After a few recent comments about the program’s current level of talent, I went digging around for some measure of quality as to Georgia’s current roster and found that 247Sports is positively scathing in that regard.
That is, if you consider sixth-best nationally to be scathing.
Look, I’d be the last one to argue that there aren’t some obvious shortcomings in how that talent is distributed, or that this team isn’t very young in places where that’s not a good thing to be. (Yeah, let’s not forget the consequences of the vaporization of the class of 2013, ever.) But when you’re sixth on that list and seventieth on this one, there’s a certain disconnect that shouldn’t be dismissed out of hand.
It’s a transitional year and as such I’ve come to grips with not making any major pronouncements about the program’s direction. However, dichotomies like these should be a sobering reminder that talent accumulation will only take a team so far. At some point, player development and sound coaching have to play a part, too.
While it’s too soon to tell in 2016, the question we have to ask — more importantly, that Greg McGarity has to ask — is when it becomes appropriate to insist that Georgia football should be reaping the rewards of what’s been brought to Athens.
Get The Picture 
There’s two issues here…what’s an accurate way to judge the talent in Athens and second, is the team playing up to that talent? To the second question, it’s a clear and obvious ‘no.’ They shouldn’t lose to Vandy. They shouldn’t play Nichols close. They should knock the ball down vs Tennessee. Etc.
However…those rankings are lazy ways to look at the ‘talent.’ They don’t take into account roster management. Anyone who says Rich was a master of roster management is onviykidding themselves. But these rankings don’t consider that. Class separation and position depth are foreign concepts to these one size fits all ‘how many 4 stars do you have?’ Ratings. 5* freshman that aren’t playing sends the ‘talent’ meter through the roof while barely taking into account that you are starting basically the equivalent of a walk on at LT…whereas other teams on that list may have a 4* at LT and the walk on sitting on the bench. I know which one Is take. Take QB…these rankings have us LOADED at QB…when in actuality we have a 4* cast off from UVA, a second string punter, and a true freshman. But that’s 3 blue chippers so Talent!
Anyway…two separate questions on whether we have enough talent to win more games and whether we have enough to compete for championships. I fall into the yes and no camp respectively.
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Fletch, I wasn’t expecting Georgia to compete for a championship in 2016.
I wasn’t expecting three significant embarrassments in eight games, though, either. (Though “significant” hardly seems to do the Nicholls and Ole Miss games justice.)
The 2016 Georgia team is underperforming its talent level. As you concede, that’s clear and obvious. The issue at this point is whether this staff is good enough to avoid making that a trend. Right now, there’s simply no way to know that.
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Maybe this is exactly what you are saying but it is the coaching, or lack thereof, that is causing the disconnect. That is the point I have been trying to make since the Ole Piss game. Our players are good enough to compete, even win their share of games. But not this coaching staff. The thing that is so tragic is that except for Schotty I thought we had a great staff of assistants last season and they all got fired and were replaced with this staff of retread losers. Kirby would have been well advised to just keep the entire staff from last season, especially since he chose (and the UGA hierarchy agreed) to not show up for work until 2 months later than every other new coach hired in the off-season and most of the quality assistants were all taken by the time Kirby showed up.
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Yeah, let’s keep the same staff that lost most of the time it faced teams with equal or greater talent.
SMH
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Yeah, let’s get rid of that lousy 10 wins a year staff for this new staff that will likely win 5 games at most.
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10 wins against no teams worth a crap.
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5 wins against no teams worth a crap.
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How does Mark Richt’s jock smell?
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It was better than losing to teams with lesser talent.
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Didn’t the last guy lose to Vandy twice and also to UCF in 2010? We all know UCF was loaded with 5 stars when we played them. This is Kirby’s rookie season with a less than stellar roster, what was the last coach excuse?
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You forgot a loss to Kentucky (2006, maybe?).
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Actually losses to UK in 2006 and 2009.
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Great point about our QB situation and the rankings.
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Our QB situation is a good example of how the stars sort of level out. Ramsey and Lambert aren’t 4 stars today, but Eason is fine. A couple of busts and one that worked out.
Plus Ramsey was a solid punter so he doesn’t waste a roster spot.
