Seth Emerson shared this observation in yesterday’s Mailbag post:
It’s funny, the optimism from Georgia fans’ about this young defense may have actually reached the point where too much is being expected. I’ve said all along that this unit can put up similar stats as last year’s defense, which in the end should be good enough, as long as the offense repeats its 2012 performance. But expectations still shouldn’t be too high. If this defense ranks in the top four in the SEC, that will be stupendous.
Boy, would it. Georgia finished sixth in total defense in the SEC last season. And between the greenness of this year’s secondary and the departure of the otherworldly talents of Jarvis Jones, I’m of a mind to say that if they just equal last year’s results, it would be pretty satisfactory.
What say you? Are we fans expecting too much from Grantham’s guys?
Get The Picture 
UGA ought to be about the same on D even though there will be new faces starting. A lot of the returners got substantial playing time last year. Another year in the Grantham system and the players now are fully in it.
LikeLike
agreed. I’m expecting Grantam’s recruits to bring the wood and for him to earn his paycheck. looking forward to seeing the 2013 version of the junkyard dawgs.
LikeLike
I wasn’t too impressed with our defense last year, especially during the first half of the season and from the second half of the SEC championship game onward. I see no reason why we couldn’t match those results again this year. I wouldn’t think giving up less than 44 points to tennessee, 35 to south carolina and 24 to kentucky is out of reach.
LikeLike
+1. This is why it’s easy to dismiss the predictions that dismiss our SEC title chances because of losses on D.
LikeLike
This year should tell us something about Grantham.
LikeLike
The optimism about the defense reminds me (this was a thing, trust me) of the Internet Georgia Optimism over the offense going into ’09. Remember- Stafford and Knowshon were gone, but homina homina we need unheralded guys who’ll try harder homina homina. I think it might be more frustration with last year’s defense that could’ve been better than it was more than an accurate assessment of what we’ve got coming up.
And yeah, if they repeat last year’s performance, we’ll be back in Atlanta.
LikeLike
Similar, except these aren’t unheralded guys, just inexperienced. And in 2009, it was the offense that was a big question, but the defense wasn’t exactly rock solid either. This year, the defense is a big question, but the offense ought to be pretty outstanding.
LikeLike
I feel it’s pretty likely we’re going to see a decline in play in the secondary due to the greenness of the unit and the fact that Shawn Williams was an outstanding player who will be very difficult to replace.
Jarvis was obviously incredible as well, but I like our depth at the LB spots, and I think Jordan Jenkins is lurking in the weeds as a potential Jarvis-like monster. Jenkins, Deloach, ‘Marlo, and Ramik Wilson have the makings of a very good unit on paper. Tons of potential there.
I think most of the optimism stems from the fresh faces we’re going to see on the defensive line, an area of our defense that I think we can all agree was a TREMENDOUS disappoint last season. The new guys may not come in and immediately prove to be world-beaters, but I find it hard to believe they could be much worse than the way we played last year. Just remember the Kentucky game for a moment. Our line play was absolutely dreadful at times.
LikeLike
As to the secondary; I could see this defense having a few games where they give up like 250 passing yards, but 150 of them come on 2 or 3 plays where someone just misses an assignment.
LikeLike
Add Herrera to the list of returning players with experience (more than most).
Hate to see JJ placed in an expectation framed by Jarvis, no matter what Jenkins will strive to do. He had bad and good plays last year and to be fair to him, I hope we call his name less and less as the season approaches. That way; if he doesn’t make headlines and plays good ball, we won’t be cussin’ and spittin’ at him for not achieving what we predicted for him, also: if he comes on like a Ringmaster instead of a Clowney, we can call him such and smirk with the knowledge of who wrecked our opponent’s O.
LikeLike
Our secondary is terrifyingly thin, though. We have to pray none of the starting CBs gets hurt or we could be in a bad place.
LikeLike
“I’m of a mind to say that if they just equal last year’s results, it would be pretty satisfactory.”
No, Extremely satisfactory. I don’t expect better than last year but there certainly are reasons for expecting worse. For me, in comparing the stats from last year to this, it is all about the Clemson game. Facing their offense first scares me. While I expect a win, I don’t expect the stats for the D coming out of that game to be impressive at all.
For me, in momentum for the season, it is all about the USCe game. We gotta have that one.
LikeLike
Am I the only one that thinks JJ green should be working at CB?
LikeLike
My take on JJG from watching him several times last year: an incredible athlete and prospect in the secondary who could rely on his athleticism despite poor fundamentals. He needs a lot of ‘coaching up’ before we should expect him to compete as a starter in the secondary in the SEC. But he could get there certainly.
Just my nickel-3 cents.
LikeLike
Some players may have to be turned loose on their own recognizance and instincts. Better than settin’um because they aren’t perfect and with all that natural talent. Seems I recall some “Badger” on a western swamp team that fit that mold.
LikeLike
We would have lost the Florida game w/o JJ. We might have lost to Mizzou. Everybody else can be replaced, but losing JJ really hurts.
This season’s D is more than capable or replicating last seasons statistical performance (largely b/c last year’s squad underperformed), but I don’t think there’s a playmaker capable of reproducing JJ’s big game impact. JJ was the most game-changing defensive player UGA has had since Pollack, perhaps ever. He took over games like Clowney.
Jordan Jenkins might be that guy, but that’s really a huge projection at this point.
LikeLike
I mean alls I want is a Natty.
LikeLike
I think we have alot more depth on the defensive side of the ball this year. We were missing Tree & Rambo for the first few games, so I’m interested in seeing how this unit gels over the summer. I think Grantham has to stress to the front 7 that they have to go hard every play to keep opposing offenses from picking apart our green secondary. Mighty hard to throw the ball if you are on your back
LikeLike
I’m thinking we get burned fairly regularly in the secondary. The key will be not giving it up in large chunks. At least not consistently. The offense ought to be able to score on just about anybody anytime. I do not anticipate a whole lot of low scoring games.
LikeLike
Not seeing this mentioned much, but I’m pretty excited about our new DLine coach.
LikeLike
So far, I’m getting excited about his recruiting responsibilities and how the HS kids accept him. That’s a good omen for Wilson. If he communicates that well with the Line (and bet he does), we may have a reason to raise our heads and view the horizon. Shit, aren’t we playing Clemson yet?
LikeLike
This may have already been noted, but Jarvis Jones WON GAMES last year. He was everywhere during the moments of truth in the Mizzou and Florida games. I’m sure there are other moments when he made super-star plays. There will be a difference.
LikeLike