On the surface, this sounds pretty grim:
Georgia Bulldogs
Fatal flaw: Inconsistent secondary play
The Bulldogs are breaking in a new quarterback to replace Aaron Murray, and they have only two returning starters on the offensive line. Those are huge spaces to fill, but the inconsistent secondary is still the most prominent weakness for this club. This group struggled last year, ranking ninth in the SEC in passing yards allowed per game (227.4), and had a horrible spring game. It gave up six pass-interference penalties in this contest, allowed six offensive players to average 15 or more yards per reception, and could have given up even more yardage if not for inaccurate passes.
This roster segment is one of the most inexperienced in college football, as graduation losses and the departures of Shaq Wiggins and Josh Harvey-Clemons leave Damian Swann as the only defensive back on the roster with more than one career start. Linebacker Leonard Floyd will offset some of this with his incredible pass-rushing skills, but it is still looking as though this area of the Georgia defense is going to be every bit the coverage sieve it was last season.
But this is KC Joyner we’re talking about here, so perhaps a grain of salt is worth applying to it (although there always is the stopped clock is right twice a day effect to consider). I mean, G-Day as a basis for analysis? Seriously?
By the way, Tray Matthews started six games in the secondary last season. Corey Moore had seven starts. So did Quincy Mauger. I’m not saying they’re All-SEC candidates. I’m just saying Joyner’s research skills aren’t going to win him any awards, either.
Get The Picture 
I usually dismiss and quit reading any writer that refers to a college football team as a “club”. He makes the worst case possibe and then makes it sound even worse with negative hyperbole. In short, he’s an asshat.
And isn’t there a JUCO transfer coming into the defensive backfield?
LikeLike
And some freshmen that are supposed to be pretty good. Pruitt had several frosh play/start in the secondary last season at FSU. If players are lousy, how is it such a bad thing when they leave?
LikeLike
It’s a mistake to equate poor performance with lousy players. It’s quite possible that Pruitt would have been able to coax excellent play out of JHC and/or Wiggins. Unfortunately, we’ll never know.
LikeLike
Quite possible.
But they have to have the right coach, and they have to buy into what the coach wants. So it’s possible, even for guys like Matthews and a few others, if they buy in. It isn’t easy, because it requires them to change, and that requires a serious commitment. But it can happen.
So this summer is really critical, not just for guys like Matthews, but for guys like Jordan Jenkins and many others. We’ll see how serious they are, if they are in or out.
~~~
LikeLike
Just speculation but I get the feeling Tray Matthews is not going to be on the team by the start of the season.
LikeLike
I will be shocked if Trey Matthews is on this team in August. His departure will severely hurt the 2014 Dawgs defensively, but such is life as a UGA fan. Banking on Trigga Trey will be a losing venture. Hopefully he walks the straight and narrow proving me wrong.
LikeLike
If Matthews can’t do it, and I’ve never seen any evidence he can, how can his departure hurt the team? Not picking, my friend, just saying again that the attrition won’t hurt us. It’s actually good.
Which is not to say it might not leave us short-handed, in terms on numbers, which is a different thing. But I’m not even worried about that. A coach like Pruitt will find a few guys that can play, and he’ll coach them up. They’ll be more reliable on the field than any of the Trigga Trey types that have played in our secondary over the last 8 years.
That’s exactly what we’ve needed to get away from. Those that know me from other forums and blogs over the years know there’s nothing that has bothered me more than our secondaries. So to me, this is all fresh air.
I’m just not worried about it. I think we’ll be, at a minimum, adequate, and I think right now most of us will take that. For sure, I don’t see how we could be any worse than we’ve been, for so long now.
I’m more concerned about the TE’s, OL, the OLB’s with the exception of Floyd, and to some extent, the ILB’s. But I feel better about the latter two than the first two. So the offensive LOS and the TE’s, per se, are bigger concerns, IMHO, along with ST’s, though I’m feeling much better about those.
~~~
LikeLike
Just so I’m clear, you’ve never seen Matthews make a play competently?
LikeLike
LOL. I seem to remember 2 or 3 plays. No, what I’m saying is I’ve never seen Matthews play the position the way it needs to be played. Not even close.
~~~
LikeLike
So, your position is that either Grantham was so inept at identifying talent that he played kids who should have been second string (or off the team) and passed over starters, or that Pruitt is so great at coaching kids that he can transform walkons into quality players? I’m not sold. I’m not saying that I’ve been satisfied with our secondary play recently. But I can’t see how losing kids that our last staff thought were our best options can help us.
LikeLike
It’s somewhat complicated. But true. Let’s just say there’s a lot more to what happens on the field than just size, speed, and athleticism.
