Testing, testing…

Assuming the suits running college football are serious about protecting the health of college athletes when the suit up to play this fall, Dr. Fauci has some advice for them:  it’s not going to be easy.

“This is a respiratory virus, so it’s going to be spread by shedding virus. The problem with virus shedding is that if I have it in my nasal pharynx, and it sheds and I wipe my hand against my nose—now it’s on my hand. You see, then I touch my chest or my thigh, then it’s on my chest or my thigh for at least a few hours. Sweat as such won’t transmit it. But if people are in such close contact as football players are on every single play, then that’s the perfect set up for spreading. I would think that if there is an infected football player on the field—a middle linebacker, a tackle, whoever it is it—as soon as they hit the next guy, the chances are that they will be shedding virus all over that person.

“If you really want to be in a situation where you want to be absolutely certain, you’d test all the players before the game. And you say, Those who are infected: Sorry, you’re sidelined. Those who are free: Get in there and play.”

That’s going to require so many tests that imagining it now would either be sheer folly or greedy on the part of a sports league. But Fauci hopes that the coming months bring increased access to tests. He’s also in modified quarantine after contact with a person who tested positive at the White House, where staffers are tested daily, showing how quickly things can change.

“If I test today, and I’m negative, you don’t know if I got exposed tomorrow,” Fauci said. “There’s no guarantee that you’re going to get exposed and be positive the next day. To give you an example, you’re probably reading in the newspapers that there’s an infection in the White House. I was exposed to that person. So I immediately got tested. I am negative. So, I’m negative yesterday. I don’t know if I’m going to be negative Monday. Understand? It’s almost an impossible situation.

“To be 100 percent sure, you’ve got to test every day. But that’s not practical and that’s never going to happen. But you can diminish dramatically by testing everybody Saturday night, Sunday morning, and say OK, only negative players play.”

Again, that doesn’t make it certain.  Which makes you wonder what the reaction would be the first time a kid who played in a game contracts the virus.

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Breakout!

Pro Football Focus has a list of its top breakout candidates for this season.  You’ll find four Georgia players on it.

RB ZAMIR WHITE, GEORGIA

With D’Andre Swift on his way to the NFL, the 2018 recruiting class’ top running back is the next man up for Georgia. White saw limited action in his 2019 redshirt freshman campaign but was an explosive play waiting to happen. Fifteen of his 78 carries ended up going for 10 or more yards, and he ended the year with a 75.6 rushing grade.

WR DOMINICK BLAYLOCK, GEORGIA

Blaylock was the 36th-ranked recruit in the 2019 class and came to Georgia as a top-tier athlete with elite change-of-direction ability. In his true freshman season, Blaylock averaged 10.7 yards after the catch per reception on his 18 receptions, caught 100% of his catchable targets, generated 3.1 yards per route run and produced seven explosive plays. Unfortunately, he tore his ACL in the SEC championship, but he is expected to be ready for 2020 and could play a huge role in a potentially lethal passing attack.

OL JAMAREE SALYER, GEORGIA

Georgia lost some key pieces to their offensive line in the 2020 NFL draft, and the 23rd-ranked recruit of the 2018 class, Jamaree Salyer, is one who looks likely to step up in their absence. Salyer has played only 360 snaps in his two years at Georgia but has looked the part in his limited time on the field. Incredibly, Salyer has logged a snap at every position on the offensive line, producing a 77.4 overall grade while not allowing a single pressure on his true pass sets.

LB NAKOBE DEAN, GEORGIA

Dean was a top-25 recruit in the 2019 class, receiving offers from powerhouses LSU and Alabama before committing to Georgia. In his limited role as a true freshman in 2019 (245 snaps), Dean very much looked the part. He allowed only five catches for 28 yards on 149 coverage snaps and even managed to mix in a couple of pass breakups. Dean most certainly will have a larger role within Georgia’s defense in 2020, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he ends up being one of college football’s best off-ball linebackers by the season’s end.

It’s interesting that three of the four are offensive players.  Then again, that’s the side of the ball from where Smart needs the most breakouts.

Your Daily Gator’s long recruiting nightmare is over.

Not in a good way, though.

Huge news out of Fort Worth this morning! Sources have confirmed to HFB that 5-star RB Zachary Evans has enrolled at #TCU. https://t.co/C4WzhCuwOW

— Jeremy Clark (@JClarkHFB) May 11, 2020

You know you want to read the reaction.

Relax, Gator fans.  The Portal Master™ will remedy this in a couple of years.

How much does George Pickens matter?

For Jamie Newman?

 

New Georgia QB Jamie Newman’s 2019 grade:

With WR Sage Surratt: 90.6
Without Sage Surratt: 60.5 pic.twitter.com/vnW39WBkoB

— PFF College (@PFF_College) May 11, 2020

I’m guessing a pretty good bit.

**********************************************************************

UPDATE:  Another stat about Newman’s surrounding cast…

Today, in roster management

Shot.

Recruiting has been front and center during the coronavirus shutdown. Georgia has landed four commitments and has made a move for several others since the nation began, for the most part, sheltering in place, but things have been much quieter with the current roster.

That’s both a good and a bad thing. It’s a good thing because, for whatever reason, when a player enters the NCAA’s Student-Athlete Transfer Portal, it’s automatically considered to be negative. Georgia hasn’t dealt with any of that over the past two months but that doesn’t mean some change isn’t on the way.