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Is it fair to say Eason is fine? As a five star, he is fine? Not saying he won’t become a major impact player but we aren’t getting much our of the QB position, and we didn’t last year. I realize we are throwing the ball deep more often this season, but we aren’t hitting anyone very often. That helps some. Bottom line is we are gaining fewer yards and scoring fewer points, and star ratings don’t match our performance.
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As a true freshman with no consistent running game, a dearth of wide receivers and poor pass protection, yes. It’s fair to say that Eason is fine. He’s not perfect, but what true freshman is?
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I’m not ready to say he is a first rounder or anything, but for a freshman he is getting the job done. Is he carrying the team? No, but think he is doing enough.
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Yeah, look at Murray and Stafford’s numbers the first time they played Florida, both with better Olines blocking, and look at all the turnovers. Eason didn’t make a bad situation worse.
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Not fair Mac. Eason bounces balls off receivers’ hands, shoulder pads, helmets–you name it. Plus he gets hit on every play.
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I look at Browning at UWA and see the major improvements he made from freshman year(better surrounding players-yes) and think Eason will also make a major jump next year. Enough even to off set lack of superior surrounding talk?
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Mayor, I hope he turns out to be what everyone hopes. He clearly has an arm and could turn out to be a star at UGA. But too many have Red and Black glasses on and may be letting their hopes for him to the savior override what we are seeing. Have their been drops? Yep, and I see them with every team I watch. I have also seen many more passes that were poorly thrown, missed wide open receivers, didn’t see better, open targets, sloppy, going through the motions on fakes, doesn’t sell the screens, and has no feel for the pocket time he has. Now, he is a freshman, but he was rated very highly….and in case you haven’t noticed, there are several other freshman QBs leading their teams very effectively.
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Irwin, you often provide great thoughts. On this one I somewhat disagree with your perspective. Yes stars matter. Yes stars stacked up in certain positions don’t help overall talent. Yes stars that are freshmen are less useful than upperclassmen. Stipulated.
Look at that list though. there are 5x 5 star players sophomore and above. Sophomores are expected to contribute.
Lorenzo Carter and Davin Bellamy were sought after by everyone in the country. Godwin was between us and Bama. Our offensive line may be playing people out of position, but there are maybe 5 NFL caliber left tackles in the country each year, and yet 50+ schools manage to have competent offenses,
We are not talented enough to win a title. We aren’t bereft of any talent at all, which is what we look like each week. I don’t think Kirby forgot how to coach. I don’t think Chaney is incompetent. I don’t think Pittman forgot how to coach.
I have no idea why we suck, when outside of Catalina, we have talented players on this team, with most of our starters highly sought after by teams ranked much higher than us.
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While I am an avid Kirby supporter, I do not think there is any question the Dawgs offense and special teams are not performing up to par. It seems to me, there must be a disconnect either between the coaches themselves or between the coaches and players. I have pretty much given up on it being solved during this season, but Kirby must solve it in the off season for this team to get better.
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@Free: While agnostic about Smart, I think you hit the MAJOR Nail on the head with your last sentence. In fact that pretty much sums up my belief on any statement to be made about this team and staff. Player and coach attrition-forced and volunteer(not UT type). By year 3, has to be totally solved. Will UGA fans be patient enough?
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Yeah, we’re young and suffering from some holes in areas, but I honestly feel the coaches need to own most of this. Because with the exception of a few players, how many have improved through the season? You might be green at the start of the season, but we’re 8 games in and not many have made a lot of progress and some seem to have regressed.
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I would be curious to know what our attrition rate is – not only 2013 – class versus other Top 10 schools (particularly SEC, Clemson, and FSU). Is there a glaring gap? My gut says yes. Or, maybe the ’13 class is such a crater that it can’t be overcome this year.
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The 247 ratings are based on current talent, so I would assume everyone’s attrition is accounted for equally.
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Ahh, got it.
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247 has to be correct on the number of stars given to an athlete or they would not sell all access memberships. The real measure of too shelf talent is how many end up in the NFL. Look at the starters and players that play significant snaps, there’s not much NFL material playing. The ones that are are logjammed at a few positions and are affected by the OL shortcomings.
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I even say NFL talent is misleading. Do you realize how many players in the NFL played at non-P5 schools? One of the best QBs of all time played at Southern Miss. Many offensive linemen played at schools no one has heard of.
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Indeed. Quick, what school did Jerry Rice play for?
