Okay, so follow along.
- Today, Georgia began installing its game plan for the opener.
- During the time the press was allowed to observe practice, Jacob Eason ran the offense with the ones, followed by Lambert. Ramsey remained on the sidelines.
- Which brings us to this…
On Friday the team prepared for North Carolina for the first time all fall, and Eason continued his march towards the starting job by going exclusively with the No. 1 offense during the entire length of practice. After practice the three scholarship quarterbacks, which includes returning starter Greyson Lambert and reserve Brice Ramsey, were told about their standing in the current quarterback competition according to sources intimately familiar with the situation.
Today was the first such day that the quarterbacks were told there was a game-week rotation. UGA coach Kirby Smart met with each signal caller individually. Smart previously gathered the three earlier in camp and let them know collectively that Eason would get a more serious look after school started. Before that time the trio was rotating evenly during fall camp. Eason has run with the No. 1 unit almost exclusively since school started, and the other two have rotated with the No. 2 and No. 3 unit.
Insiders say that Eason’s development improved during his time with the No. 1 unit, and that the extra day off (this Monday) helped him recover from what has been a grueling, high-voluming of throwing camp. At this point insiders expect Eason not just to start against the Tar Heels, but to play the entire game.
Lambert will run with the No. 2 unit, and is only expected to take the starting job if something goes wrong with Eason in the next week. Ramsey will work with the No. 3 unit and continue his punting chores.
Um… “high-voluming of throwing”? Somebody needs an editor… but I digress.
Assuming this is true, either we’re supposed to think it came fairly suddenly, or else Smart and Chaney had a decent idea after the start of camp this month where they thought the battle might go. I don’t know about you, but I lean towards the latter, mainly because I want to give them credit for their conviction.
I don’t know how much of a gamble this will turn out to be, but there’s little doubt it’ll be one of the major ways Kirby’s start will be judged. Good thing they started on those first-team reps when they did, eh?
Get The Picture 
Looks like I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue.
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Well played, sir.
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From what I can see of it, I can make out either a broach or a pterodactyl
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Or something for the wrist
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Holy schnikies. I like many assumed Smart would play it safe with Lambert in the beginning.
Welp, here we go.
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Very exciting news….and brings butterflies into the pit of my stomach. I was also expecting Lambert to start with Eason seeing time and taking over by the end of September. I like them going all in with Eason even though it will lead to some heartburn. However, Lambert is either really good or really bad and you never know whether Jekyll or Hyde will show up, so guess Eason isn’t a bad alternative. I also like the fact we’ll get him some game experience before rolling into the heart of the SEC schedule.
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Well, well, well … this news is gonna make for quite the debates/conversations over the coming 7+ days. I’m interested in hearing what my UNC friends & coworkers will have to say, too.
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Eason über alles.
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For real?
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GATA Eason.
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Well be careful what you wish for Dawg fans. I guess we will get to the wonder kid with live bullets flying. I for one don’t think it will end well but then I’m old and of the Dooley-Munson school.
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Non-conference game against an P5 defense… let him learn here before going on the road against Mizzou’s defense.
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This is what I said in the Spring. If you think Eason is the guy you need in the SEC, you roll him out against UNC, Nicholls and then by the time you get to Mizzou, Ole Miss and UT he has played meaningful snaps.
Honestly, what I think they should have done with Ramsey last season. Lambert is fine, but has a ceiling Eason doesn’t.
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Get the snaps and then hit the meat of the SEC schedule. Kirby does not want a game manager he wants a game winner. Eason will be fine and able to overcome his mistakes. Agree that the coaches had a pretty good idea who would be under center come camp and used the time to cemention that. Of course it does not hurt to have a Chubb and Michel behind you. Think that played a role in the decision along with what I think is turning out to be a pretty damn good O line.
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“Of course it does not hurt to have a Chubb and Michel behind you.”
We don’t really know just how much Chubb and Michael we have yet. I think Michael struggles a bit catching passes out of the backfield until late season.
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OK, Bert.
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Chubb is 100% no doubt in my mind. Michel wraps it up and plays if the docs say so(think they give him the ok). If not we got Douglas, Crowder, Holyfield and Herrien. Not too shabby of a stable.
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+1
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I like this thinking. Another thing no one seems to be talking about – No one is saying Lambert won’t play.