Dawgs247 has broken down the current roster by class and, as it stands, the Bulldogs are going to need one more player to come off scholarship as long as the rest of the 2020 class enrolls on time. When you look at it closely, there are 67 players currently enrolled and on the team. There are 19 more expected to arrive when things get cranked back up and that puts UGA at 86.

Chaser.

Fourth-year Juniors (9)

15. QB Stetson Bennett IV
16. WR Matt Landers
17. WR Trey Blount
18. DL Netori Johnson
19. OLB Robert Beal
20. CB Eric Stokes
21. CB Ameer Speed
22. DB William Poole
23. S Latavious Brini
Notes: If we’re being frank here, this group may be where the needed attrition comes from. There are several guys in this group who have simply gotten lost in the fray or recruited over. Beal actually entered the transfer portal during bowl season but removed his name shortly thereafter. Stokes is the only starter or major contributor but Johnson could move into that territory this season if he wins the No. 2 nose tackle job. If he does that and Jordan Davis leaves after 2020, Johnson might become a starter in his fifth season. Landers has a chance to step up but that was the case a year ago. It’s hard to see anyone else in this group making a move to the top of the depth chart.

Think he’s right? If so, whom do you see going?

“That’s life in the SEC.”

David Ubben’s State of the Program piece on Tennessee ($$) is a good reminder of why Vol fans may be getting a little over their skis drawing conclusions from the program’s recent run of recruiting success.

There are a couple of sobering reminders why.  First, as this chart shows, UT has been an under-performer, relative to talent, for a while.

Or, to put it another way…

The Vols have not won the SEC championship since 1998 and have not won the SEC East since 2007, and they’ve lost at least five games and finished unranked in 10 of the past 12 seasons. (From 1985-2007, they finished unranked only five times.)

That’s a pretty deep gully to climb out of and it’s not due to a lack of talent, as the chart indicates.

But talent isn’t everything.  In fact, given that Tennessee plays the SEC’s two biggest recruiting powerhouses every season, it can’t be for the Vols to break through.  Coaching matters.  And in that regard, it hasn’t been the smoothest of offseasons for Pruitt’s staff.  The coordinators remain in place, but that’s about it.

… running backs coach David Johnson left for Florida State, defensive line coach Tracy Rocker left for South Carolina, inside linebackers coach Kevin Sherrer left for the New York Giants and outside linebackers coach Chris Rumph left for the Houston Texans. Plus, the Vols lost strength coach Craig Fitzgerald to the Giants and director of player personnel Drew Hughes to South Carolina.

That’s a lot of turnover.  Saban, Pruitt’s former boss, thrives on turnover, so maybe that’s not the end of things in Knoxville.  Then again, Saban has a lot more talent to draw on than Pruitt does.

I’m not trying to dog Jeremy Pruitt here, believe it or not.  I don’t think the Vols are in position to knock off Georgia from the top of the East this season — the momentum the program currently enjoys comes from a six-game winning streak against the weakest stretch of last season’s schedule and recruiting the 2021 class — but I am curious to see if UT is gaining any ground against Florida and Georgia.

Don’t delete that expletive.

One brief note about the results from Seth Emerson’s fan survey ($$) I have to share.

While Herschel Walker was ranked as Georgia’s favorite player of all time (deservedly so), this is my favorite part of the vote:

Multiple people voted for “Todd (expletive) Gurley”.

Hells, yeah.

When your Daily Gator says he’s not pumping sunshine…

… well, you tell me.

Here lately, the board has been extremely negative and I understand why. I know there are some posters here who have lost all faith. Some are still on the fence as to what’s really going on and how some of these things happen or how they effect our future. I understand but I’d just like to give my 2 cents on everything going on and I hope it puts things into a better perspective and eases some of the negativity we have going on.

#1 – It’s never as bad as it seems. I believe this and it should be taken into account by posters here. We have so much to look forward to this upcoming season and despite what some would call “recent setbacks”, everything is going to work itself out in the end. It makes me want to remind people to not forget where we were under the Muschamp and McElwain dark days. Whether or not you want to relive those days is up to you. I’d personally rather not and will openly admit for the most part, I’m still proud we have CDM as our head coach.

He’s brought UF back to a respectable name in the CFB world after a number of years of embarrassment. He’s turned things around way faster than any of us ever expected, beginning with a very successful first season and followed up by a very exciting second season at the helm. There’s been numerous hiccups along the way during these first 2 years but he’s overcame them by the vast majority of measure. Granted, we all would like to see better effort/results on the recruiting front but in the big picture of things, they really aren’t “bad”. We have a team that’s been fun to watch and successful at that. I think some of our posters demand too much, way too quickly. If you don’t think CDM understands there are some issues revolving recruiting and keeping kids on campus after they sign right now, you’re mistaken. Not all of it his his fault though, even though some posters on here believe it is. This transfer portal has truly changed the game of College Football. I talk with coaches all of the time at different schools and they’ll tell you the same thing. It’s just way to easy for some of you to throw the blame at his feet. While I see why in few cases, it’s not that simple. Things go on behind the scenes that aren’t reported on and then everything becomes speculation.

Jeez.  It’s like reading about Mark Richt, except Richt had some conference titles under his belt.

I’m almost at the point that I’m going to have to quit doing these Daily Gator posts, because the “they’re just like we were a few years ago” angle is getting close to becoming a full circle.  At some point, they won’t we “like” us.  They’ll be us.

The SEC East’s ever-closing gap

Any day now…

Kirby’s gotta be sweatin’ it.