Here’s a serious question for you: we all know Smart will treat the spring situation at quarterback as a competition, but how much of a competition will it really be?
I mean, here’s a snapshot of the four candidates:
- A graduate transfer who happens to be the only QB on the roster with starting experience at a P5 program;
- A beloved underdog who couldn’t mount any sort of realistic challenge to Jake Fromm during Fromm’s sub-par 2019 second half;
- A redshirt freshman coming off brain surgery; and
- An early enrollee from this year’s signing class.
That’s far from a level set of resumes. And, yes, I know that Kirby hasn’t been afraid to start a true freshman quarterback, but the first time he did that was for the notorious throwaway 2016 season and the second time was literally because he had no other choice. Neither would seem to be the case for 2020.
As Dasher summarizes,
I know Smart said it’s going to be an open competition, and you’ve got to take him at his word. However, it doesn’t quite seem credible that, when spring practice is complete, we won’t have a pretty good idea that Jamie Newman is going to be Georgia’s starting quarterback this fall.
You can probably mark that down right now, but for the sake of fair play, we’ll let the competition play out.
Consider me stunned if it ends up otherwise.
I don’t know if I’d use the word stunned should Newman not emerge as the starter, because the most likely scenario for that to occur would be him completely screwing the pooch this offseason. If that’s the case, we’ll have evidence he’s not ready for prime time early on. Were that to happen, I’d be more disappointed than stunned. And more than a little worried about Georgia’s Plan B in that situation.
Your thoughts?
Get The Picture 
Imo, it will be Newmans job to lose. I think he goes 1st team with Beck, Bennet and Mathis behind him in that order.
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I kinda feel like if we emerge from spring practices and Newman is not the clear starter, we are in deep doo doo this season.
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My thought is; if Newman doesn’t win the starting job, we are in big trouble.
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agree…….really wish Fromm would have decided to for another year.
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After seeing in plain view how slow he his, combine that with a weenie arm, I think we’ll be just fine. Our D carried us last year.
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Two different settings (combine = measurement), two different situations (games = real thing). Plenty of pro QB that have played and are playing that do not have a rocket arm. But I am talking about college, not pro. The game at that position is played between the ears…..from the neck up.
To just run fast and throw far doesn’t get the job done at any level. Just ask the two that transferred out of UGA.
He will be missed, that “weenie” arm looked pretty damn good to me.
He will more than likely go down as a better college player than pro. Probably 2nd or 3rd round at best imo. Could end up as a career backup, not a bad gig…..they don’t give those jobs out to “weenie” arms. With all of the unknowns at that position this year…..I would really love to have him back, bet Kirby would too.
One of the best ever at UGA, I will always be appreciative:
https://ugawire.usatoday.com/2020/03/03/espns-todd-mcshay-on-former-georgia-football-qb-jake-fromm-hes-a-day-2-pick/
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Jake was the man. One of my favorites and he had to deal with mercilessly criticism from some supposed UGA fans.
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He was one of my favorites too..
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Man that’s rich, the words “supposed UGA fans” coming from probably the most negative and critical poster I’ve seen on here. There’s a reason why half the people on here think you’re just a Bama or gator troll.
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For whatever reason, Fromm was his best as a Freshman..was it coaching? Quite possibly.
I do think Coaching cost us the SECCG vs Bama in 18.
I think the QB position was mismanaged big time. Putting Fields in the game at random spots did him nor Fromm any good, IMHO.
You have to wonder would Fromm have made the decision to leave if he knew of the O changes coming.
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Fromm’s best season was a sophomore in 2018. No doubt about it. National ranks as follows:
Completion percentage – 9th
Yards per attempt – 9th
Adjusted YPA – 6th
TD passes – 10th
Passer efficiency rating – 5th
He only ranked in the top 20 as a freshman in 3 categories – yards per attempt, adjusted YPA, and efficiency rating.
Coley coached him very well in 2018 without the stress of play calling. Maybe that was the problem in hindsight.
