First, look what the cat drug in.
Mike Bobo, the former offensive coordinator, was back, as was former offensive line coach Will Friend. Both left before the bowl game for Colorado State, Bobo as head coach and Friend as offensive coordinator. But with CSU on spring break, both were back in town and decided to drop by for pro day.
Those coaches left on good terms for better jobs, so it wasn’t too surprising to see them.
They could also offer some insight about their former players to coaches and scouts in attendance that their replacements can’t. Class move, fellas.
Second, there’s the curious case of Ray Drew.
For Ray Drew, Georgia’s Pro Day was an opportunity to show off his new frame for all 32 NFL teams.
“I was excited to show off the new me,” Drew said. “I’ve lost 15 pounds, I am now at 265 so today was a great opportunity to show off how I’ve improved my quickness.”
Drew’s weight loss was evident in his drills. He was able to show his explosiveness off the snap with a 32-inch vertical jump and a broad jump of 9’4’’.
Drew arrived to Athens in 2011 as one of the crown signings of the “Dream Team.”
He finished his career at UGA with 113 tackles and 7.5 sacks. He led the nation last year in blocked kicks with three.
“I feel lighter, towards the end of my career here at Georgia I noticed that I was sluggish,” Drew said. “But now if a team wants me to put on weight I can put it on better and live a healthier lifestyle.”
I don’t want to say this kind of talk drives me crazy, but it’s frustrating to hear. Did Drew say anything about how he felt at the time to the staff, or was this just a situation where he was told to play at a certain weight no matter what? In any case, I wish him the best going forward. He didn’t turn out to be Georgia’s version of Jadeveon Clowney, but he certainly had a productive career. It’s just now I’ll wonder if there’s a bit of a missed opportunity to it.
Get The Picture 
remember when Drew as in the doghouse during the beginning of fall practice? he seemed not to be in a bad humor about that. and Pruitt was not at a loss for intent to motivate. perhaps the realities of NFL $$ are a step above for motivational purposes. i do love the kid. hope he makes bank and retires without head injuries.
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Certainly you aren’t just now starting to wonder if there may have been a missed opportunity regarding Drew’s time at UGA. I’ve felt that way all along. I don’t know if the fault lies with Drew or his coaches, but I don’t see how anyone could come to the conclusion that his time spent at UGA worked out as well as it could have.
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If I recall correctly, it was Rodney Gardner’s decision to move Drew to DL (as opposed to DE). And at the time, Drew said something to the effect of “this is where he says I can make NFL $$$, and I believe it.” If that was the case, then the coaches and Drew were in agreement on his move to DL.
My guess would be that Pruitt needed him to stay on the line this year — especially after witnessing how he had to come in as our up-the-middle-run-stuffer on several occasions. And with Jenkins & Floyd (and Carter) at end, where do you put Ray Drew except on the line?
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It is not unusual to see UGA defensive linemen to seemingly step up their game after they move to the NFL
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^This. Figured I wouldn’t be the first to make this observation. Many D-line Dawgs with “so-so” college careers have gone on to long-term pro careers.
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It’s all bullshit, but the type I understand. He’s working out for the NFL and isn’t going to cut it at a DT spot, so he’s trying to show he can be a DE OLB type for them. He’s just marketing right now. And I don’t think his lack of production ever had anything to do with his frame… I just think he lacked a killer instinct.
Also, you’ll never, ever hear a kid say “this is the new me. I weigh 25 lbs more than I should, and I’ve been eating cheese-steaks at Snelling every night.” I guess what I’m saying is – getting frustrated by the body-type proclamations of 20 year old football players may not be the wisest thing.
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“I weigh 25 lbs more than I should, and I’ve been eating cheese-steaks at Snelling every night”
You just summed up my freshman year.
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No wonder you didn’t go pro.
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Kids mature at different ages…best of luck to him..as said above, not sure you can teach killer instinct.
