From today’s Mandel Mailbag ($$):
Hi, Stew. Other than Alabama, Ohio State or Clemson, can you please rank the five teams most likely to win a national title in the near future? — Jungman M, Rio Medina, Texas
No. 1: Definitely Georgia. Kirby Smart is going to get one at some point, possibly as soon as this season. He’s had the overall talent for several years but has had some bad luck and bad misses at quarterback. However, I found it interesting that in Max Olson’s recent story ranking the most efficient returning QBs, none other than JT Daniels checked in at the top of the list, higher than even Sam Howell and Spencer Rattler.
If the Dawgs can make it there, they’ll make it anywhere.
Get The Picture 
Stew came around, we just had to wait long enough.
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Thanks, Stew, you just jinxed us. 😠
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“And Hoppy will never have to buy a drink in the state of Georgia for the rest of his life.”….the Montana project lives on….
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My only issue is the “bad misses at quarterback” part. Newman and who? How can you consider Fields a miss if we got him to commit in the first place. After he watched Fromm take us to the title game.
It’s a small bone to pick, but still.
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Agree. I don’t blame Smart for Newman or Fields. I blame him for being late to the “outscore ’em” party. Saban hired Freshwater after the ’13 season. Smart hired Chaney in ’16, then promoted Coley in ’19. The Chaney hire was arguably too conservative; the Coley promotion was inarguably a disaster.
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Lol, there are over 300 comments in the political arena here and this?
The misses were the OC situation and the ‘20 being what it was. Fromm + Monken would have been interesting, same with Newman. No idea why Fromm didn’t take a lap with Monken but he should have. I have no reason to frown upon the Mailman but I would bet Monken made him more effective than we will ever know.
Sure would be nice to have a Roquan type too. The D hasn’t been bad by any stretch but another game changer at LB sure wouldn’t hurt to go along with Jordan. Azeez could have been a game changer if he had some help on the back end, as it was he was dang solid though. Just like O, got to have two or more (Daniels/Pickens) to make the side of the ball dominant.
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Fromm + Monken would have been amazing and secured Fromm a mid-to-late first round draft position. All one needs to know about that is look how he performed in an Air Raid-like offense in high school where he set all kinds of records.
Jake is the perfect QB for Monken’s offense. He may not have Eason or Fields’s arm strength, but in 2017 and 2018 he was extremely accurate downfield, and no one made quick reads better.
The kid completely fucked himself by declaring early, but also, if you thought you’d be chained to Kirby’s terrible manball offense as run by James Coley, wouldn’t you want to leave, too?
Fromm leaving and ruining our 2020 season is as much Kirby’s fault as Fromm’s. If he would’ve let Fromm know after the Sugar Bowl that he was bringing in Monken, then I believe we beat Bama twice, beat Floriduh, and make the playoff. Whether we win when we get there, I don’t know. But I know we’d be in the tournament with a shot to win two games.
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“Fromm + Monken would have been amazing and secured Fromm a mid-to-late first round draft position.”
“I know we’d be in the tournament with a shot to win two games.”
I feel honored to be in the presence of such an Oracle. I must ask though, with the mental edge you clearly possess, why waste your coulda/woulda powers on us plebeians? Go forth and change the world with your advantage of definitive hindsight! Huzzah!
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This is no special power, it’s simple logic and deductive reasoning.
You too would be able to make deductions in this manner if you weren’t so consumed with wasting your brainpower on what you hilariously and wrongly believe to be clever witticisms.
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As Derek says “he’s right you know” im not a fromm fan, but he’d kill 2020 and been much better off.
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It’s hard to argue with Corch and Rigger92 on this. I’ve stated the same, just not as eloquently. Beat them taters September 4, bitch slap the gaytards and the regular season should be gravy.
Last year is gone and we ain’t getting it back. The future is making the Dawgs a regular part of the playoff conversation.
GATA
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Much love
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As Mr. Plant would exhale….”whole lotta’ love…”
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Figures that Kirby hires Monken and Fromm leaves to be Buffalo’s QQB–quarantine quarterback (https://www.espn.com/blog/buffalo-bills/post/_/id/35324/keeping-jake-fromm-isolated-as-emergency-qb-hasnt-been-easy-for-bills). Add another few what-ifs to the pile.
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I agree with you that Fromm would have thrived as our 2020 quarterback. If Stetson Bennett could get us to a halftime lead at Alabama then Fromm in Monken’s scheme could have outscored them in the second half, too.