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This
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Okay, I’ll take the optimistic view and say if Newman isn’t the starter, it’s because Beck, Bennett or Mathis caught fire and took it from him.
And then everyone gets a pony.
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Hold on just a minute. Remember all the Fields fan that say UGA won’t play a black QB. The money people tell Kirby who to play.
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Ok, I’m convinced now that you definitely are just a shit stirring troll.
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Just stated what many people said. I don’t believe that for one minute. As I’ve already stated I was a Fromm supporter. I do have to admit that it galls me that Fields was able to go to tOSU without having to sit out a year. Far from a troll.
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Oh, he is screwed up all right. Most all UGA fans will remember more than one black QB starting for UGA, and just consider them a UGA QB, with no reference to skin color. But those hung up with race seem to never be able to get past that in their thinking. Which is why we have racists anyway, also why the problem will never be resolved. Also why so many don’t realize racists come in all skin colors/shades, and from all geographies.
I would say that Kirby did have a choice in that Appy State game when Fromm came out, and while that wasn’t his choice of how/when Fromm made his debut, I bet he wasn’t as uncomfortable as everyone seems to believe. As smoothly as Fromm hit the ground and immediately took charge, you now that over the Spring and Summer, he had seen how talented Fromm was. The final 3 1/2 quarters of that game showed the rest of us how close that competition was, and how solid a grasp Jake had of the offense.
I would be pretty surprised if Newman doesn’t win the starting job for the opener, but maybe not totally shocked. I watched him a couple of games with Wake didn’t see enough to think he could do well as our starter, although none of us has seen “our offense” for 2020, so who knows? Very different offense for sure at Wake, and level of defensive competition. If he tries to run even half as much for us as he did for the Deacs, I would worry about him getting injured as he looks a little slow, and has been taken out before. Newman is a big man and capable of extending some plays, but I wouldn’t expect a lot of yards from him. Whether beaten out for the job, or missing time from injury, I think he may not be the starter at year’s end. If we need him, I hope he does win, and maintain, the QB starting role, but I am not as optimistic as many are.
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I certainly remember more than one black QB, but if you listened to a certain faction of UGA fans, who were the most part Fields fans, they weren’t aware of any. Many blamed the fact that Fields didn’t start on what they perceived as racism on the good ole boys at UGA. I thought they were full of it; in fact I know they were full of it.
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Bigshot, you and I have disagreed on a number of things over the past few months. I fully agree with you on this.
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I’m with Russ. If Newman doesn’t start against Virginia, it means that whoever IS starting must be really damn good. Same for the Georgia Tech game, because I anticipate Newman being the starter and being a really strong player for us. If he loses the job for any reason other than injury, then I’m going to be getting a bigger tub of popcorn to watch what happens.
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Newman…next question.
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Your G-Day QBR sets the standard for this up coming seasons, all other questions should be referred to eight men in the box….
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If Newman isn’t the starter because he wasn’t ready for prime time a lot of people were wrong. IF they have to go to Bennett or Mathis then it will be a waste to bring Monken in to run the ball 80% of the time, again.
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Both Bennett and Mathis can throw the ball. I would even go so far as to say both of them put more zip on the ball than Fromm.
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Better have a long lecture about “emerging from an ally” with these fellows. That’s not a good way to reset the starting order.
Second point: can’t start the Hudson Mason meme: “our backup QB is better than our starting QB.” We saw how that worked out.
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The advantage of having a good QB Coach is that he minimizes the downside risk. Example: CMB was able to get production from a guy like Hutson Mason.
The fact that Monken has to pull double duty as OC and QB coach concerns me. Passing game coordinator Hankton and TE coach Hartley were as useful as titons on le bulle for Coley.
I hope Faulkner can pick up some of the slack, because we definitely need better coaching at QB. And dumping everything on Monken’s plate, like we did Coley last year, might prove to once again be a recipe for problems. I’m depending more on Luke and Faulkner, than Hankton, Hartley and McGee.
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So you’re saying Bobo’s a better coach than Monken?
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I knew this might come up the second I hit “post”.
