If you’re looking for straws to grasp/tea leaves to read from Georgia’s spring, then this comment from Smart about what he observed in the last scrimmage should be food for thought:
Smart said he was “pleased” overall with the scrimmage. He indicated it was a split between the offense and defense: “It was the first scrimmage since I’ve been there that I thought both sides of the ball did some things well. … Neither side really dominated. I can honestly say that. It was a very competitive battle.”
If that’s because the defense is improving, that’s a good sign. Maybe that’s the case, judging from this.
Regarding the defense, he remained happier than he had been the first 3-plus weeks of the spring. Not ecstatic, but things are moving in a better direction. “Thursday was much better. And today, I can’t say that we dominated defensively out there. We certainly made some good plays. There were a lot of good hits, spirits, run to the ball. I mean when you’ve got good backs there’s going to be missed tackles. When you’ve got a quarterback that can make some throws, there are going to be some 1-on-1 battles outside that you just don’t win. But I was just very encouraged how hard they played.”
He’s got first team going against first team, which is my preference, both in the scrimmage and on G-Day. I’d rather see the competition between the two than watch the first stringers beat up on the backups, not to mention it’s got to be a better way to evaluate player improvement.
Get The Picture 
Exactly, competition between the 1s is the best way for players to be evaluated by the coaches, and it is how you improve your skills/technique. Not important to the team’s success, it also gives us fans a real look at the players being tested and provides a compelling reason to attend GDay. More excited about this now.
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Glad to hear, but I’m really not worried about the defense given Kirby’s background. Bragging on the offense is always welcome, though. Especially after the past couple of years.
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Yes! I love the competition! I like how Kirby have the guys not only competing for starting jobs and playing time, but he has the offense and defense competing hard against each other as well. Hopefully that pays off during the fall.
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“…when you’ve got good backs there’s going to be missed tackles. When you’ve got a quarterback that can make some throws…”
^^this^^ Cause you know Chubb and Sony weren’t doing much…This had to have mostly came from Herrien, Holyfield and Eason.
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Nice to hear some good news about the Defense. Obviously we can’t tell happy talk from real results this early, but I’m allowing myself to be optimistic. So far it seems the seeds of culture change among the team are beginning to sprout. Win the east this year and I’ll be a happy dawg for sure.
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Heard that both Herrien and Holyfield had big bursts on Saturday. Add Swift to the mix this summer and we have 5 quality backs entering the summer. Past experience says you cannot have too many RBs as the season moves along. Also good reports on Eason and Fromm’s passing. Hard to evaluate the defensive from without Trent and Roquan on the field but we should be fairly stout with them on board. As many have said, we have the tools to compete this season. Ten wins before we hit the Dome in December isn’t a given but is not unreasonable this fall.
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Kirby didn’t come here to paint ok?
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