Tough act to follow

Whew!  Talk about your deep dives, indeed.  Here’s over an hour digging into what Todd Monken pulled off last season.

tl;dl version?  He done good.  But, trust me, you should listen to the whole thing.

Too soon to be talking about QBR?

Okay, I’m being a bit facetious, but Monken’s departure has made me wonder how much of an effect it will have on the upcoming battle to be Georgia’s next starting quarterback.  As background, let’s remember that’s a question that’s been as up in the air during Smart’s time as it hasn’t, so it’s not exactly uncharted territory.  Let’s also remember that Stetson Bennett’s attributes have adjusted Kirby Smart’s thinking as to what he seeks in his starting quarterback.

“I definitely put a heavier weight on mobility because of Stetson,” he said. “I mean, it changed for me as he had success. Last year his mobility was the difference in a lot of games. Having been a defensive coordinator in this league, when you can’t account for the extra element, the 11th guy in the run game … people pass rush so well now that he’s going to have to make a play with his feet. Great example last night: We go empty (backfield), they max blitz us, they bring six on five, and you can’t block one. It reminded me of the Auburn play when Stetson had just taken over. They had a free rusher on him, and he spins out, beats the guy. I’m, like, who is that? That’s No. 13. That’s the fast guy. That’s Dee Winters. He splatters people.

“But the athleticism, the mobility and having the mental capacity to handle the volume of offense — that’s what makes Stetson unique.”

So, greater weight on mobility plus new offensive coordinator puts things where, exactly?  Sure beats me.

A refresher on the three candidates:

• Carson Beck:  The heir apparent, the player with by far the most live game experience coming into this season.  He’s got a live arm, but is probably the least mobile of the three.
• Brock Vandagriff:  Almost no live action to speak of, his physical attributes probably come closest to matching Bennett’s, as he’s the best runner of the three.  Arm is somewhere between Bennett’s and Beck’s.  There are questions about how well he’s mastering the playbook.
• Gunner Stockton.  Well, he’s got the name to play the position.  No live experience to speak of, although (like Bennett) praise has surfaced for his work at scout team quarterback.  Running ability lies somewhere between Beck and Vandagriff; arm strength, like the other two, is better than Bennett’s.  Pretty much a blank slate, in other words.  One other factor to toss in — he first committed to Bobo at South Carolina and worked with Bobo’s dad in high school, so there is a level of familiarity there that exceeds the others’.

Again, I have no idea where this is about to go, and, for that matter, am not exactly sure how fast the coaches want to go with it, anyway, since naming a starter after spring practice is likely to drive one of the other two candidates directly into the transfer portal.

What say y’all?

Will Mike Bobo remember the tight ends?

Seth Emerson ($$) suggests his recent history points to yes.

Auburn used multiple tight end sets 42.7 percent of the time in 2021, and South Carolina used them on 31.6 percent of plays in 2020. The last offense Bobo had at Colorado State in 2019 used double tight ends only 11.8 percent of the time, but that one tight end tended to be Trey McBride, who was the team’s third-leading receiver (45 catches, 560 yards, four touchdowns). McBride was a second-round pick of the Arizona Cardinals in last year’s draft.

The production and usage totals for the past three offenses Bobo coordinated:

Well, if nothing else, I’d say Brock Bowers’ job is safe for now.

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UPDATE:

An unreal 54.5% of UGA’s snaps came from 12p this last season— the next SEC offense in line was UK at 39.2% (Bulldogs rocked the SEC’s best Success Rate, 2nd-best Yards/Play)

UGA’s usage the 3 years prior by my charting
2019: 26.6%
2020: 29.9%
2021: 39.8% https://t.co/BTT9TchHWO

— Clark Brooks (@SEC_StatCat) February 27, 2023

What’s your guess on this year’s percentage of 12 formation looks?

Musical palate cleanser, a little more edition

From a Les Paul tribute tour a little over a decade ago, here’s Jeff Beck absolutely shredding the intro to the Shangri-Las’ old hit Remember (Walking in the Sand):

Wooo!