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Pffft. I’m worried about our long snappah.
Seriously, a month or so ago I flipped from believing Lambert should start, but now that it might happen I am thinking about flopping back. Of course, it could still be a ruse; I obviously have no clue.
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Agree…..big risk starting a freshman QB – but I still do not believe it.
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Aww hell. There goes my week.
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Been real since he debuted to good results at G-day. That snippet, albeit in a setting conducive to passing success, gave Kirby the confidence to know that Eason has the temperament to handle high expectations. The 5 months since have been about getting him ready to do it against real competition. Lambert’s flaws are clear as day for Kirby and Chaney to see. The only chance they were going to opt for Lambert was if Eason left them no choice. To everyone’s credit, it looks like Eason has won the job.
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Or Lambert has lost it.
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Or they are faking it with Eason in order to get the press involved in a ruse.
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Faton Bauta to start against UNC. And don’t let him run the football. That would fool everyone.
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Smart ain’t tipping his hat imo, just catching Eason up to speed if I had to guess. Still think Lambert starts with maybe Eason coming off the bench for a series or two. It is hard to replace a 10 game winner with experience…..hopefully Eason is worked in slowly as the season goes. It would be a big chance imo if he starts a freshman and sticks with him…..if so, he better win 10 or more this year or “Katie bar the door”.
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You really aren’t willing to accept a few growing pains from the frosh as opposed to what we know we get from Lambert: bails from the pocket way too early so he can throw the ball away every other play?
Yes. I’m sure Lambert is a great guy. But we’ve seen his ceiling. Anyone who trots out the “well he won 10 games last year” narrative hasn’t watched any game film of how that mirage happened.
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More to being a QB than a just having a good arm. DGAS who starts, as long as he is the guy that gives us the best chance to win…..not willing to sacrifice losses to break someone in. If he is not ready, work him in slowly…if he is, start him. It is as ample as that.
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Sorta validates the Occam’s razor in that the 2015 fall camp and eventually the entire season went the way it did because the coaches didn’t have a qb that stood out, at all. The difference now is Eason and of course a cohesive offensive coaching staff.
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So what’s the over-under before the grouse crowd starts yelling for them to put Ramsey in? 2.5 interceptions?
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Ramsey is good for 2.5 Ints. per 25 throws unfortunately.
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I have to assume that Kirby is making this decision based on what he thinks is best for the team to win right now. I’m still not convinced Lambert won’t be the starter a week from today. If the reports are true, Kirby and Chaney are convinced either Eason is ready now or we need to be getting ready for ’17 because we aren’t going to compete for Atlanta in ’16. Then again, Treon Harris played QB in the SECCG last year. Hope springs eternal the Saturday before the season starts.
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If this is the way it’s going to shake out, I imagine Ramsey is out of Athens as soon as he can find another place to take him. If Ramsey were graduating this spring and decided to transfer, we may see Kirby’s statement about graduate transfer restrictions get put to the test.
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EE, from what I have read in the past Ramsey does not have the internal drive to be a great QB. I have also been told that Ramsey is not the brightest kid on the block either. He is happy being at Georgia and being the punter from what I understand. I do not look for him to transfer.
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Good info, but even Kirby is saying the guy he brought in was ahead in the punter competition. If he’s getting a useful degree and enjoys UGA, good for him.
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Ramsey’s father has been deployed during all of this. Maybe that has bothered him more than we know. I know when my dad was in Viet Man it was always in the back of my mind.
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Carolina be like, “a freshman quarterback? Naw, man, that shit ain’t real”.
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In Chaney I trust.
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Oh ye of little imagination. Lambert, who started and won 10 games last year, is the last guy who really needs to work with the ones. He knows what the crucible is like and Eason doesn’t, so why not give Eason reps to get him ready to be inserted into the game? If Lambert isn’t rotating with the ones on Mon, then I will believe Eason will go, otherwise, I think he should get more reps regardless of whether he starts or goes into the game later. Of course we won’t know because practices will be closed.
What’s to prevent this from being a ploy? The press bus was late to practice by happenstance or by plan of Smart and Chaney? Somewhere, half of me says this is a plan to control press speculation such that NC is totally confused as to who will face them early. If they spend their time planning for Eason, that affects their D game planning and practice such as to leave NC guessing how their D reps will be used in preparing for us. It’s a trick I tells you, a trick!
