The Swiss Army knife of Georgia’s offense

I think of Arik Gilbert and I drool over the possibilities.

Where he fits: Gilbert is a mismatch wherever he plays. UGA recruited him to play wide receiver and he is listed as one on the roster. But he’s going to get some looks at tight end. JT Daniels mentioned at SEC Media Days how Gilbert is meeting with tight ends coach Todd Hartley. In fact, if Georgia doesn’t find ways to use him in tight end-type of role, it’ll be leaving some yards and points on the table. He has the ability to block linebackers and defensive ends and it virtually impossible for any box defender to hang with him in coverage. He also needs to spend plenty of time split out because he’s too big for cornerbacks and nickel defenders. He can beat them with the ball in the air or as a blocker.

2021 Impact: As long has he picks up fairly quickly on the offense, he’s going to play a ton and he’s going to catch quite a few passes. The fact of the matter is that Gilbert is likely the most talented pass catcher on Georgia’s roster. His combination of size, speed, and athleticism isn’t easy to find and he showed that he has the ability a season ago at LSU. As long as he stays healthy, focused, and engaged, the Bulldogs have a serious weapon at their disposal.

Gilbert played in an offense last season directed by an offensive coordinator who’s been replaced, directed by three different quarterbacks over the course of the season (two of whom were freshmen), only appeared in eight games and still managed eleven more catches than Georgia’s tight ends combined.  If Monken can’t deploy him as serious weapon in Georgia’s offense this season, he’s not as good an OC as I thought he was.

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Will no one think of the offensive linemen?

We presume Kirby Smart is having to deal with some negativity on the recruiting trail as it relates to the infamous pooling arrangement in HB 617, but at least he can honestly say it’s something he was saddled with by Sen. Bill “It’s not fair for just the skill players to take all the money, otherwise why is somebody going to block for you?” Cowsert.

Ohio State’s Ryan Day, on the other hand, has elected for the own goal approach.  He’s all in.

Ohio State coach Ryan Day thinks that while college football’s highest-profile players will have immense earning opportunities through name, image and likeness deals, there should be consideration to sharing money among other players.

Day, speaking Friday at Lucas Oil Stadium, was asked about Alabama coach Nick Saban’s recent comment that Crimson Tide quarterback Bryce Young could command seven figures in NIL agreements. Ohio State’s starting quarterback occupies a similar position in the sport, and the growing Columbus market provides “the perfect alignment,” Day said, for earning potential.

“Those things happen and will come naturally, but I do think we need to consider down the road, somewhere along the line, maybe it’s a year from now, figuring out how we spread some of that money out,” Day said. “Certainly the quarterback at Ohio State is going to have unbelievable opportunities, the wide receiver, the running back, there’s going to be certain positions.

“However, how do we find ways to make sure we disseminate that throughout the team? Because there’s a lot of guys out there who are also playing football, guys who are blocking for the quarterback, guys who are covering the wide receivers.”

Day thinks one approach would be for schools to create agreements with a group of local businesses that would produce a pool of revenue that could be divided among the players. The NCAA would have to allow schools to be more active in creating such deals, or in having their logos and markings used.

“Say they put $3 million into an account, and then you could work with Ohio State, and they split that money to everybody, so that the quarterback isn’t the only one,” Day said. “Now if the quarterback wants to do a deal on his own, great, but if not, it all gets spread evenly to everybody. If it’s a group deal, you can use the Ohio State logo and the trademarking. The NCAA would have to OK that because now we can’t do that. But it seems more sustainable to me.

“It seems like that would help the left tackle or the left guard get $10,000.”

Now, to be fair to Day, he’s offering this as an alternative.  If the quarterback doesn’t want to share, he doesn’t have to.  But I can’t help but wonder if that winds up being an approach that causes more dissention than it prevents.  How’s it going to go over with his linemen when the star quarterback says, “sorry, but no thanks, you’re on your own”?  And if you’re a kid who doesn’t want to be put on the spot like that in the first place, why not find a more accommodating place to play than Ohio State?

Not so fast, our SEC friends.

We’re not even out of the weekend yet, and the Aggies have already begun backtracking.

Bjork said on Saturday that A&M was aware of the potential for expansion in the conference, but that “we were all surprised about the speed and acceleration piece of this. We knew about realignment potential and the future of the Big 12 in particular and what those dynamics were.”

When asked if A&M would vote against Texas joining the conference, Bjork said they still need more information.

“We’re not to that point,” he said. “We have governance structure at our campus to work through. We don’t know what a lot of the information is at this point in time to even say one way or another.”

Uh hunh.  In other words, he wants to see the size of the new checks.

Texas A&M president M. Katherine Banks also released a statement on Saturday, saying the Aggies are committed to their membership in the SEC.

“The last few days have been challenging in many ways, and I recognize that change in college athletics often is unsettling for those who love their institutions,” said Banks, who took over as president on June 1. “Rest assured, the chancellor, our athletic director, and I, and everyone involved in this matter are focused solely on what is best for Texas A&M University. Since 2011, we have been a proud member of the best intercollegiate athletic conference in history and we look forward to continued success in our SEC partnership for many years to come.”

They may be upset, but they’re not suicidal.