Four growing impressions after watching this year’s G-Day game for the third time:
- For a quarterback just a few months removed from high school, Jake Fromm is impressive.
- The black team secondary made Fromm look considerably better than he is at this point, though.
- The biggest immediate fix to be made to Jacob Eason’s game is letting him play behind a consistent and competent offensive line.
- Overall, the quarterback position isn’t as big a problem for Georgia as we tend to think it is.
Get The Picture 
3 times? I am officially worried about you Senator.
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Agree…I had it on my Divver….watched about a quarter…delete…
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I think the talent at QB is unquestioned. Eason and Fromm may be the best tandem at the position since Greene and Shockley or Goff and Robinson. The question is whether our offensive coordinator can get out of their way long enough to enable them to produce.
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Yep. A little flexibility and creativity out of the OC would go a long way.
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You forgot talley/jones and Cox/gray.
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Well played
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My kingdom for a competent offensive line. I think Eason will be fine (maybe not excellent, but fine) provided UGA can protect him at a competent-or-better level. A competent OL makes the great RBs UGA has even better, which gives a young QB more time off of play action and opens up the levels due to the LBs and Safeties buying the running game.
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Amen. Might even make the OC look good if the OL blocks instead of playing like matadors.
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I know Chaney is the whipping post for most fans right now, but there were too many instances of receivers WIDE OPEN last year for me to think his scheme is total trash. Eason missed dude’s too many times (to be expected, frankly) or he was running for his life 2 seconds after the snap. If the OL can hold up I think UGA could be a position to have a top-40 offense, which would be a massive leap forward, admittedly.
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I guess you were ready to give up on Stafford as a true freshman as well.
Chaney deserves every barb thrown his way. People raked (and still rake) Mike Bobo over the coals for his early years as OC. Chaney has been an OC for almost 20 years and should have gotten more out of this offense than he did last year.
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How can someone read my comment and the first sentence is, “I guess you were ready to give up on Stafford as true freshman?”
I legitimately would like to know how you came to that conclusion.
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I read your post as placing the blame for the offense on the players as opposed to the coaching especially when you lead with “I know Chaney is the whipping post for most fans right now” and then blame Eason for missing open receivers and the offensive line. I inferred from your comment that you think Chaney is getting the blame unnecessarily. I think too many people are throwing Eason under the bus now without the context of Stafford as a true freshman.
An OC worth the money he’s being paid would have found ways to work around some of the talent deficiencies and been more successful.
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I’m well aware of how terrible Stafford was a freshman and have argued (in the comment section of this very blog) that Eason was light years ahead of him. That doesn’t mean Eason is devoid of blame. He made terrible mistakes weekly (some of that is to be expected, of course). That doesn’t mean you chalk everything up to “he’s just a freshman.” There are causes for concern surrounding his play just as there are causes for optimism.
But the notion that Chaney was the bulk of the issue last year doesn’t hold a ton of water when you account for how many times a lineman whiffed a block (or a TE whiffed a block… looking at you, 83). The OL was a disaster all year and the WRs were inconsistent to say the least. Is Chaney a great OC? No, I don’t think he is. Would Mike Bobo have struggled with an inaccurate QB, leaky OL and WRs with the drops? Absolutely. When you call a pass play against GT and the WR is wide open and the QB has time to throw it and he still throws it behind the WR… that’s not on the OC.
The story of Georgia’s 2016 offense was one of widespread blame.
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Can’t disagree with any of that … Players make mistakes.
I’ll admit Chaney lost me after the Nicholls game, which should have embarrassed the Bobo haters. The Missouri game wasn’t much better, but we got bailed out by Eason and a bunch of turnovers. The Ole Miss game was a complete collapse. The slow developing pass off the goal line in the Tennessee game was a dumb call with a freshman QB. The Vandy game was a mess, and he should have been put on notice after that 4th and 1 call. The Florida game was embarrassing. The Auburn game was won by the defense. The last half of the 4th quarter of the tech game was mismanaged.
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Yeah, that Vandy 4th and 1 was a doozy on a “Bobo v SC WTF?” level.
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Yep, in both cases, it doesn’t matter whether the plays would have worked or not. They were both poor play calls exacerbated by poor execution.
I think about that call on the goal line against Tennessee and the interception against tech. In both of those situations, Kirby and Chaney made the wrong decision that brought the potential for disaster. Against Tennessee, we weren’t going to run toward Derek Barnett on that series. Therefore, he was going to come hard at Catalina(?) on Eason’s blind side. Eason had no chance. Against tech, we had the clock on our side when Chaney called for the pass play that Eason made the bad throw on that ended up intercepted. You trust a 5th year senior with that play but not a true freshman. Against that offense, you make them use their timeouts and either get a first down or flip the field with a punt. You don’t even throw a safe pass in your own territory.
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The SC call was on first down, not a bad call at all. Play blew up with both execution errors and a missed call by the official. Plays that don’t work aren’t always bad calls, the results just suck so in hindsight we all wish we had something different.
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“playing like matadors”. Very good, GR!
Made me laugh out loud.