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Mississippi Valley State! … the fabled Delta Devils.
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Mississippi Valley State if I remember correctly
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Worked as a brick mason. Catching bricks is what made him such a great receiver.
I grew up in Mississippi. Do you know how many times I’ve heard that story? lol
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Senator, did you see the video w/ McShay? It was telling. “Georgia doesn’t have a single senior that would go in the first 5 rounds.” He says Dom might be a mid-round guy (though he won’t go) and Chubb maybe a day two guy.
Now, we’ve got more talent than Nicholls and Vandy. We don’t have a ton of experienced talent.
The bottom line is we have to wait to see if Kirby can develop talent. I’d bet he’s staying up late a lot trying to figure out what to do with Chaney.
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Are you agreeing with me or not? It’s been kinda hard to tell with some of the comments in this thread. 😉
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The number of players in the NFL on Sunday won’t win us a single game this year.
Inexcusable are the efforts, both of coaches and players versus Nicholls and Vandy.
Inexcusable is not using two of the best running backs in the country on Saturday.
Inexcusable is loading all their players into a phone booth by formation then running straight into the teeth of it.
I have not seen much in the way of offensive progress either schematically or personnel growth this season. Our defense is largely about what I expected it to be.
I’m confident in Kirby because I see his passion and his desire. He’ll figure it out past the growing pains. I do not think it’s too early however to deem Chaney a bust. Saturday convinced me of that.
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Yes! It’s a both/and.
We are not as talented as we’ve been. I’m frustrated by many efforts this year, puzzled by offensive game plans, and yet hopeful for the future.
Eason is a flat-out gamer, and I’m holding out on judging too much.
I’d say I’m as confused as I’ve ever been as a Georgia fan. I’ll be in Sanford for 3 straight weeks to close this thing out.
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Chubb would go higher is used correctly. We are squandering the talent of our team.
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*if
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+1.
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I had a client insist that Georgia was just a stepping stone for Smart. That Saban will be gone in 3 years as would Smart. WHEN I protested that if he was implying that Smart would leave for Bama with ” …he is a Georgia boy”.!!!! “HE countered with so is Muschomp. BUT he certainly doesn’t sound like one.”
This really is semi-pro ball. Coaches make big league money, NCAA is a business. Pretty soon they will be selling beer …oh wait. FANS are just wallets. go dogs. .whoof, whiff, whiff.
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It’s his opinion. Which is just like an asshole… everybody’s got one.
Mine? Who in their right mind would want to succeed Saban at Alabama?
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I know Senator. I guess for the first time I’m a little past discouraged. Both my sons attended Georgia too. HECK one is still in school at Georgia. I weathered the Ray Days. I heard FANS shouting at Bobo as a player and a coach. This just feels weird. So many coaching changes, rivalry changes, or thoughts to do away with them completely, money,money money. After last year’s Georgia-Florida game…I never thought we’d look so impotent on O. I was wrong.
I’m just whining Bluto.
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AHD, maybe this is really what we need. Maybe we need to have some really shitty teams so the entitled asshats in our fanbase will learn the hard way that a 8-5 season really isn’t the bottom of the barrel. I read so many insulting and disparaging comments on this blog over the last 7 seasons directed at CMR and certain DGD players (Joe Cox, Hutson Mason, even Aaron Murray) because they hadn’t won an SEC Championship or the National Championship it actually made me ill. Well, maybe we are about to trade places with Vandy and Kentucky for awhile. Then maybe the “fans” who have historically been the most vocal assholes will disappear and the real supporters of our program will step forward.
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So I’m not a real fan because I didn’t bow down at the alter of Richt!?!
#Participation ttrophies for everyone!
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Are you a real fan because you bow down at the alter of Kirby Stupid? I’m betting we won’t be seeing you any more when we are into the 3rd year of 5 win teams–or a whole lot of other “fans” of your ilk.
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You see, unlike you, I’m a fan of the TEAM, not of any one coach. Kirby isn’t perfect , but I’m willing to give him time to see if he will succeed or not. He gets a pass from me this season due to this being his first give and transition and all that good stuff. If he fails, then be I’ll rooting just as hard for the new guy as I am for Kirby while you and “fans” of your ilk are still sniffing Richt’s farts.
