My second biggest takeaway from yesterday

By halftime, we’d seen all four of Georgia’s scholarship quarterbacks play.  My first thought as the players walked off the field was what a difference half a year makes.  Consider where the Dawgs were when 2020 kicked off:  Newman gone, Daniels recovering from injury, Mathis melting down in the opener and Bennett all that stood between complete disaster and a functional season.

Fast forward to the spring of 2021 and what do we have now?  An entrenched number one in JT Daniels, who’s got the confidence of his coaches and teammates and is clearly growing into his role there.  An experienced backup in Stetson Bennett who may not be able to carry a team through a season, but is more than capable of stepping in on a spot basis when called upon and holding things together.

And the future is there, too.  Beck has a live arm and looks to be emerging as a quarterback who is learning Monken’s offense.  Vandagriff’s talented and his athleticism is off the charts.  What he’s going to look like in a year’s time after learning the offense will be fun to see.  The great thing is that neither of these two will, barring a complete disaster, be forced into early learning mode on the job.  That’s one helluva luxury.

And there’s another five-star in Stockton who will be joining the group in 2022!

I honestly cannot remember another G-Day this century where the position was both this deep and this organized.  The turnaround that Smart has engineered with the most important group in the program — let’s face it, that’s the way the game is structured these days — is truly remarkable.