Reading this piece about Jake Fromm’s appreciation for his massive offensive line, I couldn’t help but wonder what kind of careers Aaron Murray and Todd Gurley might have enjoyed had they received similar support — or Knowshon Moreno, for that matter, who was Gurley’s equal in turning nothing runs into something. Ah, well.
Correct – Moreno especially.
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Knowshon was the first for me, of the Dawgs, that hurdled over guys like nobody’s business.
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Knowshon would have had a good chance of bringing home the Heisman if he’d been running behind this line. He was a revelation for me. Easily Georgia’s best back since Garrison Hearst, and I barely remember him.
Gurley, Chubb, and MIchel were Heisman-worthy as well, but all of them spent too much time injured or splitting time with the other world-class running backs on the roster. Our current stable of backs is impressive, and may well rush for more aggregate yards than last year’s crew, but none of them will get enough carries to compete for any hardware.
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Which is just fine by me. I think if you asked them they would rather share the work load and win the big trophy while also saving miles on their bodies for an NFL career than be the workhorse who has to carry the ball 25-30 times per game and wins a Heisman. I would assume they made that decision when they chose Georgia.
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For sure. That wasn’t a complaint, just an observation. I don’t think that stud running back recruits are lining up to play for Kirby because they’re expecting to lift the Heisman – they have bigger goals in mind. As it should be.
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And this is fine by me. I hope we always have 4 or 5 TB’s running the ball. I’d rather split carries and have them all fresh than wear one out trying to win a “popularity contest” award.
I just don’t care at all about the Heisman. I’d rather the team bring him a Natty.
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I know this may be a stretch, but I think they know that and are okay with it. I think they’re just fine with getting 15-20 touches a game thereby saving their bodies for the NFL rather than being the lone stud that gets pounded on down after down for 3+ years (Kerryon Johnson). Especially if or means being on a team that SHOULD compete for titles.
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I think that is the pitch on the recruiting trail. That and having Tailback U on your resume.
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Knowshon would have won a Heisman running behind the 2002 line. Musa is a DGD, but the fact that he put up 1,300 in 2002 without the athleticism and speed of a guy like Knowshon…
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http://www.espn.com/nfl/college/_/letter/g Here is a list of former UGA players currently in the NFL. Note the number of OL players. It wasn’t that there weren’t good linemen on CMR’s teams. There just weren’t enough of them.
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Ben Watson’s getting a little long in the tooth.
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And this list doesn’t include John Theus who played several seasons in the NFL but now is out of the league.
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2?
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Ok, Theus played 2 seasons in the NFL. Satisfied?
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I was always amazed at the way Gurley managed to get yards when there was seemingly no way. With this O line, he almost certainly would have won the Heisman and Georgia may have won it all.
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Gurley would have won the Heisman if he hadn’t been suspended in 2014.
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^^This.
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Assuming he still got injured in the Auburn game, I’m not sure he would have won it, but it would have been difficult not to give it to him.
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Give Aaron Murray and his skill guys this offensive line and also this defense (to say nothing of last year’s defense) and go ahead and mint the rings.
That’s OK, though. I’m pretty good with the ideal of giving this line and this defense instead to Jake Fromm and also occasionally Justin Fields.
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Would you trade Murray and his skills guys for Fromm and our current skills guys? I wouldn’t.
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I’d rather have Murray and Gurley but this receiving group is the better in my opinion.
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I’d love to have Gurley back, but I’ll take Fromm over Murray. Watching our defensive line swatting down Bentley’s balls left and right against USCe last Saturday was giving me traumatic flashbacks the days of Murray. He’s a DGD, but damn was he susceptible to the batted ball.
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The batted ball problem was more on the OL than on Murray.
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I’d take freshman/sophomore Fromm over freshman/sophomore Murray, but we asked much more out of Murray then so it may not be a fair comparison.
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Hell no, Fromm and Co all the way.
