Just thought you might be interested on where he sees Georgia’s position groups from a national perspective.
- Quarterbacks: outside top 45
- Running backs: 2nd
- Receivers: 10th
- Offensive line: 42nd
- Defensive line: 15th
- Linebackers: 1st
- Defensive backs: 25th
- Special teams: 21st
Keep in mind, that DB ranking came before Matthews’ dismissal.
The QB ranking may raise a few eyebrows, but keep in mind how inexperienced Georgia is at the position going into the season.
That being said, if the secondary and special teams turn out to be respectable, this has the makings of being a good season.
As a bonus, here’s another set of rankings that echoes Steele about running backs and linebackers.
Get The Picture 
Yeah, there aren’t 45 QB groups in the country better than ours. There probably aren’t 5. They just don’t have any college experience.
Then it should be higher, IMO.
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I don’t.know where we fall on the Great QB Continuum, but I’m pretty sure it ain’t fifth…yet. This group may be #1 in potential, was that your point?
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What do you guys think about our OL ranking? At 42nd, I’m afraid it might be about right. Richt seems to think we might be pretty good upfront. Sure hope he’s right.
Also, notice the #1 rank for the Clemson DL, in the other rankings. I hope it’s as iffy as our #1 LB ranking, but somehow I don’t think so.
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According to Steele our averaging ranking in three of the most important areas of football is 37th! If we go 9-3 or 8-4 this will be the reason.
There are no “if’s” in sports, just “is”… “This is what happened.”
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Yep.
We gotta hope our OL turns out to be better than 42nd, I know that much. It doesn’t have to be great, I concede that. But it needs to be pretty good. And it needs to be that way right out of the box.
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Mason is being under estimated. The UGA QB situation is negatively blown out of proportion. CMR and CMB didn’t just fall off of the turnip truck. They’ve been working with Mason since he left high school. They know what he can do and they are content with it. He’ll be ready. He’ll be good. His backup will be ready to a degree. I won’t be suprised if there is another whole offensive set with Gurley taking snaps or even one of the backup quarterbacks…Mason will run the pro-set and spread, but there will be something else. Something to fall back on if Mason should go down.
Offensive innovation has always been important, but with today’s high scoring contests, it is more important than ever.
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Nice post, Ugly.
Just please don’t snap it to Gurley, or any other back. I’m all for innovation, and I know it gives us an extra blocker. But my nerves just don’t handle it very well.
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Maybe it’ll be back-up QB Bauta, but there will likely be a back-up system to keep defenses on their toes. I’m waiting on the day when we see two quartebacks in a backfield at the same time..a runner and a passer with both also possessing both skills to some extent. Can you imagine the play scheming out of that? It would be a defenseive headache.
I’m not advocating trick plays, just a tricky offense. Mason and Bauta could pull it off.
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I agree. Mason stepped in last year and did a credible job on an offense that had a lot of injuries. Those games don’t seem to count for much with many people.
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Wait how are 44 other QBs going to throw for 5000+ yards and win the Heisman?
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Also love that our extremely inexperience group is underrated and our extremely experienced group is overrated..
film doesnt lie has a ring to it.
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My quibble is with our DBs at 25th. Even though we’re bringing back some guys with experience, they weren’t good last year and didn’t improve much, if any, as the season progressed. I suppose you could argue that Pruitt will be the difference maker, and I have high hopes for what he can do, but 25th requires him to work miracles. I’d be elated to eat my words, though.
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I see your point, in terms of trying to rank our secondary at this point. It’s a total unknown, nobody even knows what it’s going to look like.
Agree 100%. And starters like Matthews, JHC, & Wiggins were additions-by-subtraction. Feel OK about Mauger as having a pretty good head on his shoulders. Moore is a question mark, which is saying more for him than we could the previous 4 years, when there was no question that he could hurt us, but probably couldn’t help us.
After that, it’s all up in the air at the safety spots. And it wouldn’t surprise me at all to see two brand new starters at safety.