I disagree that Fromm ‘s 2020 UGA results would propell him to the first round. His arm strength and athleticism would not have improved.
Too bad for us he wasn’t our QB in 2020. If he would be a 5th round pick either way Fromm was able to get an extra year of NFL money. which is good for him.
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I’ve anecdotally heard that things weren’t great btw Kirby and Fromm’s family towards the end, but who knows.
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Well thats shit. Ran off Eason and Fields, bunk
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Just what I’ve heard. Mom and Dad weren’t happy about recruiting Fields in the first place and were furious when Fields got reps in 2018. Decision to leave after 2019 was made in 2018.
Dunno if it’s true. Just heard it is all.
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Well it worked out really well then
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Yeah. But it also didn’t seem like too many people in the building hated to see him leave either.
Sometimes things just run their course.
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You’ll likely burn in hell for that comment on Georgia blogs, but i get it.
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If that is the case about his parents then shame on them.
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Seems I remember Fields’ parents being the problem.
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What elite school would not allow backup QBs to get reps? Had Fromm stuck with Bama he would have been in the same situation with Tua.
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Hope it’s not…that’s the type of info that would have been really useful to share with say Justin Fields before he decided to transfer
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Pretty soon Montana won’t know what The Athletic is, no one will, so this is all but a fart in the wind. The Dawgs will endure, though.
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Maybe, maybe not or Fromm + Monken. Monken is clearly a better OC than Coley, but 2019 had more issues than just that. Fromm’s footwork and fundamentals went to absolute shit that year. His timing was off, etc.
Maybe Monken fixes that, or maybe Fromm just got the yips and never gets over them.
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Fromm was in the “trying to hard” category and really needed a grown ass man like monken. This is a good take
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I can see that. Not sure if it’s what it was.
He looked like a guy whose OL, RB, and WR weren’t as good as they were in the 2 years prior. There was nowhere to hide. He frankly looked exposed.
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Bobos best years were with Gurley. Fromms best year was with the greatest running back duo in football history.
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I can’t remember if it was Tony or Will, but one of the WSLS guys said it best: his first 2 years, that flipping the ball thing looked cocky and surefire, that last season it looked scared and indecisive.
I think there was more at play than Coley being crap, which he unquestionably was.
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I was certain he would fumble, it never happened, but thats a middle school trick that became a habit.
And, I actually compared the flip to his “trigger” like golf. But its a bad move at high level.
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It drove me insane that they never coached that out of him. Insane.
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I think it was tried by Chaney. And it turned into, can’t help it. Based on old memories
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Because you extrapolate his likely 2020 production based on his production in a similar offense in high school.
Monken’s offense and all Air Raid derivatives like Lincoln Riley’s offense, as well as the Air Raid itself, may be a spread offense, but unlike the zone read or the Briles offense, it still demands a QB handle all or most of the pre-snap responsibilities, and unlike the zone read or the Briles offense, there are no dummy routes to clear the middle of the field to create QB run lanes, meaning the QB must make all their reads quickly.
Fromm would’ve done well in this offense, and I can say that with a reasonable amount of certainty.
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Monken isn’t air raid but you’re killing it. Miss you hommie
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I didn’t say he was. His offense is an Air Raid offshoot that uses many of the same concepts, but like Lincoln Riley’s offshoot, runs far more than the pure Air Raid. There’s only two true Air Raid offenses being run in major CFB right now, but there are many offshoots. Monken’s is one.
It’s like how how Air Coryell birthed the Bill Walsh West Coast Offense which then birthed the Sam Wyche offense and the Mike / Kyle Shanahan Offense and the Mike Holmrgen Offense and the Andy Reid Offense.
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Bill Walsh learned offensive football from Pail Brown.
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Paul! Dammit…
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While much of the original West Coast Offense spreads the defense horizontally, almost all its vertical concepts come from Coryell’s offense.
The WCO is an offense with more than one father.
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You said “birthed.” Not accurate.
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Just trying to get on the same page with you here
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Air Coryell offense traces back to UGA Hall of Fame Coach Wally Butts’s innovative for its time passing schemes.
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Now that is something I didn’t know. Very cool!
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Mandel changed the words, “calls by officials” to “misses with QBs”.
If even half-assed fairly called, Dawgs have that natty.
(no, I won’t let it go)
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We landed on the MOON!!!
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