Okay, removing my tongue from my cheek, here’s a nice piece from Seth Emerson weaving together the thoughts of Chubb, Eason and Wynn on the prospects for the offense this season.
The most interesting insights are about the offensive linemen. Here’s something Eason said that I hadn’t thought about:
Eason also spent much of this offseason working at taking snaps under center, after struggling with that aspect of it as a freshman. He was used to a shot-gun offense in high school.
EASON: “Oh yeah, that was a big area I needed to improve on. I think through spring and through this fall camp, I’ve gotten a lot more comfortable now. It’s second nature, going under there, spotting the Mike (linebacker) and all that deal. … It was pretty difficult, because you’re trying to read a defense, but your biggest concern is getting a snap from center. So that was a big transition, and it took me awhile to get me fully comfortable with it. And having (Brandon) Kublanow last year, he was a real low guy, and I was a real tall guy, so that was another thing that went into it. But now with Lamont (Gaillard) and whoever else we’ve got under center, I feel comfortable with it.” [Emphasis added.]
Sounds trivial, but it’s just one more adjustment Eason had to make out of several. I think it was pretty obvious that he was more comfortable working out of the shotgun last season than under center.
Wynn said something that makes me think Pittman is in the process of sorting out the talent on the line in the way he prefers.
Georgia brought its man-blocking scheme last year, but it wasn’t as successful with a smaller group of linemen. This year they’re going to be bigger up the middle, which should help the inside running game, while getting more athletic lineman at tackle.
WYNN: “Definitely. As far as me, my weight was pretty small last year at guard, but now we have a lot more anchor at that guard position, and the tackles, I’m good on the outside, Andrew Thomas he’s been very good, Dyshon Sims has been good. Not to say that the inside guys aren’t athletic, but we’ve put outside the guys who are better able to kick out there in space.”
I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to welcome the era of not playing guards at offensive tackle with open arms.
Get The Picture 
That article has me excited, but I am a bit worried that they did not think to mention any other new faces as “playmakers.” We need a big tall receiver on the outside, a la Mike Williams, as of yesterday. Eason mentioning the problems getting the ball from Kunlanow has me scratching my head. Why was that guy on the field? He got stood up and clogged the middle all year. Is his Dad a big booster? I don’t get that one and likely never will.
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He was on the field because he was the best they had.
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I’ve noted before but in the scrimmage I saw, all the QBs were in shotgun 85% of the time. Seems to be adjusting to his comfort level.
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Hay is in the barn at this point, we are too close to showtime to pay a lot of attention to talk now. We fans know less than ever before going into this season but the build up since Spring has me in the positive camp. Not likely to be a blowout Saturday night but I don’t think the game will ever be in doubt. UGA by 14-27 sounds about right. Appy isn’t a cupcake, they just lack the level of talent and depth to beat UGA at home in an opener.
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I have been asking about stats comparing under Center vs Shotgun since lat season. Fans say they didn’t see improvement, I saw a move to more snaps under center late in the year.
He has to get better under center and/or UGA has to be able to run out of shotgun or pistol formations.
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I recall us being more effective out of the Pistol but don’t have any stats to back it up. I don’t have a problem with that being our primary formation but always want the QB able to operate under center enough that short yardage plays originate closer to the line, and still give you a play action threat.
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In the Liberty Bowl UGA ran about 65 offensive plays not counting punts. Eason was under center in 19 plays 2 of which were the Victory formation. That’s about 30% of the time. 10 out of the 19 plays he just handed the ball off and in 3 he kept the ball himself (Victory=2). So he actually passed out of under center 15% of the time. Surprisingly, he was not sacked as far as I could tell on any plays he ran from under center. By contrast Lambert had been under center on 16 plays in the first quarter against UNC, so yea I’d say the coaches knew he couldn’t do it, even at the end of the year. It takes extreme confidences in your offensive line to do play action and that was just not there either by the coaches or Eason.
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Sounds like same old same old to me. Permit mitt me the opportunity to address the O-line full of guards issue. The skill set for a guard is not the same as the skill set for a tackle. That was a flaw in the thinking of CMR who believed in recruiting guys who could play anywhere across the line and commonly moved O-linemen around interchangeably even during games. You can get away with that on a finesse team but not with a power team.
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You are correct mayor!
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