Just gag me with a spoon.
Filed under Blowing Smoke, Urban Meyer Points and Stares
Danny Kanell’s gonna Danny Kanell, y’all. But, even for him, this is kind of sad.
Being troll-y isn’t easy.
Filed under Media Punditry/Foibles, SEC Football
Quite simply, because stars matter, damn it ($$).
Of the 32 players selected Thursday night:
• Seven were five-star prospects out of high school
• Ten were four-star prospects out of high school
• 14 were three-star prospects out of high school
• 12 were rated as top-100 prospectsSome context:
• Yes, there were more three-star prospects drafted than five-star prospects. But you have to remember that there is not an even number of three-, four- and five-star prospects in each recruiting class. In a given year, there are roughly 35 five-star prospects and another 300 or so four-star prospects. That means the bulk of the nearly 3,000 college signees each year are three-star prospects or lower. A glance at the first-round results shows that more than half of the selections were four- and five-star prospects even though three-star prospects make up about 90 percent of those who sign in each recruiting cycle.
• That means roughly 10 percent of those who sign annually are four- or five-star prospects — but they made up more than half of the first-round selections Thursday night.
Math is hard, but it ain’t that hard. There’s a reason Georgia’s recruiting budget is ginormous.
Filed under Recruiting, The NFL Is Your Friend.
For those curious how the Florida legislature came seemingly out of nowhere to pass a delay in the state’s NIL law taking affect, here’s a brief blow by blow:
Critics of the amendment describe it as a nifty political maneuver by high-ranking members of the Florida legislature, burying the NIL date change in a clutter of alterations to legislation governing charter schools, two days before the Florida legislative session ends.
The amendment was introduced in the Florida Senate by Sen. Travis Hutson on Wednesday around 2:30 p.m. Six hours later, it passed both chambers without any real debate over the two consequential lines in the 71-page tome changing the NIL law effective date.
Heitner and others contend that the NIL language was so buried that many lawmakers weren’t aware it even existed. Hidden among the amendment’s 20,000 words, on the seventh line of Page 66, are the two lines, the first citing Florida’s NIL law and the second changing the effective date.
Effective upon this act becoming a law, section of chapter 2020–28, Laws of Florida, is amended to read:
This act shall take effect July 1, 2022
2021.In an interview on Thursday morning, Hutson says leaders of each of Florida’s chambers agreed to insert the NIL change into the amendment based on information from the Florida legislature’s education staff. The staff alerted lawmakers that the NCAA could punish Florida athletes for using a state law that, in some cases, differs from impending NCAA rules.
Sounds kosher to me.
However, NCAA president Mark Emmert told a group of athletes earlier this month that he would not punish athletes who earn NIL compensation by following their state law.
“If he puts something on paper, that would give us relief,” Hutson says.
I’m sure Mark Emmert will get right on it for you guys.
Meanwhile, the reaction from the state’s college football coaches was immediate and negative.
Pretty strong stuff. But the legislature was just being prudent, fellas!
“We did not want our student athletes, if this law went into effect, to start profiting off NIL and potentially lose scholarships from the NCAA,” Hutson says. “We decided to do a one-year hold. It was an abundance of caution. We want our kids to profit from the NIL and that’s something we’re passionate about, but not at the chance they could lose the right to play.”
Now wouldn’t that be ironic? There isn’t enough popcorn in the world to sustain me while watching the fallout from that happening.
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UPDATE: Gosh, this didn’t take long.
In the South, state senator ranks lower than head football coach in the food chain.
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UPDATE #2: Weirder and weirder…
Filed under Political Wankery, The NCAA
Okay, the header is kind of a joke, sure, but I always love it when a mindless narrative takes a shot, like “Kirby Smart can’t develop talent”.
That certainly explains why Eric Stokes was drafted in the first round last night. As well as this:
Yeah, ol’ Kirbs is just stealing money.
Filed under Georgia Football, The NFL Is Your Friend.
I’m sorry, but if this doesn’t make you laugh, there’s something wrong.
You know the old saying that we get the politicians we deserve? Tubs looks like the exception that proves the rule.
Dayum.
Then again, maybe he’s thanking Kirby for preparing him for not being a top ten pick last night. Or maybe not.
Filed under Georgia Football, The NFL Is Your Friend.
Don’t worry, Auburn fans. In just a few, short months on the job, he’s already cracked the code ($$)!
… Everyone dresses the same in the weight room, Harsin says, not because he seeks uniformity but because he wants the players to make a conscious decision about coming together as a team. They wear the same uniforms for games; they should do the same as they prepare for games. “It really is defining everything,” Harsin said.
Who knew that’s all it takes?
Filed under Auburn's Cast of Thousands
The first thing that catches my eye there is at the very bottom — the average for 2021 is much higher than it’s been in the previous seven seasons. I would think a big reason for that is the NCAA’s decision to give players an eligibility mulligan for last year.
The second thing of note is that eight SEC teams, including Georgia, rank 105th or lower. Now, there’s returning production and then there’s returning production. Nobody’s arguing that Vanderbilt and Alabama are even close to being on the same footing. Even so, returning to the first point, note that only one of those eight teams, South Carolina, returns less than 50% of its 2020 production. A rising eligibility tide lifts all boats. (Except maybe BYU’s. 32%? Yeesh.)
Also, remember that besides the issue of overall roster quality, Bill has always maintained that returning production matters more at some positions than others ($$). For example,
As it turns out, continuity up front, as measured by your percentage of snaps returning, has a pretty hefty impact on your year-to-year progression or regression.
… Returning production in the secondary ends up accounting for about 59% of your overall statistical change, a monstrous amount compared to linebackers (minus-33%) and defensive linemen (minus-8%).
That last point might make you a little nervous about Georgia’s fate this season, but it’s worth keeping in mind that it’s unlikely Kirby Smart is done fishing in the transfer portal. I presume Bill’s numbers will be revised at some point once final rosters have been assembled for August camp; it will be interesting to see how those shake out, now that the NCAA has approved free one-time transfers.
Filed under Stats Geek!
I’ll leave it to you as to whether that concept is oxymoronic. Instead, I’ll just focus on what he poses about Georgia’s place in the SEC East at the moment.
Burning questions: Is it now or never for Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs? Not only no but hell no. The narrative that the window of opportunity to win a national championship in Athens is closing is silly. As long as you recruit great players in sufficient numbers every year you have a chance. Having said that, does Georgia have a roster that puts them in the national championship discussion? Yep. Georgia has a franchise quarterback in JT Daniels. And if wide receiver George Pickens (ACL) gets back on the field some time this season it could get interesting. Even if Pickens doesn’t return there is a lot of talent (Kearis Jackson) in that receivers room. Georgia’s good. But can the Bulldogs win the East and beat Alabama? We’ll learn a lot about Georgia when it opens the season against Clemson.
You know, he almost had me with the first three sentences. But he came through like the champ we all know he is in the last two.
Filed under Georgia Football, Mr. Conventional Wisdom
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