At the corners, we can be hopeful about Swann, and personally, I’m pleased at how Davis has stepped up, and like the way he does everything. Dawson could still go either way, IDK. Wilkerson is a question mark, Bowman doubtful.
A lot will depend on the new guys. I can’t help but wonder how many of our returnees Pruitt would have recruited, and he had very little time to affect this new class. But he did affect it, and I’m pretty sure he’s counting on them to be a big part of this secondary.
My guess is Shaq Jones, Dom Sanders, and S.Fenteng will play. Not sure about Kennar Johnson, but wouldn’t rule him out yet. We could have 3 new starters – 2 safeties and 1 CB. Four, if you count J.J.Green at Nickel. It’s not ideal to start a bunch of rookies in this League, but it could be our best option. A BETTER option, IMHO, than if we had all our guys from last year back. In this situation (new DC and system, poorly-taught returnees) it’s often easier to teach fresh guys than to break the bad habits of the old and relearn.
Honestly, I wouldn’t know how to rank our secondary. And I don’t see how anyone could argue with your point. But at the same time, I’ll be disappointed, very disappointed, if we don’t end up much better than 25th.
It’s been so long since we had a solid secondary. Seems like the distant past, which it almost is. But we know Pruitt is a first rate secondary coach and his system is good. I just can’t help but be optimistic about our secondary prospects, and confident about its future, despite the personnel situation Pruitt inherited.
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Do we even have the raw talent to be #25? I reckon we might….
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Tom Brady was picked 177th in the NFL draft. Pundits are crazy. GDay has been as accurate as anything since 2008 at measuring how the UGA Qb’s will do in the upcoming season. Both Mason and Bauta threw for over 240 yards.
Brady struggled his first few starts at Michigan, had a lot of doubters, and then went on a tear to finish with 25 wins in 30 games.
Also, the rb’s are not that good at Georgia from a yards per carry standpoint, shouldn’t be in the top 25 by the numbers.
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Best GTP troll ever. I salute you, sir.
Only thing missing is a QBR reference. I assume you’re saving that for a future comment.
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2009, Cox had a poor GDay, went on to go 8-5. 2010, 2011, 2013 Murray had a poor GDay, went on to poor win seasons each time. 2012 Murray had a fantastic GDay, went on to win a bunch of games that year. 2010, Mettenberger had a super GDay, went on to lead his JUCO team to the National Championship the next year going 12-1. 2013, Mason had a superb GDay. That’s by the numbers Senator.
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Typed too fast. Point is, Murray had one good season in significant wins, and coincided with his one good GDay. It was also predictive for Cox and Mettenberger. Been right every time.
Hutson Mason just had the best GDay in the history of UGA football. Bodes well for him. Real well. Like Heisman well.
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Mett had a great G-Day and failed to win the starting job. I guess that’s one way to measure success.
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Mettenberger, had a great GDay, threw some bombs for touchdowns, I knew he’d be great. he won 95% of his starts at the Community College, and 80% of his starts at LSU. The guy had an arm, and was money on 3rd down. And he just won games.
Any of us who saw him on GDay at the spring game wasn’t surprised, he dominated the other quarterbacks.
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So, your position is that, given what you saw in the stands on G-day, and the fact that Mett never ousted Murray as the #1 QB, that Bobo and Richt aren’t capable of evaluating QBs as well as you can?
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mark richt has lost controll of the trolls.
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Should Hutson Mason continue to average 310 yards passing per game like he did in his first 2 starts, he’ll finish in the top 10 in the country (only 10 Qb’s did that in 2013). That’s going by the numbers and not your feelings.
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By the numbers, Peyton Manning only won one SEC championship and gave up a jillion yards to Nebraska in the bowl game. Now, some people feel like he’s one of the best QBs to ever play the game. But you know better, right?
I wonder what his spring games were like?
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Brady was picked 199th, and won 20 of 25 starts at Michigan, my memory failed me.
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UGA hasn’t finished in the top 35 in rushing under Mark Richt. So Phil Steele should be banned from ESPN for putting UGA at No 2.