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Yep, then year 3 you will call for his head. Then you will be super excited about McGarity’s next dumb hire, then he’ll suck, but hey you believe so give him time, then in year 3 you will call for his head. Then you will be super excited about the next….
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Yes, I will cheer for my team regardless of who the coach is or however many coaches it takes to get us to be the promise land. Now go back to your Richt shrine in the basement and leave me alone idolater.
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Bill Curry?
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Agree about following Sabah, they will have to show someone serious money to just get ran out of town a few years later…
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and what member of the Athletic Board at Alabama would want Smart as their head coach with the truly awful track record he is putting up at this point. Trust me, even if Kirby wanted to go back to Bama ….Bama ain’t got time for his shit.
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“…everybody’s got one.” And most of them stink.
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…”and nobody wants to into someone else’s”.
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@Senator: Good God yes, who in their right mind would want to follow Saban. Kinda like following Wooden. But someone, with an ego the size of Alaska, will take the job. I feel very sorry for his family and since I live in Alabama, hope the fans do not burn down the state.
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Did you ask him what he thinks is going to happen if Smart is something like 26-13 in his three years at Georgia?
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Kirby’s gonna coach 39 games in 3 years? That means we make bowls all three years…or we don’t make a bowl this year but we play for an SEC title in 17 or 18, that sounds better. Let’s go 5-7 this year so Kirby’ll only have to lose 6 more games total in 17 and 18, maybe better lose 4 in 17 and only 2 in 18, one of those could be the SECC.
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I’m still of the opinion they’ll scrape out a 7-5 or 6-6 this year and go to a bowl. I guess Saturday will determine whether that is too rosy an outlook.
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Bro, you are dreaming. As bad as Tech has been they are at least competitive which this Dawgs team is not. Beat the Auburn team that dispatched LSU and that laid 45 on Arky last weekend? No way. UK? Better play their best game and have the best game plan since UNC to pull that off. We’ll be lucky if this staff can come up with a way to beat U La La to get a 5th win. The best we can hope for is to win 5 then get extra practice time for next season when not enough 6 win teams are out there to fill up the bowls.
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I hate it, but you’re probably right.
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Whatever, Mayor.
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He’s going to have to pick up the pace quite a bit, and quickly, to have a shot at 26 Ws in 3 years.
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If Smart wants to step stone anywhere he better start upping his game!
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I asked a Bama fan about what he thought about Dabo as Saban’s successor and he said that he would like to see Kirby take over. I guess they’re looking at this situation the way some of our fans are looking at the Bobo situation. Let em get some experience and bring em home.
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Have a friend big Bammer and he said no way would they consider Kirby, they know him to well.
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Some here feel like that about Bobo as well .
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I thought the experts always said it was only Richt that did less with more…
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You referring to the Internet coaches?
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Out of the top 10 on that list, there are only 2 teams that haven’t played for or won a national championship since 2000. One is Michigan, although they got one in 97, and UGA.
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In defense of Richt, in order for him to win one or play for one, it had to go through Alabama virtually every year. As we’ve seen, pretty much everyone lost when they went against Bama head to head.
Saban has more, better players than everyone not named Urban Meyer. He has unlimited resources to accomplish his goals. He is a better coach than Mark Richt. Mark Richt’s lack of championship success is due to coaching against a program on a successful not seen since Bear Bryant, and I think more impressive given the parity of scholarship rules now that weren’t in place then.
I want a championship. I wanted Richt to do it. I want Kirby to do it. Saban has simply made it a nearly impossible task to do so. The fact that only 4 active head coaches have won a national title shows how unbelievably difficult it is for anyone not named Saban. Also, Stoops’ was in 2000. Urban is Urban, and Fisher won in a down year for Bama, where Bama still won some 13 games.
College football fans have lost their collective minds because of Saban, myself included.
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Ok, that’s all fine and dandy, but Saban wasn’t in the SEC or heck, he wasn’t even in college football from 2005 to 2007. If you’re gonna be the best, you gotta beat the best and that starts on the recruiting trail, particularly recruiting the trenches well . Kirby is doing well right now in that area and that’s why I am willing to give him time to get his guys in.
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I can’t remember a season when I’ve felt so hopeless and depressed about the Dawgs. I have zero excitement about the game Saturday – it feels more like an obligation to watch the game than the usual pre-game anticipation. The worst thing is that I haven’t seen anything that indicates a light at the end of the tunnel – at least on offense. I don’t believe for a minute that we don’t have the talent on this team to have performed miles better than our record.