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Is there any program other than UGA that would tolerate a Wiggins and Dawson “hanging around?” Is there any coach other than Richt that would be trying to find a Dawson a mentor? Not knocking either, just wonderin’!
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I don’t know the answer to your question, but to me it speaks volumes of Coach Richt’s character.
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I think that two things during his coaching career at Georgia have greatly moved Coach Richt emotionally. The first was the stroke that David Jacobs had and the second was Paul Oliver’s suicide. To the first he reacted by personally watching over his recovery and honoring him with a large contribution in his name to the University. The second has caused him to create the Paul Oliver Organization to help all the former players. I emphasize ALL the former players, not just the ones we fans like. Rene Curran was also at the Pro Day trying out for the NFL even though he has been a star in the CFL. Coach Richt gives more than lip service to “Once a Dawg always a Dawg” he lives it.
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Good man, 69.
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I was told by a UGA coach a few years ago that if Ray Drew loved football as much as he loved preaching that he would be unstoppable. Unfortunatley for us, we only saw brief glimpses of greatness from Drew surrounded by inconsistent play at best. Maybe NFL money will change his willingness to be great. It will certainly be interesting to watch his pro career.
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I always kinda felt that Drew’s most natural position would have been a DE in a 4-3 scheme. I think he carries more weight partly because he’s just not a natural fit at OLB in a 3-4, so beefing up and sliding inside was his main option.
Not discounting what others have said above that maybe Drew could have worked harder as well, but I do think scheme was an issue for him. He may have shown out a little more in a Chavis-style defense……not bc Chavis is a better coach, just would have been a better fit. Best of luck to Drew tho, we certainly appreciate what he did here.
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This.
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S&C Tripped?
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It didn’t seem to me that Ray ever fully committed himself to playing football at UGA. He seemed much more interested in being a country music singer the times I ran into him (not kidding).
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I think Ray Drew just marched to the beat of his own drummer. He was a great young man and a credit to the University and whether he gets a shot in the pros or just keeps preaching, Georgia will not forget him.
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Agree 100%. Hope he has a fine NFL career and does what he enjoys. He’s a DGD in my book.
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I think he just doesn’t fit a 3-4 scheme. He is a 4-3 defensive end. I’m really appreciative that he chose to attend UGA, but he never really had a position on our defense.
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This also.
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The take on Drew wasn’t about his “weight”, that’s a smokescreen, he was just thought of as a lazy guy who didn’t have the drive to be great. Think opposite of David Pollack.
I wouldn’t draft him because of his work ethic but that’s me.
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The “take”? Whose take? Your second cousin’s friend who knows a janitor who claims to have overheard two players talking one day?
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Senator, sorry, it’s been well documented over the years by different beat writers or writers about Georgia football:
http://www.macon.com/…/georgias-drew-laughs-off-bust.html this one was in 2013
http://www.redandblack.com/sports/compliments-of-the-crock-pot-an-older-wiser-ray-drew/article_910ed3e0-3807-11e3-9adc-0019bb30f31a.html 2014
timesfreepress wrote about it in 2014:Georgia’s Ray Drew seeking to regain starting status
etc.
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Your first link doesn’t work and your second link doesn’t say a single thing about laziness.
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http://www.macon.com/2013/03/27/2414477/georgias-drew-laughs-off-bust.html
Quotes from above article in case links don’t work:
1- That gets to the essence of the man seemingly known as “Ray Drew, former five-star recruit,” who has yet to start a game for the Bulldogs and has just a half-sack to his credit in two years of action.
2- He’s too nice. Or so goes the thinking. He’s an ordained minister, after all. That’s why he hasn’t lived up to his potential. That’s why, even now with a starting spot finally there for him, he might not get it. Sterling Bailey might get it, and the impression will go on that Drew isn’t living up to the hype.
3-And he knew fans expected him to be a star. So he knows what they might be saying after two years of being a reserve with just one half-sack and just 13 solo tackles.
