won’t enroll until June.
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I believe he is also 3 years with 2 to play. So he could still sit out a year and be useful for 2 more years. Although, we sure could use the depth this year.
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Who the heck is playing nose this year?
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Chris Mayes and Johnathan Taylor for starters.
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“Toby….needs to gain weight…”
He’s listed at 310 lbs!! And it doesn’t appear from his photo that he’s missed any meals lately. I’m very happy to have another space eater on the team. Also glad I don’t have to pay his dinner tab!
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From ESPN- “Johnson became Georgia’s 33rd commitment and put a cherry on top of an already-stacked Bulldogs’ 2013 class.”
But Carvell and the AJC have decided that UGA had a bad recruiting year, and they have to protect the meme.
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As we say in Mexico, feliz cumpleanos…..to f’ing Toby!
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The AJC’s ‘columnists’ are merely trolls at this point…fishing for comments and page hits in order to sell banner ads.
Recruiting rankings are stupid, too. According to ESPN, Michigan, which has 0- 5 stars, 17- 4 stars, and 9 -3 stars has the #6 class in the nation while UGA which inked 21(!)-4 stars and 12 -3 stars has the #10 class. If someone can explain that…I’d love to hear it.
Anyway, my bigger question is roster numbers for next year. If I’m not mistaken, UGA back counted 10 players to last year meaning they could still back count 2 and sign up to 27 next year, is that correct?
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ESPN rates classes based on caliber of player at posistion of need … not saying their ranking of MI is accurate, but that’s how they spin it …
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ESPN only gives out about 10 five-stars, but they also give out numerical grades (ranging 40-99). So, if you have a handful of four-stars who barely missed five-star status, that would factor in to class rankings. I haven’t looked at Mich’s average prospect grade, but I bet it’s a higher average than UGA’s. It all depends on where the individual players are positioned in the prospect rankings.
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I thought it was posted here at GTP that 2014 was going to be a small class.
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Carvell is very popular Irwin
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Thanks for the link, Senator … while there I learned this late breaking newsy item:
UGA Sports: UGA could look to Olivadotti, Koenning as next D-coordinator
/sarcasam
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Giggle.
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I wonder if Towers is gone since it has been so long without a column and no explanation.
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Enemy forces may have neutralized him but some surveillance spotted him on a gambling junket at The Woods
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