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The 2012 receiving corps was good, but I’m not sure anyone but Mitchell would see significant playing time on this team. Rantavious Wooten certainly wouldn’t.
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I thought Mays played well, but who’s spot is he going to take? Thomas? Wilson? Cleveland? I don’t see it. Although, I’m projecting that Wilson will continue to improve as he has been. Mays could pass him, but Mays still looks like a freshman with his footwork and pad level at this point imo.
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I’m not a Richt hater but in the case of Murray, who won about 37 or so games at Georgia, I wonder how many games he would have won if he didn’t have CMR blowing wins with bad end of game decisions.
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You can start with that effing bowl game loss to Michigan State.
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Please stop trying to give reasons for my PTSD to return. No reason to do that on such a lovely morn.
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Fair criticism. Murray could have helped himself out by taking care of the football a little better in close games. He often seemed to find ways to either throw a pick to a d lineman or allow them tip the pass up so somebody else could get the pick.
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I think the ability to recruit/develop top-talent at O-Line and D-Line is one of the biggest issues, if not the biggest, that kept Richt and the program from getting over the hump.
Cordy Glenn was the only player CMR recruited and coached that was selected in the first 2 rounds of the draft at O-Line or…wait for it…D-Line. (You could include Pollack, but that’s debatable considering he was drafted as an OLB) I don’t know if it was coaching, strength and conditioning, or a combination of both, but those guys in the trenches were always a little bit of a project when they got to the NFL.
BTW, he inherited Jon Stinchcomb, George Foster, Jonathan Sullivan, and Charles Grant. Seymour, Stroud, M. Stinchcomb before that…for all of Donnan’s faults, the man knew how to keep the trenches covered.
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Trinton Strudivant would have been in the NFL if it weren’t for bad luck with knee injuries. He started as a freshman. Having said that, Richt landed some good ones but it was sporatic success. The Oline and Dline depth were never there.
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I get that …. but Sturdivant, Theus, Kiante Tripp, Darius Swain,Trey Chandler, Zeb McKinsey, Brandon Miller, Kade Weston, Roderick Battle, DeAngelo Tyson, AJ Harmon, Toby Jackson, Chris Burnette, Austin Long, Abry Jones, TJ Stripling, Brent Bennedict, Garrison Smith, Ray Drew, Kolton Houston, Jonathan Taylor (*), Kublanow, Golston, Jean-Giles, Charles Johnson…all were linemen that were consensus 4 to 5 star recruits…most were in the top 100 players in the country…some even in the top 10-50 but no one out of the top 150-175. NONE were drafted in the first two rounds of the draft. Not. A. Single. One.
That’s a lot of evidence that luck had nothing to do with it.
Oh…and to put the cherry on top. 2014 recruiting class…Isaiah Wynn and Lamont Galliard would have been on the list above. Is it luck or just more confirmation of fact that Wynn ended up fulfilling his potential under Kirby’s staff and Galliard looks like he could be a rare early round pick at Center?
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In some cases it was coaching and holes around them. I rewatched the 2009 Tech game before the season started, and that defense had Geno Atkins, Justin Houston and Reshad Jones, who have all been all-pro level players in the NFL. While there were holes like Vance Cuff at one of the corner spots and some youth, it’s borderline criminal that that defense was so mediocre.
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“who was Gurley’s equal in turning nothing runs into something”
Good point on Moreno, you couldn’t tackle that guy in a phone booth…..best RB at UGA that I have seen that could make guys miss.
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He had a run in his first game against OSU…I remember just going ‘whoa…he’s different’.
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I didn’t remember it correctly…it was on a reception. Second touch of his career and he put that spin move on the linebacker.
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Thanks, Irwin R. Fletcher! That was fun to watch! OMG! They had to pull him out of the hedges! lol
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Thomas injury silver lining-Mays gets early experience now to provide depth vs LSU & AU Dlines.
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