Okay, spoilsports, so McKenzie’s TD punt return wasn’t part of the live scrimmage, but was during a drill. Nevertheless, there are grounds to take heart from it.
The star of the night may have been on special teams: Freshman Isaiah McKenzie returned a kickoff for a touchdown during a drill. That only feeds the notion that McKenzie will have a big role on punt and kick returns.
Richt cautioned that McKenzie’s kick return didn’t come in live action, but rather thud. That didn’t lesson the impression it gave Bulldog players.
“He caught it, waited for the kickoff return to get into position, and he just hit the gap and took it all the way,” Bailey said. [Emphasis added.]
If that’s the case, he demonstrated better instincts and technique than I saw from any Georgia punt returner last season. That’s a start.
Get The Picture 
Oh I’ll take it. This young man looks legit.
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I’m happy just to hear that he caught it and waited for the blocking. Kid seems to have the innate ability to do the job, the bonus is he’s got the shifty hips and quick wheels to bust plays a la the weed, oops, honey badger.
Yay
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OK, you are right. It signals a big departure since pre Logan Gray (sp?). We’ll finally get some excitement on punt return.
The scrimmage stat that excited me the most was the number of running backs involved in the pass game.
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“Rome plays, without a pickaxe” … LMAO
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There will always be a learning curve for young kick returners–bad decisions, careless ball protection, knowing when to fair catch, etc–but to have a player who can develop into a legitimate special-teams weapon will be worth the cost. Too, turning our special teams into a net positive will be yet another step toward becoming a champion again.
It would be great to draw LSU in the SECCG and have McKenzie do to them what the Honey Badger did to us in 2011. Go ahead, Les, kick it to him!
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Yeah, but Isaiah will have to beat them honestly, because Miles won’t have a Marc Deas as one of his contain men.
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Unlike LSU, we will get flagged for blocks in the back.
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That too.
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Agree. He did that many times on his HS film. Usually it worked. Sometimes it can backfire, but there’s a sense of timing that great returners have. And Isaiah seems to have it.
At this level, he can’t afford to be nearly as cute as he was in HS. He may have to learn a lesson or two. It’s something he’ll have to figure out. But those instincts are real. Combined with his skill set, they are very dangerous.
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