We thought Shotty was horrible. I never had any idea that the offense would get worse under the new regime. Unfortunately, I think we are in for a lot more of the same from Chaney.
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I post mine before I read yours otherwise I would have just said “ditto”.
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Yeah, they’re underperforming to some extent. How great an extent is the question. How much of the line’s issues are lack of talented depth forcing people to play out of position, and how much is poor coaching? That’s the biggest issue with the team. If the line was good, the freshman QB and lack of size in the WR corps (at least a lack of size among people who can actually make plays in the passing game) wouldn’t be so much of a problem.
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Not sure I would agree with the comment regarding the concern about the receivers, but you point is right on. We’re paying the piper for misses on the recruiting trail and some issues with development of offensive linemen. It doesn’t mean that this team’s record shouldn’t be better than it is.
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Realistically, they should be 5-3. They should have been more competitive with Ole Miss and blown out Nicholls, though.
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Yep, some game swing, not earth shattering.
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If being 6th in the nation includes the 2013 and 2014 classes then the rankings are flawed as those classes suffered from massive attrition. Those classes also neglected the OL and DL separately, which is now why UGA is where they are. Couple that with a first year coach learning on the job plus a true freshman QB and voila… you get this dumpster fire.
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You could follow the link and find out what it says before commenting. It’s the star ratings of the current roster.
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So Kublanow counts as a 4*? Man. Stacked with talent…
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He probably is a 4* talent at guard. Not so much at center apparently.
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He’s the worst Center I’ve ever seen at UGA (2000-present). I just want this abortion of a year to end.
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Do you think there is some one better to take over next year?
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I have no clue, and that’s what’s really scary
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Oline is loaded, ranks last in height and weight.
https://www.seccountry.com/sec/the-heaviest-and-tallest-sec-offensive-lines-in-2016
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We’ve been the smallest/lightest (or next to it) every year since 2013. In 2011, we were the largest in all football (including NFL). In all those years, we ran the ball and protected better than we have this year. Size isn’t the problem.
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We’ve just got to get bigger!
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Todd McShay, said here http://gridironnow.com/todd-mcshay-georgias-talent/
Q. What do you think of Georgia upperclass talent?
A. It’s not what it’s been in years past. You look at all the great Georgia draft classes going back to Jim Donnan and that whole era – it’s not what it used to be. So, I think they’re building, and recruiting I’m told is going really well. I see the front seven, and there’s a bunch of talent on that side of the ball that are sophomore like (Trent) Thompson and those guys.
But right now, when you look at it, there’s literally not one senior on either side of the ball that is viewed as (going in the) first five rounds. …
I think that (junior safety) Dominick Sanders has a chance to be a mid-round pick and (junior running back) Nick Chubb will wind up probably end up being a day-two pick. I know he’s struggling, but he’s a really talented player. A lot of it has to do with the injury, where he is, and the offensive line not playing to the level of expectation. To me, it’s nowhere near what it should be. I think that’s why there’s a coaching change and they’re going through this. But it’s going to take a couple of years to build it back up.
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Am I supposed to be surprised by any of that? When you lose the bulk of one of Richt’s largest recruiting classes, the results are going to show up three years down the line.
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It surprised me when one of the greatest talent experts in the college football said Georgia doesn’t have a senior that will go in the first 5 rounds of the NFL draft. I don’t remember a year when Georgia had zero guys drafted in the first 5 rounds. Has to be the worst assemblage of Senior talent in maybe decades.
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Somewhat reminiscent of what Mack Brown left Texas with in his twilight years (huge talent deficiencies at OL and a draft year with zero Texas players taken).
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By “not showing up” I’m guessing that means not contributing to meaningful playing time, even if they are on the roster. There is no doubt that a large vacancy of Senior leadership effects a team. One note though, we lost some members of this class due to being passed by better talent in the classes after them. Out of curiosity I checked Florida’s 2013 class and found that we have one more player on the roster from 2013 than UF. I don’t follow UF closely enough to know how much their 2013 players contribute. I’m sure that is an underlying qualifier.