4- “At first coming in you do have that in the back of your head, ‘OK, I was a five-star recruit coming in. I didn’t do much this year,’ ” Drew said.
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http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/sports/college/story/2014/apr/02/georgias-drew-seeking-to-regain-starting-status/136059/
Quotes:
1- Senior defensive end Ray Drew, a former Rivals.com five-star prospect and top-10 national recruit, is bouncing between the second and third teams during practice.
2-“I would say he’s not kicking tail right now,” head coach Mark Richt said last weekend after the team held its first spring scrimmage. “I think he’s got a lot of improving to do.”
These are the type of things Richt said, and beat writers wrote that I remembered….I just don’t see the big deal in people who think Ray Drew was worth a darn at Georgia as some kind of top performer or something.
He was a bust.
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That’s not what you were arguing. You claim that Drew didn’t succeed because of laziness. There’s not a word of that in anything you’ve linked to.
Just because a five-star kid doesn’t pan out to your inflated expectations doesn’t mean it’s automatically because of deliberate lack of effort.
For you to make an unsubstantiated claim like this would be like me saying that a commenter casting aspersions on the character of someone he didn’t personally know must be an asshole. That would be wrong.
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1 1/2 sacks in all of 2011, 2012 and 2014 combined. Kid had 5 star talent, top 10 ranked in the nation. Had great coaches. But didn’t have the drive/work ethic, all that was missing.
You haven’t proven he was a hard worker. I think most would agree that a guy on 3rd string in the Spring of his Sr year isn’t a hard working guy.
Guess we’ll just have to disagree on this one unless you can prove it with some links saying he was consistently over 4 years one of the hardest working guys on the team. Otherwise, I’ll stick to my opinion.
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You’re welcome to your opinion. And if you had simply expressed it that way from the beginning, I wouldn’t have wasted bandwidth responding.
I haven’t made any representations about Drew’s work ethic, because, just like you, I don’t know the guy and never saw him at practice. So I don’t intend to spend time convincing you about it one way or the other.
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Football body and Basketball mentality.
Gets his head in the right place and he’ll be a star.
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I don’t know why people seem to criticize Ray Like they do. There seems to be an assumption (or a take) that he didn’t put up huge numbers because he was just lazy or because he didn’t make football his number one priority. I’ll never understand this. Ray didn’t end up being as good as we all hoped he would be at the time of his signing. That makes him exactly like most college football players. I don’t know why he catches so much criticism for it. He is a Dgd and I hope he gets a shot. But I am certain that he will succeed somewhere in life.
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wut when someone gets into differing player’s ears and says,” Don’t burn yourself up in college. Hold some back if you go to the pros to insure that you make it. Give enough to establish yourself and to play, but what happens when you injure yourself in the process? Let me show you examples of people who failed because their competitive injuries didn’t heal like most. Just cool it and do enough to get recognized, but why kill yourself and your career?”
Jus’ sayin’ that there are those whisperers of “all-knowing football” who get around with their “wiseman’ pronunciations to the receptive youthful minds, kinda like some on here. The more mature minds resist the wannabe hangerons, but some probably succumb. I could be wrong, but it fits a few. The difference between Conley and Drew is an enigma of competitiveness and perceived personalities.
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Drew was a solid DL. He played well and stayed out of trouble. He never became the force the recruiting services said he would be but that is a daily occurrence. Kid was a solid player and person. Thats enough for me. It’s not like he lacked facilities or coaching.
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Really?
Sacks:
He did get 1/2 a sack in 2011 vs Vandy
0 in 2012.
1 sack in 2014 vs LVille.
Other than that, he got 6 sacks in 2013 (ok 5 if you don’t count the 1 vs Appalachian St).
Tackles for loss?
2011? 2.5 (2 vs Vandy, 1/2 vs TN)
2012? 1 vs Neb
2013? 8 (2 vs Appal St, 2 vs Tenn, 2 vs Mizzou, 1 vs LSU)
2014? 1 1/2 (1 VS LVille, 1/2 vs TN)
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