You never can tell.

I always admire anybody who will go back and dredge up a prediction list – let’s face it, those things are out of sight, out of mind a day after they’re posted – so kudos to Seth Emerson for his look back at his preseason list of the ten most important Georgia players of 2012.  And honestly, other than substituting John Jenkins for Corey Moore, there’s not much I would quibble with off his original list when it was produced.  But it differs considerably from his 20-20 hindsight list, which isn’t unexpected.

Seth notes the chaotic conditions surrounding the team last summer, and sure, that had an impact on the differences in his lists, but to me, it’s also a good illustration of how hard it is to anticipate how a college football season plays out.  Some kids you’re counting on get hurt.  Georgia’s wide receiving corps sure had a different look at the end of the season from where it started.  Some kids never get untracked to become contributors.  (You could say Marshall Morgan’s biggest contribution last year was weaning Richt off his addiction to settling for field goals.)

So as you read his list for this year and compile your own, just remember that even the slam dunks aren’t always that.  And that the bigger deal is whether the team has the quality depth to fill in the holes if that happens.