Somebody commented earlier today that offensive line depth gets him hot… here’s the kind of thing that turns me on:
… the early lead for breakout player of the spring goes to James DeLoach. The sophomore outside linebacker really started generating buzz toward the end of last season and that has only continued as the combination of physical maturity and athleticism is beginning to manifest itself with his play on the field. DeLoach is now running with the first team at strongside outside linebacker and is looking hard to beat out.
“DeLoach is looking real good,” said inside linebacker Ramik Wilson, who is also starting. “He’s coming off the edge real fast. We’ve been watching film and he and Jordan (Jenkins) are looking real good. James is setting the edge and making the ball bounce to us so we can make more tackles. He’s doing a good job.”
DeLoach signed with Georgia out of Jenkins County seemingly as a throw-in with his good buddy, noseguard Jonathan Taylor. But he has totally remade his body just a year into his career and has maintained his quickness despite carrying 265 pounds on his 6-foot-3 frame.
Of course, if he doesn’t star at G-Day, that’ll be the end of it, right?
Get The Picture 
He doesn’t stand a chance against that monster OL. Or wait, is it the other way around?
Sometimes the happy talk isn’t even plausible or directly responsive to the issues that worry me. It’s still happy talk, but at least that’s not the case this year. This is some primo micro-targeted happy talk.
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Exactly. This is way better than “we’re working harder this off season than we ever have!” kinda happy talk.
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I can’t wait to see those Jenkins County guys excel!
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I too loves me that Dawg porn. From that same article… “With Georgia’s 4-1 win over Mississippi State in men’s tennis on Sunday, coach Manny Diaz moves up to second place behind only the great Dan Magill as the winningest tennis coach in SEC history. Diaz now has 569 wins for his career, passing former Kentucky coach Dennis Emery for second place. Diaz now trails only Dan Magill, who won 706 matches at UGA in 34 seasons between 1955-88.”
So UGA boasts the top 2 ‘winningest’ Tennis coaches in NCAA history.
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We have the top 2 in SEC history. Not NCAA history.
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oops, poor reading skills on my part.
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Sounds like a hard working kid who has hit the weight room with gusto and maintained his speed. This defense may be young but when you look at the size of and speed listed for them, we could be scary good.
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Sounds like he’s reached Justin Houston-size. Which could be quite good.
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Who is competing head-to-head with Deloach? Size?
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This is no surprise. I’ve always heard a lot of internet chatter and insider gossip that coaches were really high on DeLoach. Plus, it says a lot that coaches thought him athletic enough for OLB even though he came in as a freshman weighing about 270. Ray Drew “outgrew” the position when he got to 270.
This is certainly good news. I know it’s a long way until starters get permanently set at LB, but it’s nice to see that there already are really strong candidates.
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Speaking a Drew, any good news regarding his early spring practice? I would love to hear his name called a ton this season!
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Haven’t heard anything yet. This will be the first season when he’s actually settled in at a position. I have time believing that he won’t excel at 6’5″ 285-290 and w/ 2 yrs of a college program under his belt. At the least, I think he’ll quietly have a really good season. Garrison Smith, Abry Jones, and Deangelo Tyson proved themselves indispensible doing just that.
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Wait until Toby gets 100%. He’s the real deal folks. The guy is mean as a snake and will throw offensive linemen around
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Will you please stop serving the damn Kool-Aid.(just kidding I can’t drink it fast enough)
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Gulp, gulp, gulp
Please Sir, can I have some more?
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You always have to be a little skeptical about stories like this in the early Spring, but this one has been coming for a period of time from a variety of sources so I am getting a warm glow about this young man’s chances to play a major role in 2013. You have to like that his ability to contribute comes from efforts he made off the field at a time when he knew his playing time was in the future. Sounds like he had a plan to get to this point, makes me think he will capitalize on the opportunity he made for himself. A person that makes his opportunities through individual hard work seems to always beat the person handed the entitlement.
I have felt 2013 was going to bring a better defense than we saw in 2012, DeLoach’s progress just adds to the confidence I have about that. Maybe not Day 1 because experience is such a factor, but measured on the entire season, I think our overall defense will be top 20.
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Sadly by the end of day one everything could be off the rails, so that first impression is kinda important.
I think that the changes in S&C have really been paying off. That is certainly an area where the former AD was loathed to spend coin and the new AD doesnt seem to mind cutting checks.
Unless of course UT just spent $200million on a new upside down practice field and we look like Scrooge McGarity is swimming in his money bin.
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Not saying we won’t be capable against Clem’s Son, just that we will get better as the year goes along and will average out pretty well on the overall season, not just a souped up offense at home against a young defense. I like our chances in that opening game but wouldn’t be surprised to see us have to outscore them in a shootout. We won’t face many offenses with the Tigers’ explosiveness; that may work for them in a high-energy game at home and at night, or it could blow up in their face.
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