‘Let’s see how Florida does offensively this year and how they do as a team…’

When’s the last time Florida had seven commitments and Mississippi State had 26?

Lucky for Boom there’s no negative recruiting in the SEC.

Twenty million is a big number.

Sometime yesterday, Get the Picture enjoyed its 20,000,000th hit.  As someone who started this blog on a complete lark (Reggie Ball as my muse!), call me gobsmacked by that number.

Needless to say, I still enjoy bloviating as much as ever.  But I enjoy your company here even more.  Thanks for continuing to stop by the joint.

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Nice conference scheduling you got there.

While it’s great that Auburn and Clemson have signed up for a home-and-home in the next few years, sadly, it does lead to this head scratcher…

Excluding bowl and SECCG possibilities, Auburn will play Clemson five times between 2010-2017. It will play Florida once.

— Barrett Sallee (@BarrettSallee) July 30, 2014

Auburn-Florida was a compelling series in the nineties and aughts.  Too bad Mike Slive thinks we don’t really need it anymore.

Back to reality

Jeremy Pruitt is Debbie Downer.

Pruitt is largely retaining the 3-4 scheme that Georgia used the past four seasons under Todd Grantham. But ideally Pruitt would like to substitute more and use an array of packages. He was asked Wednesday how comfortable he is that by the Clemson game on Aug. 31 he will be able to do all that.

“Right now I’m not very comfortable at all,” he said, adding that they will only play the guys that they know can perform. “If that’s 11, it’s 11. If it’s 30, it’s 30.

That’s a month to settle on a two-deep, or however the packages will be set.  Not exactly an eternity.

On the bright side, at least his players are ready to get started.

Your daily dose of Dawg porn

From Gentry Estes’ list of incoming Georgia players who will make a real impact this season comes this bit about Charlie Hegedus:

The N.C. State transfer was reportedly cleared to play immediately because of an NCAA hardship waiver. A former star in combine settings, Hegedus has reportedly been impressive — and very fast — in summer workouts. [Emphasis added.]  Plus, he’s got a history with QB Hutson Mason. This has the makings of a real success story with Hegedus at UGA, and it would be a surprise if he’s not an impact player at some point soon.

Sounds like Coach Ball’s got something to work with there.

The agony of Greg McGarity

I don’t doubt for a second that he’s sincere about this:

“People are upset, we’re upset,” McGarity said, “and we’ve got to work even harder to try to do things that will help us avoid these problems but at the end of the day, a young person has to make a decision. You see that not only with 18-year olds but you see that with 50-year olds that make poor decisions.

“When you do have a problem, it makes you go back and just take another look, take a second look on what’s registering and what is not.”

But seriously, if he finds a solution, he needs to take his services to a bigger stage than Athens, Georgia.  Social engineering is a tall order from an athletic director’s office.

For that matter, given Georgia’s experience over the past few years, the same can be said about the school president’s office as well.

The NCAA’s concussion settlement

It’s hardly more than a good start, if that.  The NCAA puts up $70 million in a fund that can be accessed by players to screen as to whether any suffer head-injury problems, but no money is set aside for actual damages.  Instead, any player with issues will have to sue to collect compensation.

There are some agreed to mandates on current policy…

— Preseason baseline testing for every athlete for each season in which he or she competes

— Prohibition from return to play on the same day an athlete is diagnosed with a concussion. Generally accepted medical protocols recommend athletes not return to play the same day if they exhibit signs of a concussion or are diagnosed with one, but a 2010 survey of certified athletic trainers conducted by the NCAA found that nearly half reported that athletes had returned to play the same day.

— Requirement that medical personnel be present for all games and available for practices for all contact sports, defined in the settlement as football, lacrosse, wrestling, ice hockey, field hockey, soccer and basketball. Those personnel must be trained in the diagnosis, treatment and management of concussions.

— Implementation of concussion tracking in which schools will report concussions and their resolution

— Requirement that schools provide NCAA-approved training to athletes, coaches and athletic trainers before each season

— Education for faculty on the academic accommodations needed for students with concussions

… but also a question as to how far those mandates go.

Huma told ESPN the settlement also falls short of protecting current players because it does not mandate new return-to-play protocols. Instead, the NCAA and the plaintiffs agreed that remaining guidelines for schools and the implementation of those guidelines are subject to the NCAA’s rule-making process.

“And we know what the regular NCAA rule-making process is like. It could take years, or they could shoot it down,” Huma said. “The settlement represents yet another refusal of the NCAA to protect players from unnecessary brain trauma. Instead of agreeing to rules that protect players’ brains by reducing contact in practices and mandatory return-to-play protocols, such protections would remain optional.”

He has a point about the NCAA’s rule-making process.

And one other thing – that $70 million isn’t all for screening.

The NCAA, which in the settlement denied the plaintiffs’ allegations, agreed not to oppose attorneys’ fees up to $15 million. Those fees and expenses would come out of the $75 million assigned for medical monitoring and research.

So, progress of a sort, at best.  And the agreement still has to be approved by the court.  In other words, this one has a long way to go.

Haz a crayon alert

Mike Bobo shows up at number nine on Bruce Feldman’s list of offensive coordinators ready for head coaching gigs.

My second favorite thing about the list is that Kurt Roper shows up three slots ahead of Bobo.  I’ll be interested in seeing the conventional wisdom after the season’s over.

The best thing is seeing Bobo on the same list with a MENSA member.

The new roster is here! The new roster is here!

Here’s the link.  Weiszer’s post about it is here.  Seth has his observations here.

Overall, it’s about what you might expect.  The defensive front has shed weight, with the only d-lineman weighing more than 300 pounds is freshman Lamont Gaillard.  (Ed. note:  Chris Mayes shows up at over 300 pounds, as well.)  The offensive line has grown, with Zach DeBell adding an astounding 25 pounds.  Outside linebacking has picked up size, while on the inside Wilson added a few pounds and Herrera has dropped a bunch – 13 pounds to 231 (if that makes him quicker and improves his stamina without affecting his strength, he could be somebody to watch next month).

A couple of names caught my eye.  Theus is up to 313 now, which is good-sized for a tackle.  The question is how mobile he is.  And on the other side, Ray Drew bucked the trend and added eight pounds.  Better strength, or could that be a reason he’s not been able to push up the depth chart yet?

The number I was most interested in seeing turned out to be 226.  That’s Todd Gurley’s listed weight.  It’s a few pounds less than last year’s official weight, but not so much that you worry about his ability to plow into defenders.

What do you guys see?