Todd Grantham promo

Jeez, somebody ought to get this on tape so every defensive recruit Georgia’s chasing hears the word:

… The Steelers say the best thing about [Jarvis] Jones’ game is that it might be ready-made for the NFL. Pittsburgh has had a habit over the years of drafting undersized 4-3 defensive ends and transforming them into outside linebackers in the 3-4 formation it has so successfully fielded since 1982. But those transitions always took time, as the Steelers drained the players’ defensive end instincts and taught them how to think, move and react in space, as outside linebackers must do.

No such learning curve is needed for Jones, who played 3-4 rush linebacker at Georgia. His coverage responsibilities for the Bulldogs weren’t extensive, but dropping isn’t a new skill he must master, and that key distinction should enable him to start making an impact early.

“The difference between him and some others that we’ve acquired since I’ve been here is we’re asking him to do a job that we saw him do in college,” Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said. “He’s not a convert, and I think there’s an advantage from that perspective. There’s going to be more young men you can say that about moving forward, because of the evolution of the 3-4 defense in college football.

“This is really the first one that I’ve personally had a chance to deal with, and you see the background being an advantage for him, having played on two feet in college. Just in him having an outside linebacker’s perspective on the game, as opposed to playing with your hand in the dirt.”

Sell it, brother.

If you’re gonna go in, might as well go all in.

Alligator Army blogger predicts Florida will score fewer points at home against Georgia Southern’s defense than in Jacksonville.

Wanna cut down on turnovers?

Start by getting the ball past the line of scrimmage.

It’s only natural.

Puzzling tweet from Friday:

#NotreDame coach Brian Kelly would like to play SEC during reg season, but ACC commitment gets in way. Calls Georgia a natural matchup.

— Eric Hansen (@EHansenND) August 2, 2013

What do you figure makes that so in Kelly’s mind – both teams lost to Alabama in championship games, or revenge for 1981?

Seriously, I’d love a home-and-home, but given ND’s new scheduling deal with the ACC, this doesn’t sound like anything more than cheap talk.

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UPDATE:  Mark Richt has lost control of Brian Kelly.

Mark Richt: "I don't know how in the world we got in the conversation of the Notre Dame schedule. But I'm all for playing them."

— Seth Emerson (@SethWEmerson) August 5, 2013

The early leader in the clubhouse for fall camp hyperbole

… easily goes to Ramik Wilson:

Wilson compared (Georgia outside linebacker Leonard) Floyd to former LSU star Barkevious Mingo, an NFL first-round draft pick. He said Floyd, from Hargrave (Va.) Military Academy via Dodge County High is “unblockable, his pass rush. He gets after it. He’s got a motor.”

That’s gonna be a high bar to cross for anybody else.

Johnny Football and the NCAA

Some random thoughts on Autographgate:

• Proof is in the pudding.  The NCAA has reason to suspect – probably even good reason to suspect – that something fishy went on.  But as Stewart Mandel points out, suspicion is a long way from proof, especially for the NCAA these days:
  

  However, the NCAA cannot suspend a player on mere suspicion. It needs hard proof. Even before the Miami misconduct scandal that led to a mass exodus of its top investigators, the NCAA’s enforcement department has done little to inspire confidence it can get to the bottom of such matters. This particular situation, however, may be fairly cut-and-dried.

  As a current NCAA athlete, Manziel is required to cooperate with investigators or risk forfeiting his eligibility (see: Maurice Clarett and Dez Bryant). That includes supplying bank records if asked. If there’s a mysterious deposit somewhere, he’ll have to explain it.

  First, keep in mind that no one claims to have seen any compensation pass between the two.  But even if it did, what if Manziel was smart enough to get paid in cash?  If the autograph broker refuses to cooperate and there’s no such mysterious deposit, what’s the NCAA got left?

• Fine for me, not for thee.  It seems to me that there’s a real risk for the NCAA that this matter turns a bright spotlight on the unfairness of letting schools profit off a student-athlete’s likeness while denying the same opportunity to the student-athlete.  From the ESPN article that broke the news:  “The value of Manziel is clear in the memorabilia and appearance market: Independent merchandiser Aggieland Outfitters recently auctioned off six helmets signed by Manziel and Texas A&M’s other Heisman Trophy winner, John David Crow, for $81,000. Texas A&M’s booster organization, the 12th Man Foundation, sold a table for six, where Manziel and Crow will sit at the team’s Kickoff Dinner later this month, for $20,000.”

• Mr. Conventional Wisdom’s selective memory.  I could not believe that Tony Barnhart actually compared Manziel’s situation to Herschel Walker without noting the circumstances surrounding Herschel’s early departure from Georgia in 1983.  Walker’s agent at the time, you may recall, initiated contact with the New Jersey Generals of the USFL, an action which cost Walker his last year of college eligibility.  What may not be so easily remembered, though, was that the USFL prohibited contact with college undergraduates.  Presented with the fait accompli, the league folded on enforcing that rule because, according to its president, “… faced with lawsuits on the league’s denying a person the right to make a living, he considered it fruitless to challenge the arrangements made by Walker with the Generals.”

Meanwhile, somewhere in this great land of ours, Cecil Newton is chuckling.