On the other hand, this means that Eason is the starter. 🙂 Let’s play along and argue among ourselves to confuse NC even further. Wink, wink.
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New offensive coordinator, shuffled offensive line, a wide receiver corps that has to be rebuilt… but, sure, Lambert doesn’t need any reps.
It’s thinking like that that made the Georgia offense such a powerhouse last season.
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You have no sense of humor on Sat, Bluto. And they didn’t ask me to think last season. They asked me to continue being a stupid fan and to enter any guessing game out there concerning QB.
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More towards the serious side, but what how do you think we verify this rotation all week with closed (and secret) practices?
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Either the coaches will announce officially, or confirmation will be leaking like a sieve out of camp all week.
Ramsey’s been rumored to have been reduced to third wheel for two weeks now, so the rumor mill appears to be doing its usual job.
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“…confirmation will be leaking like a sieve”….” as coming from the O-line? If it is anything like the last week, those guys aren’t sayin’ shit.
Along with the press and the fans, Kirby has the team where he wants them also.
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You’re right. Lambert doesn’t need practice reps to bail out of the pocket for no reason or toss the ball into the stands.
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Beat UNC….
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I think the talent/potential/gives us the best chance to win games choice has been obvious for some time. They were all given a fair shake but it really came down to Eason being competent running the offense.
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OK, I’m pumped. But I had a fricking nightmare last night that Eason threw 3 picks, including a pick six. Damn, I can’t wait for it to be Sept. 3.
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so when does Ramsey turn in his transfer request?
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i do kinda feel bad for Ramsey. By all accounts, he’s a solid kid and he has done what both coaching staffs have asked of him. Just seems like there’s something there that doesn’t quite click. Personally, if he chooses to leave, I’ll wish him well. This is his third offensive coaching staff, though, and the second one with extensive SEC and collegiate pedigree. They’ve all passed on the opportunity to start him. This is the second time that he’s failed to beat out a very average quarterback in Greyson Lambert, and the third time he’s failed to win our quarterbacking job. At this point, it certainly appears that SEC-level football might not be in the cards for him. I’d love to see him prove me wrong, either at Georgia or at a school we don’t play.
It isn’t going to be getting any easier for Ramsey to find snaps when Fromm gets to Athens.
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Ramsey only started playing football in high school was a soccer player prior to high school. His dad has been deployed this past year. He is not a quitter.
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This article, anonymously sourced as it may be, got me fired up so much this morning that I had to go run just to calm down. I’ve stopped sweating from that, but I’m still jacked up. If #10 has indeed won our job, that means that he’s doing some really special work in practice to beat out the seemingly safer bet in Lambert. I can not WAIT to see him run out into the huddle for the first time, whether it’s our first series of the game or the fifth. Just hope he knows how to run a silent count, because even the most football-savvy Bulldog fan might have a hard time sitting on his or her hands when he takes the field the first time.
THIS WEEK NEEDS TO GO BY SO FREAKING FAST.
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Here is my take on this, and I like the way it’s playing out. Lambert was not a threat deep last year. Was he serviceable? At times yes. Was he going to beat anyone? Not unless you are USCe. Eason has the ability, it seems, to throw the ball down the field. UNC will try to stop Nick, more people in the box, single coverage, make the young guy beat you deep. All Eason has to do is catch them one time and they have to respect it, if they don’t, do it again until they do. This moves people out of the box and Chubb has lanes that he hasn’t seen since 2014. Less contact for Chubb means more yards, which means more TD’s, which means more wins.
Is it going to be nerve wrecking? Yes, but I am excited about the move (if it is true).
COME ON SATURDAY!!! LET’S GET IT ON!!! (Not in the Marvin sense…lol)
JMHO!
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Easier said than done, I’m afraid.
Offensive line has to give him time. Receivers have to get open. Eason has to be accurate with his throws.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s hard to ignore Eason’s upside. But there’s a lot more involved in getting a defense to back off because of a passing threat than a big arm.
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I agree much easier said than done.
Here’s to wishful thinking that an 18 y/o kid on a national stage can have a breakout game for the ages. Crazier things have happened.
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