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I think everyone agrees that the remaining seniors are lacking in talent. I think that horse has beaten to death and then some. We have 2 seniors by my count with any expectation of playing on sunday. Pyke and Maurice Smith, we have maybe 3 more contributers that don’t start.
But RS Juniors and Juniors and sophomores are allowed to play and contribute and improve throughout a season. you look at the crop of juniors, and you have 8 guys that will have a solid shot at playing on sundays. not first rounders, but potentially making a roster, which means we have 10 juniors or seniors that potentially have NFL level talent.
Regardless of Catalina, that is an elite situation in college football. that’s more than 70 teams. I guarantee that 10 is more than Vandy has on their entire roster.
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Our offensive line sucks…epically….historically. Am I to assume that Pittman, who was regarded as one of the best O-line coaches in the country, just all of a sudden forgot how to coach as soon as he got to Athens? Maybe Chaney is not calling the right plays, but a servicable line should make something work some of the time. Those guys make nothing work…ever…against quality fronts. If we had a decent line, we likely steamroll Nicholls, beat Vandy, beat Tenn, and compete better with Florida. We would be 6-2 and this conversation about talent would be moot. Just my two cents.
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Glad you posted this Senator. It’s irked me how eager the fan base has been to blame all of our struggles this year on our ‘lack of talent’. There are certainly some positions that are far from ideal, maybe all positions. But it is more than enough to blow out Nicholls, beat Vandy at home and not get embarrassed by Ole Miss. Those are coaching failures.
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2 best wr’s: size at wr is small I Mac and Godwin are too small to block and hard to win jumpballs. IMac is 5 7 175, Godwin is 5 8 185. Worst I’ve ever seen from a size perspective.
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I’ll take all smurfs who show they MIGHT catch the ball and have the skill to do something after they catch it over players with decent size and total hands of stone like Stanley and Wims and Chigbu.
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They aren’t helping the run blocking at all, and not much help in the red zone with their size either.
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Typically wide receivers come out of high school without the technique to block, so it has to be taught from the most basic level upward. Georgia has been blessed to have coaches that teach that skill very well. Hines Ward made two public attempts of his desire to help, but somehow the current HC did not take him up on the offer. Yet here we are talking about perimeter blocking in week 8
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I agree that the talent gap as pointed out by McShay is there. Rankings don’t really mean that much until the players play out over four years.
But I also agree with the Senator that I didn’t expect McNeese, Vandy, etc.
Tough year but I’m still Athens Dog and will be there for the last three games.
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I still say some of the upper class “talent” hasn’t bought in, they may never.
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I’ll add that we didn’t exactly fill up the preseason All Sec teams, unless my memory is awful bad. Which is entirely possible.
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http://www.secsports.com/article/17081799/2016-preseason-media-days-all-sec-team
Pretty light………although somehow two of our OL are there???
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Funny, I was look around for something similar yesterday. Meant to post it, but did not get around to it. It was the 5 year recruiting ranking average which was similar. This one is better because it accounts for attrition.
I still maintain it is the leadership and direction. I really feel like he has alienated some of the players in his comments and actions. “We need bigger, stronger players”…some of the chewing out sessions I have seen on the sidelines (time and place for that). He also seems to have thrown some of the players publicly “under the bus” for not performing up to his expectations. No wonder it looks as though some are just going through the motions, he can blame himself imo.
I mean, who in the hell would want to play for a guy like that??? …I am not sure if you can change that kind of behavior – although it seems to have gotten better. But as I have heard before, “a zebra never changes it stripes”. Square peg, round hole……not a HC, not a leader – I hope I am wrong. This is McGarity’s mess….
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I am not expecting the most dominant line next year but we should see a bigger and more athletic bunch with Kindley, Netori Johnson, Cleveland, Thomas, etc. I’m still worried about who is going to be the left tackle spot. We’re going to have to get a couple of juco kids or a kid who is college ready (rare) and hope it pans out! Back to my pie.
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I share your optimism and concerns (especially about the tackle positions). Our OL is missing Theus big time. He wasn’t All-American by any means, but at least he was an SEC quality tackle. Mark Richt didn’t land very many of those.
One serious problem with neglecting your offensive line is that position group is the slowest to rebuild. It takes a lot of college S&C and technical coaching to prepare high school players for offensive line play. Much more than, say, running back or WR.
That doesn’t bode particularly well for 2017.