But CMB had the benefit of a HC who also was heavily involved in the offense, as well as being a former QB, QB coach, and OC. At least Monken has Faulkner and Luke.
I believe Coley was almost set up for failure because he had too much on his plate. No QB coach. A passing game coordinator in name only (who’s also a questionable WR coach). A neophyte TE coach as assistant in the booth. And a HC who is ocd ultra conservative in an age of wide open offenses.
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Chaney was the QB coach and the rumor was Jake wanted Coley.
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Chaney was not the QB coach in 2018. Coley moved from WRs to QBs. Chaney was OC and TEs. Chaney did coach the QBs in 2017.
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Newman’s the guy currently just based on his experience alone. He just has to realize that with the strong unit on defense, he doesn’t have to be a game breaking qb, he just needs to be efficient in getting the ball to the playmakers. Hopefully that’s sufficient enough to let Beck and (or) Mathis get plenty of mop up duty this fall.
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My money is on Mett to take the job via QB rating alone on G-Day. BANK ON IT!
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I support Faton Bauta since he wasn’t in a practice jersey at G-Day! DGD!
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Warren Ruggiero is a pretty good QB coach and the offence at WF has put up some big numbers under him. If Newman is as polished as he appears & as QB savy as some say, I don’t see anyone else displacing him. Hopefully Monken won’t need to spend the time with Newman he would with a QB with no college game experience.
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I like that it’s being kept open. Fromm + Stetson seems like a much less desirable situation compared to this.
My hope is that Beck is good enough to push Newman and perhaps be good enough to get inserted in some real game situations early in the season. Bama’s QB situation was wide open in Hurts’s first season for several games before Hurts got the job permanently. They won a natty that year too.
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“A beloved underdog who couldn’t mount any sort of realistic challenge to Jake Fromm during Fromm’s sub-par 2019 second half;“. Does anyone honestly believe that Kirby gave one second of thought to benching Fromm last season? While Fromm played poorly enough to earn being sat down, this was never going to happen.
It occurred to me recently that Kirby may not have really tried too hard to retain Fromm. We all know that Smart can recruit players at an unworldly level. Smart has also demonstrated the ability to sell coaches on his vision for this program and land big names. We also know that Fromm did know about the coaching change. All of this adds up to Kirby being ok with Fromm leaving. Now, Fromm could have just been ready for a change and happy with a 3rd or 4th round draft grade. I don’t think Fromm’s lackluster services were in high demand in Athens.
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For whom?
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Why, Stetson Bennett of course!
Serious question: Jake regressed (at least seemed to) during his tenure. Justin Fields did nothing to impress during his time here, and ends up lighting it up at Ohio State. Granted, two guys over three years is a small sample but what’s up with UGA quarterbacks under Kirby? Why does this seem like something to worry about?
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Jake Fromm finished fifth nationally in passer rating in 2018.
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And 8th I think in 2019, still not too shabby. Maybe I should stop looking for boogers….
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Actually, he finished 50th last season, so don’t give up your hunt yet. 😉
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Ouch. 50th is not good.
(I got 8 from a google search, PFF had him there but that was overall.) Fromm leaving early for what looks to be a day 2 draft spot smells fishy to me especially after the video breakdown of the LSU game someone posted the other day.
Skeptic may be on to something?
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“Jake regressed (at least seemed to) during his tenure.”
GC, you’re smarter than that. He improved from his freshman to his sophomore years (the stats prove it). He had incredible stats leading up to the South Carolina game this year. What changed? Was he nursing an injury? Did Cager’s injuries change things that much? Did Coley ignore the QB coaching side of his job because he was in over his head as OC?
I’ll tell you one thing my eyes were telling me. The run blocking with a few exceptions was underwhelming from the South Carolina game on (teams had stacked the box since Fromm started playing in ’17). Fromm didn’t have the run game support in the 2nd half of the season he had the prior two seasons. I’ll give you my opinion on that … we missed Lamont Gailliard in the middle.