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Take a breath EP…
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Troll’s gotta troll.
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Please exercise your God-given right as master of this domain & give this two-bit troll the hook.
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But the mockery feels so good. 😉
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He’s just….excited.
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That troll is annoying, but he’s correct. Hutson Mason would finish in the top 10 should he keep up his pace from last season.
And seriously folks, we have some good units, receivers come to mind, but predicting our backfield to finish #2 in the country?
The troll has a point, probably won’t even finish in the top 25 in rushing, we just never do, I have to agree.
Tom Brady was an interesting point, did come from deep on the depth chart to shock some people in college and the pros, pretty sure Hutson will be fantastic this year, sure isn’t 45th.
To put in perspective what Hutson did in his first couple of starts, he went off for 299 yards against Ga Tech, and tossed for 320 in the Bowl against Nebraska.
That’s a 309.5 yards passing per game average.
Would have put him #2 in the SEC, behind only Heisman winner Manzeil.
Also higher average per game than Jameis Winston, who won the Heisman trophy.
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It depends on what your ranking is based on. If you look at rushing yards, then GA Tech should probably be #1 in the country. If you want to use the best players, who are capable of taking over games, then it would be hard to beat Gurshall.
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It really doesn’t matter what you choose to measure, rush yards a carry for individuals, or team rushing per game, Georgia just doesn’t finish in the top 25, like ever with Coach Richt.
Think about it. Coach Richt was a Qb, so was the offensive head asst Bobo, so they’re going to like to pass it. Just the way it is at Georgia.
I don’t feel Keith Marshall is a more than mediocre back, he’s an excellent receiver, and I can’t wait to see him used that way, but really he is not a big producer at rushing. His 4.39 ypc is not in the top 100.
Behind him, you got Douglas and Karemeplis, dismal numbers, that’s about all we know right now.
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So, you aren’t going to let your own lying eyes fool you into thinking UGA has a better backfield than GA Tech? Fair enough. Most rational people would disagree.
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Exactly. Agree.
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I was dissapointed with Gurley last year. He scored 17 td’s his frosh yr on less than 16 carries a game, but just 10 td’s last year, even though he got 16.5 carries a game?
Gurley’s td’s per 16 touches, ypc, and rush yardage average per game, all got worse last year than his frosh yr.
Teams were keying on him more in their game plans, and it showed in his stats.
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You’re evaluating stats, not Gurley. More often than not, you’ll get it wrong, using that method.
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You’re wrong. No way Georgia finishes in the top 25 in rushing. Won’t happen, never does, you’re a dreamer in denial.
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Not biting. Your response is too ridiculous.
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What people like you miss, is Georgia will only average about 37 carries a game. 11th in the SEC.
You’re not going to finish in the top 25 in rushing, when you’re 76th in rush attempts per game, and 48th in ypc.
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Who cares about that? It’s about winning. I think we’ll run this year, and run often. But all that matters is running enough to win. Our offense, like all truly pro-style offenses, is about balance.
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How can Steele rate this backfield #2 when it was #48 in ypc? It must be off the potential of Chubb and Michel, cuz the current guys returning from last year were not effective or impressive.
The bad news for Richt is, in the last 15 years or so, no one has won the SEC without finishing in the top 3 in rushing yards per game average in the conference.
Richt doesn’t get it, never has, never will. Just won’t call enough run plays or average enough ypc to win the SEC.
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Would you like to know thew Qb who threw for more yards in his first 2 games, than the last 2 Heisman trophy winners did in their first 2 games?
They call him Hutson Mason.
Yes Sir, so far, he’s outgunning the last 2 Heisman winners.
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So says the high priest of the Church of Sabremetrics. Gurley wasn’t effective or impressive. GA Tech’s former walk-on was a much better running back. It’s so much easier when we can relax our brains and let some numbers (like touchdowns per 16 carries, that’s a good one) tell us what we’re too lazy to evaluate for ourselves.
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Just going on the record:
I predict Hutson Mason will increase his average from his first 2 starts from 310 pass yards per game, to 325-335 AVERAGE per game.
