Andy Staples wonders whether Georgia’s offense is ready to carry the team to a division title in a weak SEC East. The word “if” plays a prominent role in his piece. So does the word “Chaney”.
Needless to say, I doubt you’ll find much there to argue with.
Get The Picture 
Yup, somewhere on the spectrum between healthy pessimism and guarded optimism pretty captures me along with the group of UGA fans I know personally.
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I’ve been cautiously skeptimistic for the last two years, so it’s old hat now.
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I have guarded pessimism and healthy optimism. Is that the same thing?
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I’m no longer buying the “weak” SEC East meme, though. We don’t have a Bama killer, but what division in football does? I think just about every team in the East would be competitive with the rest of the West and most other divisions in the Power 5, except maybe the ACC.
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I agree DawgFlan. This “weak” SEC East deal has been true, but last year outside of Bama, the east held its own against the West. Georgia shut down Auburn, Florida beat LSU in Baton Rouge, Missouri beat Arkansas, Vandy beat Ole Miss and Kentucky beat Miss State. If we want to conclude that the SEC, less Bama, was “weak”, it would be far more accurate.
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Nothing like facts Bob
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^^This.
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I actually looked at it after last season. Excluding Alabama’s 2 non-divisional wins, the SEC East was only 1 game under .500 vs the west. Sounds pretty equal to me.
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Hard to Judge an OC with an O line like Georgia’s 2016 version, much less a true freshman QB…..
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I would agree with you if it weren’t for the times when the offense was actually effective. You know, like when they weren’t trying to “impose their will” on a 9-man box. See the bowl game for the best example. First half, banging our head into the wall. Second half, running around the wall.
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“…healthy skepticism”. Hell, I live off of a daily diet of skepticism! And as far as if’s go, if the queen had nuts she’d be the king.
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And I am skeptical about that last tidbit. What every happened to “thy rod”? Ain’t that the main thang?
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Let me preface this by stating categorically, and without any reservation, I am a full-bore, dyed in the wool DAWG fan.
However, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t seriously concerned about Jacob Eason’s current level of development, not to mention Chaney’s part in that concern.
I, like many others, thought he had an unspectacular, yet solid freshman season last year. However, he displayed significant deficiencies with regard to the touch and accuracy of his passes, and an alarming trait of staring down receivers, as well as often not seeing other open receivers down field.
The most concerning thing of all…even though he started 12 games last season, he showed very little improvement in this years G-Day game, and in the most recent scrimmage last Saturday…his performance was described as “up and down”.
Ya’ll, I know this kid was a highly rated, five-star prospect. Everybody wanted him. But, it seems painfully more obvious than ever that the level of high school competition he faced in Washington wasn’t even close to what he would have faced in places like Georgia, Florida, Texas, etc.
And about Chaney…Why is Eason’s level of development still not much better than it was this time last year?
If Chubb and Michel came back for another season of pathetically inept play calling, we should all demand Chaney be replaced…immediately…and Eason should have very SHORT leash as well if he doesn’t come out hitting on all cylinders.
Though I was cautiously optimistic, I was definitely on board the Eason train this time last year… but he had better show some serious improvement over that 47% completion rate in the spring game.
I’m tired of excuses.
We need to get back to Atlanta.
If the kid from Washington ain’t the answer, I say hand the ball to the boy from Houston County.
He isn’t 6’5″, but he throws a very catchable ball… he knows how to complete passes. And he wears the same number as another QB that wasn’t 6’5″ either.
I’ll hang up and listen.
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For the record, he is also the biggest concern I have, more so that the OL. It isn’t that he doesn’t have potential, just the accuracy thing worries me. Usually doesn’t change that much, especially if his is caused by being anxious in the pocket as things start to close around him, I don’t feel optimistic. Notice how all the comments mention how good he is against air, and in 7 on 7. The problem is in 11 on 11, some people are just skittish. A better OL will help some, and getting through his progressions faster will help. I hope he has improved a lot, it’s just that the risk is bigger with him than with the OL or kickers/punters. KS sounds optimistic, so fingers crossed. Still feel we at least have better QB options this year, didn’t feel that way last season.
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I just want to see back shoulder jump balls to these 2 young tight ends until a defense shows me they can intercept it. Nauta is as athletic as anybody on the field and Woerner isn’t far behind and is a mountain. Both can jump out of the building.
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Yes, more to the WRs than TEs for me but that is a thing of beauty when executed correctly. Did anyone ever do that better than Aaron Murray? Not in CFB that I can remember. I expect the TE throws to be to them in slants behind the LBs or on curl routes for 1st down yardage, the back shoulder are usually more the WRs running down the sidelines.
But it does require a lot of coordination and time working together so it was understandable that we weren’t very good at it last year, cannot even recall an example although I am sure we had some. That may also be a early tip of how far Eason may have progressed.
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Quite wordy, no doubt…
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Talking to people who would actually know, I have heard a few times that this is a contract year for Chaney. If the offense struggles, Kirby is going to move on and hire someone better.
I’m not sure why he didn’t end up hiring a much better OC the first time (I suspect it had something to do with wanting to hire Sam Pittman more than wanting to get a great OC), but I would not be surprised if we were in the market for a new OC in January. I also wouldn’t be terribly surprised to see Jay Johnson get promoted to that role if we do part ways with Chaney.
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Chaney probably isn’t the best OC we have on staff right now. Johnson and Coley were both OCs at D-1 programs. Coley didn’t impress as WR coach last year. But in his defense, it doesn’t appear he’d been a WR coach previously.
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“Wait and see” and “show me” for Eason and Chaney for me. Neither gave me any reason for confidence last season.
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To be fair, Eason had some spectacular moments last year…just many more of the unspectacular type.
Jay Johnson would be an excellent choice if Chaney falters, but that would mean the entire season went south. Let’s hope it doesn’t even come close to that.
Although I am highly concerned that Pittman might choose to look elsewhere if Chaney gets the axe, I feel that Kirby won’t wait until the season is in the toilet to pull the plug. If we aren’t 5-0 or at worst 4-1 by the end of September, Chaney needs to go. As for Eason, if he hasn’t put up excellent numbers in those first five games, then he needs to sit.
Fromm, who ideally will have played in at least three games by then, should be handed the reins. He is already very familiar with the playbook, is more mobile in the pocket, and has the skills to ignite the passing game.
Most of the time, teams use the run to open up the passing game. Nothing says we can’t use the pass to open up the run.
I hope NONE of this comes to pass, because if it does, the season is pretty much done for. But if bad goes to worse, it’ll truly mean the staff’s choice for OC was a very suspect one and the kid from Washington state was at least somewhat overrated.
For the record, I hope the OL is solid, Chaney’s play calling is innovative and unpredictable, Eason’s mechanics are excellent and his overall game shows marked improvement… and Chubb has another 1500 yard season!
That equation will probably mean a trip to Mercedes-Benz Stadium the first week of December.
I’ll take that in year two.
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No snark intended here, but where in the world is all this confidence in Jay Johnson coming from? I’d never even heard of the guy until he joined UGA’s support staff.
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