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UPDATE: Kirby splits a few hairs in the same interview.
Smart also didn’t provide any major clues during the segment, though he did downplay incumbent starter Greyson Lambert’s experience. That happened when Shapiro pointed out that Lambert had started a lot of games.
“Yes, for (Brian) Schottenheimer, and for the guy at Virginia,” Smart interjected.
So does he have better command of how to run an offense, Shapiro asked?
“I think he has a better command of how to run a offense. But I don’t know about this offense. It’s new to both of them,” Smart said, meaning Lambert and junior Brice Ramsey. “He’s a senior. He’s been around the game. He’s been a lot of places, he’s played in a lot of systems. So obviously mentally he’s going to be ahead of some of the other games because of the experience he has.”
Get The Picture 
Well, maybe those reports of Ramsey stepping up are over rated. If he had stepped up I would doubt that Eason would be taking more first team snaps. Wonder what this means about Lambert’s reps.
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Shit just got real.
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Definitely… interesting.
To Bluto’s point, I guess the inference is no. Otherwise Kirby wouldn’t have made the comment.
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Correct, although I think it’s best to characterize this as Eason’s final audition for the coaches to determine whether it’s worth keeping him in the mix as the 2016 starter.
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“In a perfect world, we should not be starting a freshman,” he said.”
I read that to mean Smart is reluctantly realizing that the freshman is his only option as a starter.
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I read that as more of like, in a perfect world, this would not be a decision he’d have to make at this point in camp.
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I think you’re reading too much into that comment.
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The tea leaves are muddled.
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So are the pidgeon entrails.
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pigeon? pijun? Help me out here, guys.
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“Gamecock.”…looked in the thesaurus.
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I think that’s exactly it. “In a perfect world, we wouldn’t even have to consider this, but our QB situation is such a mess that this is a valid option.”
I think they are at the point to where they have to give him a fair shake, and they’ve got to get him consistent reps to see if that cuts down on mistakes and if he settles in.
At some point, a freshmen QB will come in an not have all the hiccups of a freshman. Some NBA team had to come back in the finals down 3-1 for the first time. Gotta be a first.
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I would agree. This sounds like they are going to give Eason every chance to show some separation before falling back to Lambert or Ramsey.
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Yeah, if anything, it indicates to me that Ramsey’s on an equal footing with Lambert.
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Yeah. Gathered that from your update. Yippee, three QBs!
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Funny how we all read it slightly differently. Seems to me Kirby is saying “I shouldn’t even have to be thinking about playing a true freshman, but this is the reality of where we are two weeks before the opener.” Of course, that would also appear to indicate that perhaps Ramsey has actually at least pulled even with Lambert. So to recap, a hot mess. My guess is we’ll be anything but predictable. Unless, of course, Kirby is some sort of genius just messing with our minds. These are not the droids you’re looking for. Wonder if I can make myself believe that for the next couple of weeks?
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Per UGASports.com,
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He might mean it, but if I were the coach, I couldn’t think of a better thing to tell the other two QB’s to keep them happy if Eason was actually #1 right now. Its a pretty good line.
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So, Kirby should lie to his players?
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I think he should tell Lambert and Ramsey that “it’s not you, it’s me.”
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I actually like this. It’s like they’re telling Eason, “It’s now or never (for this year), kid! Show us how much you want it and if you deserve it.” I think it’s fair. If he falls short after this week he can’t say they didn’t give him a shot. They gave him a whole week in mid August to prove himself.
My guess is that he’ll play as well as he has up to this point – which means not consistent enough to start. It’ll be Lambert or Ramsey.
Dear God.
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What time does the game start? Too early to start tailgating?
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Start?
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I have already started…
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I think I have.
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Damn, let me catch up.
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Somebody should have said something. I need to run to JP’s for some more bourbon.
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Save one for me fellas.
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We’re two weeks from Game 1. The guy your are giving the most first team reps to is the guy you think you want to start. He could fuck it up obviously, but I have to think that this is more than just testing a guy they want/expect to see in a ball cap on 9/3. I also have to say that with two and maybe 3 good backs, Eason would seem the way to go. This is especially true is if Kublanow can help get them out of bad plays.
Also, keep in mind too that there is no one more prepared than the HC to know what UNC will throw at Eason. It’s one thing for a qb to hear it from the DC, but when the head man tells you he knows all the tricks and all the things he fears when coaching a defense, that should resonate. It should help Kirby and Cheney make good decisions about game plan and who the starter ought to be as well.
This is a three year kid. I say get every live snap you can get before he cashed that big check.
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Not to mention that there is one, and perhaps two, coming behind him who are just as talented as he is in the next one and two years. Play the kid. We all remember how “bad” that 10 win season felt last year, and I don’t want another season that felt like that. Let’s live and die with this freshman. Two different Georgia head coaches didn’t make break-neck trips to Washington state expecting this kid not to play. We know what we have with the two returning QBs, let’s see what we have with Eason.
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Kirby’s all but telling us “live and die” with Eason ain’t in the cards this season.
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I agree that he won’t start Eason for 2017 or because of Fromm or hopefully Lawrence. He’ll play who he thinks gives us the best chance to win. Nothing will lose a team like playing a guy who doesn’t deserve it. Kirby knows that. I just think (hope) they’ve found their guy in Eason. I think that if he can handle the pressure (he looked good in front of 93k) and doesn’t make dumb decisions with the ball, Eason is the guy.
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But he will make some dumb decisions, that’s why they call ’em freshmen!
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Yea, but that deck of cards might get shuffled at some point early in this season…
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I don’t know who the QB, LTackle or Nose is gonna’ be but I do recognize this about Kirby. Win or lose any game it will be all about the next practice. He’s all business even in an interview.