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All good questions so I’ll rephrase: Fromm did not look the same in 2019 as he did the prior two seasons. What happened? Jake’s junior season didn’t help his stock at the next level, so why did he leave early? By all appearances Jake was happy being the guy at UGA. I’m just curious what was on the breeze.
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He did look the same early (you could even say he had improved) in the season. I think he was around a 75% completion percentage after the Tooth Nation game. At that point, he was in the Heisman conversation.
Something happened from that point on (other than the Florida game).
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I agree completely with the Senator on this one. Who on the bench did we have last season that could come in off the bench and win a ballgame?
Mathis wasn’t an option, so who then?
Bennett?
A walk-on?
Fromm at 50% effectiveness was still better than anyone we had on the bench last year…sorry, it’s just true.
Bennett is a “coast with a big lead safety net” type of player.
If Newman struggles when we get into SEC play, Beck better be ready.
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“I don’t think Fromm’s lackluster services were in high demand in Athens.”
What data do you have to support that? I don’t imagine Kirby wanted to be in the market for a grad transfer QB that may or may not pan out. There isn’t a darn thing Joe Brady was doing with the passing game at LSU last year that Jake Fromm couldn’t do. The difference was that Burrow could extend plays with his feet.
Something happened (and we’ll never know what) between the Tennessee and South Carolina games, but Jake didn’t all of a sudden forget how to play QB.
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I agree, the transfer portal should not be choice #1 when looking for QB’s. When in a pinch, sure, but let’s not make a habit out of it. Again, I am only guessing as what went down and I have zero evidence. However, it does seem strange that Fromm left given Kirby’s ability to talk everyone into coming to UGA. Based upon last season, as well as the previous 2 years, my best guess is that Kirby knew Fromm’s ceiling and optioned to move on. The kid was a solid QB, but nothing more. Weak arm, inability to run, fear of throwing the ball over the middle…these attributes do not add up to a dynamic QB.
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I just typed a long, well thought out post replying to EE on the subject and my CSPoS new laptop timed out and kicked it away. I can’t help it I TYPE SLOW DAMMIT. And this itty tiny keyboard is not made for someone with more than two thumbs.
If you hold it up to the light and squint at it just right, you can see the question: Did Jake get processed? Is Kirby mercenary enough to do it?
By all appearances JF was perfectly happy being Jake from State Fromm, starting QB for the University of Georgia. What would make him jump ship early? The video I mentioned earlier is worth a look. Jake Fromm is a smart, solid, football savvy kid who lacks some of the physical attributes that separate the excellent form the elite. Did Kirby say “Jake, you’re a great kid but we’re moving in this direction, and you’re probably not the guy.” Jake’s a Dawg. Rather than transfer he declared early, maybe. A senior season of absorbing “The Wisdom of the Ridden Pine” (Russ that’s fucking great. I’ll fetch you a royalty beer sometime) surely wasn’t going to help his draft position. Is it likely? I hope not. But it does kind of make sense. My 5’5″ pocket rocket finance major had some classes with Fromm. He said he’s genuine, likeable, smart as hell and country as a turnip green. His Mom and Dad seem successful and grounded. Jake Fromm bailing doesn’t make any sense to me.
Just my .02…. Jake’s a great kid and I hope he’s successful wherever he lands.
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I mentioned it early in the season. UGA was giving future opponents a ton of film on a fairly pedestrian offense. I remember hoping they were sandbagging.
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Could be Jake has a dead arm caused by too much throwing all year long. His passes had some decent zip on them in his first two years and some of his third year.
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Question: Does it seem a fair question to ask that Fromm’s announcement took many by surprise ? Did some of the absences from the Sugar Bowl still leave you wondering what happened ? Gonna take only the players vested in the program ? No word yet on any departures. Brian Herrien had a great QPR. All of a sudden Newman shows up on the doorstep.
Perhaps there is more to these stories than perceived. Check out the NFL combine scores it is not like anyone of the guys that left blew the top off with scores. Perhaps they did so with a gentle nudge so UGA could bring in some other stars
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Buff, this is how offseason conspiracy theories get started. Keep your voice down…
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