The big news is that John Theus is listed as Ward’s backup at right tackle. And if you think that’s due to his injury, note that Dawson is listed as a starting cornerback, despite his spring injury. There is some clear message sending going on there.
That’s a little disappointing, because it means the coaches are leaving Gates at left tackle, instead of moving him inside where he’s better suited. Hopefully, Theus steps it up between now and the opener.
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Looks like Moore has the inside track to replace JHC for his one game sabbatical.
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We watched as Theus got beat (and beat badly at times) last year. We chalked it up to freshman mistakes/massive learning curve. He battled through week in and week out over the course of an SEC schedule. But it is possible that he is just not as good as we had hoped. He may lack the fire and nastiness needed to play O-line. I believe we have seen the best of this red-headed dandy.
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Sounds like the pieces have not come together. It is spring in Georgia. Things change and get settled to a point in two-a-days. I’m sure the coaches have an idea who starts, who sees a lot of snaps, who subs, who rotates, and how to keep it going thru that long hard schedule. This is relative youg O line. I’ll patiently wait.
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I’ll wait patiently, too. We’ve seen the coaches use this for motivation before and he may just be underachieving expectations. It would be a shame if indeed it is the case that he can’t get it together; however, I scratch my head every time I think about us having enough plausible linemen for a genuine depth chart.
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I really like the message for motivational purposes if the player is underachieving his potential. I love the decision to put the best players on the field regardless of seniority, past ranking of the position, or number of stars from high school performance. I don’t know Theus’ potential, none of us do, but he was behind expectations for how he was touted coming in. Time to find out what he has in the tank, this team has goals and there is no room at thi slevel for favoritism, or slacking. Here is hoping Mr. Theus rises to the challenge presented him.
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Amen.
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Having watched the replays of several games last year my conclusion was that Theus is talented but does not possess the nastiness we all want from our OL. I think it is a matter of motivation and not talent.
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I think, and hope, you are right. He did get beat badly last year and we all had to keep reminding ourselves he was a freshman. Perhaps we were disappointed because a recent highly rated freshman OT, Sturdivant, was so effective from the start. Regardless, I still like the way the staff is bringing this to a head early in Theus’ career.
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