Mark Richt’s worst position group also happens to be the toughest to rebuild. Mack Brown did something similar to Texas during this lazy twilight.
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AT, check out Clemson’s starting OL for 2015, 1 true freshman and 1 RS freshman. I believe the entire O Line include no prior starters. Other than the freshman Hyatt, the other 4 members of the O line were not 3/4/5 star recruits.
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FWIW, I heard Butch Davis on 680 say words to the effect that Pittman is bar none the best college OL coach in the country but it takes longer than you think to show up (unfortunately, he said year 3 it will be apparent)
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I am sure there are jobs where you get 3 years to start showing improvement, but I have never had one of them and I dont make $300k/year.
I suspect that no one at my company that does make that level of money gets 3 years to show progress towards their goals.
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Consider the S&C, technical coaching, and “gel” time required to build a strong offensive line unit. Georgia is young, low on talent where we aren’t young, and hasn’t had time for cohesion. In other words, 0/3.
The state of the current Georgia OL has been building for the last three years.
You’re going to be a very frustrated fan for a while longer if you think a decent OL can be built overnight — even with an elite coach. Other position units are much easier to rebuild quickly.
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meh…I suspect it shouldn’t take 3 years to build an OL at UGA that can do better than 24 rushing yards in a game.
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And if it does play that long, why not get some of the younger guys out there more instead of starting seniors who clearly haven’t been getting it done?
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They aren’t selling iphones. It is not that simple. There are many jobs where if attrition is allowed to reduce a workforce without proper hiring and training to replace them, you can sit below typical production for years. The key is whether the manager is getting the new guys trained up.
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I still say Mario Cristobal is the best offensive line coach in the country. He gets the best talent and gets the best out of them.
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Regular to 10 recruiting classes get you a lot of good skill players. Regular to 5, top 3 classes get you that and what we lack, more top OL and WR.
Regular top 10 classes also get you a lot of close and almost.
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Yeah….but we are not even on the radar (close).
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It wouldn’t be such a kick in the teeth for me except for damn Phil Steele telling me the Oline was doing to be really, really good. Swing and a miss on that one, Phil. Big time. https://blutarsky.wordpress.com/2016/05/21/what-does-phil-steele-know-that-we-dont/
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Indeed. Epic whiff.
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Yada, yada, yada. Same old excuses. Many of us have stated over and over again that no one expected us to be Alabama this year or even next year. But those composite recruiting ratings do show one thing…other schools, including Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, Auburn etc were recruiting and offereing the same kids. Remember when Nick Saban was skyping with Bryce Ramsey for 90 minutes trying to get him to flip? Bama wanted Godwin too and others on our roster. Yes we have short comings especially on the offensive line. Is this supposed to be something new?
How many all stars did we have when Bobo’s teams were setting offensive records? Andrews….the undrafted free agent? Theus? I concede we have recruited poorly along the line, but there is NO EXCUSE for the performance in more than half our games this year. We failed to show for Nichols, Mizzou, Ole Miss and Vandy. Hell, we sleep walked at Carolina and last week in Jacksonville as well. Richt’s staff clearly did not coach up guys in the trenches, and it seems that none of our receivers can catch the ball any more…worst since we had that other Eason guy coaching them.
Contrary to what some folks apparently believe, I strongly suspect that many if not most of those other top 20 teams have had personel issues of their own. We are using shortcomings to justify poor coaching decisions in multiple games. Yeah, it can be partially attributed to a new head coach. But Chaney and Pittman are not new at what they do.
I am hoping that Kirby makes this work. I am getting too old to see us go through a ten year period like Tennessee has.
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Nope UGA is the only school in the country where players from 3 years may have transfer or otherwise left school. UGA is the only school with that problem. No other school has lost players like UGA. We lead the country in losing players. Thanks Richt.
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You are right.This talent gap thing is a bunch of bull. I mean, how else did we curb stomp Bama’s ass in the rain last year. Richt had great coaches and plenty of talent, which is why ran we ran table in the East, won the SEC, and made the playoff. Why on earth did they fire a guy who had won so many SEC titles in last decade?!! I mean, his record against top 25 teams in his last 5 years was AWESOME!!! I am truly puzzled at all this.
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He won 50 games in those 5 years, to whom would you prefer he lose the other 17? Nicholls State?