~~~
LikeLike
Also, a player with an attitude problem is a lot worse than one with perhaps fewer skills giving 100%.
LikeLike
@charlottedawg and Skeptic Dawg
Odds are 5 to 1 on whether this will be the Tray Trey Trigger’s last waltz.
(Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, Dave Matthews or Roy Rogers is purely coincidental)
LikeLike
Wait….THEY HAD A HORRIBLE SPRING GAME!?!?!?
Guys…this is terrible.
It’s crazy that Mr. Joyner in his infinite knowledge and statistical wisdom has found a correlation b/w Spring Game results and results in the upcoming season and this is the first we’re hearing about it. That’s truly groundbreaking.
I guess he must have seen this coming for 2013, too, after the defenses awful spring game ….http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2013/4/6/4191406/georgia-spring-game-2013…derp…
LikeLike
Seriously…this guy has a website called ‘the football scientist’ and this is the drivel that he comes up with?
http://www.thefootballscientist.com/
LikeLike
Although KC lives in a fantasy world, one can’t argue with the deep discount from $69.95 to $40.00 to move some volume
LikeLike
I can’t recall reading much of KC Joyner’s stuff, so I can’t say if he’s legit or not. I can say he’s probably right about the secondary. It’s most likely going to be terrible.
LikeLike
I’m totally okay with the guy dissing our secondary; after last season, it deserves it. But if he’s going to tout himself as a statistician, he should at least use the correct data to lead him to his observations.
LikeLike
It’s nice to know the guy coaching the secondary has a great track record with defensive backs. I will take talented freshmen with good coaching anyday IF they are fast.
LikeLike
I keep hearing / reading this about Matthews. What’s the deal?
Was he a part of checkgate? Or do you all just assume his personality doesn’t mesh with Pruitt?
Not that it matters. He did nothing that impressed me last year. Hell, probably the most impressive play he had was catching and horse collaring Sammy Watkins as he crossed into the endzone.
LikeLike
Matthews was one of the four involved in Checkgate.
LikeLike
Just doesn’t seem like Richt’s style to wait until the middle of summer to make a decision on these kids…
LikeLike
I posted about this a couple of weeks ago. Richt’s held up on a final determination because the case hasn’t been resolved in court yet.
LikeLike
Although to give Juan credit, a couple of weeks ago around here is like infinity to me
LikeLike
Just like he did with Isaiah Crowell? 😉
LikeLike
Keep up with your summer reading here and you’ll do fine.
ヅヅヅ
LikeLike
I have a feeling Pruitt will get a lot more production out of our DBs than Lakatos did.
LikeLike
I think Pruitt will also get a lot more production out of our coaches.
LikeLike
I have a friend who goes to this dry cleaners in Tifton and the receptionist there is engaged to a grad student who works with the team and apparently CJP was on all fours screaming all up in Russ’ face the other day. Said he was eyeball to eyeball with him for six hours straight – did not blink, did not look away once, not even to get a drink of water – just kept screaming the whole time, did not think English was getting through to the dog and so the last hour or so he was screaming in other languages. The dude is just intense…same girl (my friend knows) says CJP can move very small things like acorns with his brain if the acorn pisses him off enough.
LikeLike
Soooooooooo….. you and Cojones spending some rec time together?
ヅヅヅ
LikeLike
Ha ha – I wish – I bet sitting on a porch with Cojones is a pretty good way to spend some time.
LikeLike
I bet it would be like being on Willie’s bus after the show except for the porch swing
LikeLike
Wait, the dry cleaners in Tifton has a receptionist?
LikeLike
Wait, there’s a dry cleaners in Tifton? I thought it was in Moultrie and the receptionist was in Remerton
LikeLike
Wait, what’s a dry cleaners?
LikeLike
+1 Bring back our dry cleaners so the Mayor can have a guided tour
LikeLike
Wait a minute! He didn’t try to cut the Cojones of Russ off did he? Besides that, acorns always piss him off. Why? Because his hard-ass Daddy made him rake leaves all the time without gloves and if there were nary acorns there would be nary leaves. But it did leave him with tough insides of his monster-grip hands so there’s that.
LikeLike
“did not think English was getting through to the dog”
Seriously. Russ is an English bulldawg. Of course he could understand
LikeLike
It’s not lost on me that an ESPN article is framing this in the form of a 16 game playoff bracket.
LikeLike
It’s not lost on Obama either. I remain convinced that the ESPN Expansion of Playoffs Program is a covert tripartite operation with the White House to take our guns away and the Hollywood Left to “Bring Our Girls Back” (except that “Wesley Snipes looks like he wants to hang himself”) to distract attention to get the number up to 68
LikeLike