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Similar to “our o-line looks like a bunch of turnstiles”
I’m sure we’ve come up with a plethora of not so complimentary o-line analogies since watching our Dawgs play…and yes, I know what a ‘plethora’ is (I am not just upset and taking my frustrations out on this thread…)
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I’m back and forth on what is actually more important for Eason and the offense. Is it more important because offenses just “go” better behind a good line, or is it more important so that Eason feels comfortable and confident in the pocket? Both are extremely important, but I tend to think that he needs a competent line so that he’s not expecting to get creamed 1.5 seconds after taking the snap. I think that if he has true faith that his line will hold up, we’ll see a huge leap forward in his effectiveness and production. Of course, it won’t hurt if we’re facing a lot more 2nd and 5’s instead of 2nd and 9’s.
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My biggest fear with Eason is that he’ll develop bad habits due to playing behind a bad OL.
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Yep. That happens to a lot of NFL players, so it’s doubly important for Eason to gain some confidence at this stage of his career. Otherwise, could be a season full of back-footed throws, forced balls into double coverage, sailed throws, etc.
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The problem with the offense is three things. Poor Oline play ,poor and slow decision and accurat play by QB. And a head coach that don’t trust any Offense coach to do there job, when he doesn’t have a clue how to coach offensive football. That what I see anyway
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On your points,
1) correct
2) due in very large part to his being a freshman, and one playing w/ a poor o-line
3) Most first time head coaches are control freaks. Some, including some of the best, still are.
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Nothing wrong with being a control freak. Nick Saban is a control freak. The difference is that Saban is a competent control freak.
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You are correct on #3 except Kirby didn’t trust anybody during the games, not just the offensive side. All of that running onto the field waving and signaling at formations proved it.
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They were talking on 960 the REF about things Kirby needed to improve on this year. How about having enough self control to not have to assign someone to hold your belt?
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Can’t argue w/ that. He’s an excitable guy, but definitely needs to tone that back a bit for sure. That’s the old DC in him, but I can see that being an issue, especially late in games when he needs to be more dialed into time management and if/then scenarios.
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Crime and Punishment: The hold me back story of Kirby Smart’s Sideline Stabilizer without whom Kirby would always have to depend upon the kindness of strangers
“He does it because it’s a rule, you get warnings as a head coach or any coach for being on the field,” Smart said. “You don’t want a 15-yard penalty and [the referees] often threaten us. They give you one warning. Once I get one warning I tell him, I better not get a 15–yard penalty or it’s on you.”
http://www.redandblack.com/sports/kirby-smart-s-sideline-stabilizer/article_c792e6e6-a09a-11e6-91a9-73433bea719c.html
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Frankly, that’s sounds just like Kirby: “If I get a 15 yard penalty it’s not my fault–it’s your fault.”
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Richt should have an assistant there to taze his ass every time he nodded off. If he had he might still be coach at UGA.
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A Song for Kirby
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I have a question for people that really understand the nuances of the game. How much of the OL alignment and responsibilities are on the QB? You know, through getting into the right play, pointing out blitzers on the line, etc.? In other words, will Eason’s development also be part of his being better able to ensure the OL knows what it’s doing?
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“In other words, will Eason’s development also be part of his being better able to ensure the OL knows what it’s doing?”
Yes, It’s on the QB to make checks at the line etc. but a lot of the OL’s blocking assignment responsibilities are on the center as well. See how well our lines seemed to overachieve when Ben Jones and Boss Andrews were snappin it. When the coaches were praising Galliard’s improved play this spring, I imagine alot of it had to do with calling out assignments and getting the rest of the line on the same page pre-snap.
Having an experienced center can make up for an inexperienced QB or vice versa. When you have inexperience at both positions, it can be very difficult to run an effective offense in the SEC.
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Cool– thanks!
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When I watch a game I don’t know if the center or QB made the correct checks based on their keys. I do know when an Lineman OLays his block or gets driven 4 yards deep into the backfield. I’m hoping for 3-4 new starters on the offensive line this year, due to a huge upgrade.
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If we get 3 – 4 new starters in the O-line, they better be fast learners. Much of O-line play is about knowing what the guy next to you is going to do and trusting him to do it right. Doesn’t happen without a lot of game experience.
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We all have hopes and dreams that the center of Pittman’s work has gradually grown more nuanced
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Eason has to get rid of the ball sooner. Period. This has nothing to do with the o-line. Even when he has time he tends to hold it too long (see all three plays in the series that ended with the int). You don’t have time to wind it up when the big boys are pinning their ears back on third and medium. If you can’t make a quick read, you can’t play in this league, at least not in the pocket, and Eason isn’t the type of athlete that’s going to be able to evade pressure consistently.
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Hopefully Eason’s time spent at the Manning QB camp will help in that regard. From what I heard both Peyton and Archie were helping him out.
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Holy crap, Batman!! I don’t see how a human can get rid of the ball any faster than Eason did last year. 1.5 seconds and if the ball wasn’t gone Eason was being sacked.
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Maybe we’re watching different film. I know we like to convince ourselves that Eason was under pressure every snap he took in 2016, but there were plenty of plays where the o-line did their job and he continued to hold the ball. Either way, I’m talking mainly about the G-Day game above. He’s gotta be faster IMO.
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Yes, I think a fair criticism and a fair expectation for this coming season is will he demonstrate the ability to throw receivers open. Having the confidence to zip a pass out where there aren’t any players but knowing that your guy is on the way and can shed his defender is key.
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