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Actually, what the fuck? His record against top 25 teams those 5 years was 10-11. What is so bad about that?
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What is so bad about that? Are you being serious? Thanks for the laugh!
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No problem. I wonder how funny it will be after 10 years batting .250 against ranked teams and hanging our hat on 8 win seasons. Probably not quite as funny.
Why did I have to pick the school with the dumbest fanbase in the SEC.
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Since we are asking questions, why didn’t you keep your crap confined to SB Nation? They sure do love you over there.
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What?
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Dawgsports.com which is an sbnation site. You are a regular. If you are not the same guy that would be one hell of a coincidence.
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Yep, different guy.
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Yes, there are those clinging to a coach with a losing record against ranked opponents and believing that he will win the big one. Dumb indeed.
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Look around CFB at the Power 5 teams that are in contention with true freshman QB’s. We are handicapped because we are running a Pro-style offense. It’s by it’s nature complex and I don’t think Chaney is trying to make it simpler. Eason was not a Pro-style QB in high school he was a spread chuck and duck playing against inferior competition. He has all the physical tools but we don’t have a clue if he can become as competent at Pro-style as Aaron or Stafford. So why would a first year HC with a new staff chose to bench a 5th year graduate student who has played all the time in a Pro-type offense to go with a true freshman, who has to be taught to take a snap from center? Well Lambert doesn’t have an arm like Eason you say. This is true but we have given up someone that could check off on the LOS call the defenses and actually go through his reads and dump off passes to his safety valve. No one can say that they chose Eason over Lambert because Eason was a better Pro-style QB. They chose to go with him because Kirby DGAS about this year. His plan from the beginning was to recruit and build for the future. He just figured he might be able to win enough to not get too many fans pissed. He figured wrong but as we have noticed he is rather bullheaded and we are committed to the future. So just sit back and enjoy a year in the desert and hope it doesn’t go on and on.
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I’m not sure how good Kirby will be; but we do need to give him time. I’m not at all impressed with the Offense and Special Teams this year. The Defense has improved and needs more talent. CMR was great at recruiting skill position players; but he never got the top Oline talent. I have been very impressed with the consideration Kirby’s getting from the top Oline talent. Hopefully, some of those top guys will sign because I don’t remember CMR getting very many guys of this quality. I’m convinced the talent level across the board will get better. Now, can CKS coach them up. only time will tell but we, as fans, have to stand behind our team. GO DAWGS!!!
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It’s coaching, pure and simple. Some of our assistants are good position coaches, others suck. Rocker lost 4 veteran DLs from last year’s team. But he’s gotten solid contributions from true freshman like Rochester & Carter, including sacks from Clark & Marshall. He’s also had to adjust to the absence of Ledbetter for much of the season. Rocker has done a great job with what he’s had to work with. Defensive linemen have had solid performances and appear to be continually improving.
Compare Rocker’s performance to Pittman’s. CSP has 3 returning veteran starters, plus Sims, who had substantial experience. Throw in a veteran transfer in Catalina. There’s no shortage of young backups and recruits: Gaillard, Allen, Madden, Hardin, Baker, Cleveland, Kindley, & Barnes. And now we’re shifting Barnett from the DL. Pittman hasn’t done shit with the players he’s been given to work with. Not one OL has improved in any aspect of the game. We’ve had some poor OL coaches over the years, but Pittman is by far the worst. I find it hard to believe anyone needs convincing that Pittman can’t coach.
Pittman’s awful job with the OL is matched by Beamer’s atrocious ST coaching. Can’t say I’ve seen much to inspire confidence from Cheney or Coley either.
Kirby has one helluva tough situation on his hands. If I saw any coaching improvement whatsoever, I’d consider keeping a couple of the above mentioned losers for continuity’s sake. But it’s to the point where I don’t believe any of them have redeeming qualities that I’d want to continue with in 2017.
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W Cobb dead right on all accounts.
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70th not 17th senator
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You look at the 4 wins. The common link was all 4 teams have issues stopping the run. L Laf and UK have major issues there too. Still, look at the Mizzou game, one of the worst run defenses in the country, if UK, Tech, Aub, and even Lafeyette stuff the line with defenders to jam the box, even with a bad run defense, it’s just tough to run the ball when you can’t throw it accurately or deeply.
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