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So to recap
– qbs: no proven players
– rbs: hoping out 2 starters can return from injury. In chubb’s case a devastating injury
– 1 proven wide receiver whom Kirby has called out.
– o line – it’s a Georgia o line..so bet on them at your own risk
– tight ends – legit
– offensive coordinator: mixed track record. Might legitimately suck. He coached drew brees but i don’t recall him directing any high powered offenses (top 10). If someone has the data contrary to that I’d be happy to be proven wrong.
Yeah the more i hear the depressed i get about our offense. God i miss Bobo.
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Step away from the ledge dude. Our offense will almost certainly be more productive than last season.
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WE LANDED ON THE MOON!
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I was hanging on every word until you got to the part about Bobo. I don’t see any connection.
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Munson, is that you?
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Sounds like Eason is winning to me. Good. Regardless of who is (marginally) best for the team, I’m ready for a full ripping off of the bandaid, and that means Eason.
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This mindset of throwing Eason into the fire is not good. Nothing can ruin a young QB faster than being killed by a season defense. Beside the physical beating he might take he could develop “Happy Feet” and that could be hard to cure. Remember his high school days were spent in Washington playing against not the best defenses. He has only seen the SEC speed and quickness in practice and he doesn’t have to pay the price physically. Say what you will about Gene C,he can coach some D. He will throw every blitz and coverage package at him and hope that the kid throws the ball up for grabs. I’ll take experience over youth in this first game. Eason will have to show out the next week.
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Not an ounce of smart ass in the response, seriously. But I hear the “you can start a QB too son and ruin him” type argument a lot. I’m curious if anyone has any examples for this. It seems impossible to prove because there are lots of QB’s who dominate in high school then don’t in college. If one of those starts early, gets his bell rung and then stinks it up…. maybe he would have stunk it up anyways after a year on the bench.
But I am curious about possible examples.
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I don’t think it fully holds up either. Quincy Carter looked better as a redshirt freshman than he did as a junior. Stafford was downright horrible for 2/3rds of his freshman year, but was hardly “ruined” (well, other than having to play for the Lions) by it.
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On the opposite end of the spectrum….review true frosh Josh Rosen (UCLA) from last year….game one (1) v. Virginia. 28-35, 350 yards, 3 TDS and no picks. These kids are different today. Coached-up, bigger, more physical, psychologically prepared. Having a huge freshman year is very possible with the right kid. I know, I know….it’s the SEC not PAC12. But Rosen performed on the big stage in a power 5 conference v. some huge opponents. And had a good year for a bad/hurt UCLA team.
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…plus with our stable of RB’s, we can bring him along slowly. Not to say he won’t make freshman mistakes but we won’t be as dependent on the passing game. It will take much of the pressure off. Of course he has to be enough of a downfield threat to help the OL and RB’s…make the D pay for stacking the box.
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Hard to determine in football. But in baseball, you see pitchers who get shelled occasionally become a complete mess from that point forward. No reason to think it couldn’t happen in other sports.
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it didn’t seem to hurt Buck Belue. Or E Zeier. Or a kid named Bobo (although he was a redshirt freshman) who got thrown out there against Tech early in the game after EZ went down. Stats don’t lie, but maybe Eason is an anomaly. If he’s the best we have, play him. Don’t we have to trust Kirby? Eason was a guy he really wanted, must have seen something there. It’s up to KS now to decide if the kid is better than the vets.
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If only we had scrimmage QBRs….
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So play Eason now, redshirt Fromm in 2017, then you’ve got 1 year with Eason starting and Fromm backing up, followed by starting redshirt sophomore in 2019. Sometime you give up a perfect world today for a more perfect tomorrow. I hope that Sanford has room for all the championship banners.
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With respect to Eason, I wouldn’t bet he isn’t behind where Fromm will be at this point next year. I don’t really want Eason to start in the early games, but I also don’t want him to be parked on the sideline all season and us start out with QB Competition III next summer. But even if Eason gets some experience this fall, don’t sleep on Jake Fromm, it could be very competitive again, imo.
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Does this mean Kirby’s gonna but Eason on the punt return “safe squad”?
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Maybe I’m reading into this too much, but isn’t the update at odds with the idea that “they know what they have in Lambert and Ramsey?” Smart’s comment that Lambert might not know this offense like he did the previous one sounds like they don’t know exactly what they have with Lambert (and Ramsey).
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You can learn the offense with 2’s. Can’t learn to work with 1’s with 2’s. That’s what Eason lacks that the others have enough of.
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Still think Lambert starts season, but by game 3 Eason will be the man. Everyone is scared of the mistakes he’s gonna make. But no one has brought up the positives he has. I honestly believe the team will respond to Eason more than the otherQBS
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If it were a game of 7 on 7, Eason would be a runaway winner, imo. But not taking a snap under center in HS, never being responsible for check-offs at the LOS, and the level of HS football in Washington have me worried about all things not related to making excellent passes. I think still think Ramsey, but would be fine with Lambert.
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Parker McLeod FTW
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Here’s my conspiracy theory/”what if” on McLeod:
We heard that Eason is the best holder (am I remembering that right?) but they don’t want him to hold because they’ve decided to start him at QB already, so they brought in McLeod to be the holder because Lambert and Ramsey suck so bad at holding.
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Hmmm. Interesting.
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LOL
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Nicely done
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I was looking for a pic of Ramsey and Lambert on the sideline during last year’s UF game. This is all I could find.
Not sure what is going on, but there is soooo much going on in this picture that makes me laugh.
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Smoke screen for NC, Eason taking 1st unit snaps , Eason starts against NC, simple s that.
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it’s Machiavellian. Or maybe Belechikian.
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If 2 QB’s with college and SEC experience cannot shake off a newbie then they probably have some deficiencies that the latter may be better with.
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+1
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