Why?
Simple, he’ll have more playmakers to use than he did in those 2 starts (Malcolm Mitchell, Justin Scott Wesley, Jay Rome for starters).
That 325-333 average will put Hutson Mason in the top 5 in the nation.
Heisman level.
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He’s going ON THE RECORD EVERYONE!!!!!!
Also I suddenly feel even better about Gurley since folks seem to be coming out of the woodwork to say how bad he is. Or at least a “folk”.
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Wait a minute, how can our linebackers be numero uno? That one there, that I read right here was too slow to be a good linebacker…number 1, really?
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Steele doesn’t pay enough attention to the Internet.
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So I suppose Todd Gurley is the latest collateral damage victim in Team Cobb County Jesus’ troll-a-palooza. Sorry, Todd.
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The “Special ” teams ranking of 21 is as surprising as anything. I guess it is based solely on returning kick specialists, ignoring our many meltdowns that resulted in easy points that turned big leads into close games and close games into losses. I hope PS is right about that. Competence without bad plays would be an improvement.
I suppose our troll thinks GT has better running backs than Gurley and co just because they rush for more yards.
A back like Gurley makes the OL look better than it is at times. I think we have the potential to be competent there but like others here I think the OL performance will be the key.
Mason will be fine as long as he doesn’t try to do too much. I have great confidence in CMB to get the most out of him. If he goes down though we will be in big trouble.
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We don’t even have a special teams coach, how can we have the 21st best special teams unit, that’s utterly ridiculous.
PS, the annoying troll is right that many SEC teams have far better rushing finishes every year than Georgia.
Not sure what the excitement is over Gurley, 12 or 13 guys in the conference were more productive.
Agree, Mason will be superb, disagree we’ll be in trouble if Mason goes down, we’ll just let Bauta take over a year early, offense will change to look like Auburn, and away we go.
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How foolish of the trolls, Steele didn’t say UGA would finish #2 in rushing yards, he said we had the 2nd best GROUP of running backs. Big difference. You don’t play football for individual stats, it is a team game and the offense should do what the defense gives you. I expect every team, especially at the beginning year, to stack the box and make an untested QB prove he can beat them. It is pretty certain that the best running backs in the country can run the ball. I hope we don’t finish #2 in rushing yards, it will mean we are in for a long season and we didn’t get good QB play. Let Tech have the rushing title. Bama has maybe the 5th best set of running backs, I hope they finish ahead of us in rishing for the same reason I don’t want to be at the top.
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Good post, Mac.
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Mac doesn’t want to win the SEC. Because you won’t unless you finish top 3 in your conference in RUSHING. Mac you SURE you don’t want to finish in the top 3?
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Uh, hate to tell you but we are talking national numbers, not conference. You might have picked up on that earlier, there were several references. And as stated, it is a team game….whatever works suits me, just want that 13th SEC title.
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There is no “whatever works”, it’s either finish in the top 3 in the SEC in rushing, or you won’t win the SEC.
There is no other path that works over the last 15 seasons (that’s as far back as I checked).
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You missed the point, slicko. No one said we wouldn’t be/shouldn’t be in the Top 3 in rushing in the SEC, with the best group of backs we can certainly be there. The presence of that rushing attack simply gives you more ability to pass, that is how McCarron looked efficient beyond his talent. The comment you misinterpreted was national versus conference, and after three times you still haven’t figured it out.
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Again, use your brain. Let’s look back one whole year. Auburn won the SEC ranked first in rushing in the country. Then, they lost the national championship game, while stealing signals, to FSU. I think FSU, had they played in the SEC, would have had a great chance to win the conference.
FSU ranked 28th in rushing in the country. They fell behind Auburn (1), Missouri (16), Arkansas (the mighty razorbacks were 21), and Bama (25).
Is your position that Bama had no chance at the SEC championship last year (5th in the conference in rushing) and that Arkansas would have had a better chance at winning the conference than FSU, had they played in the SEC? Because, if so, that’s an insanely stupid position.
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