Why? The Fields situation is a symptom of the QB drama, at UGA. He left, probably because he saw that Kirby was going with Fromm in 2019, no matter what. Fields was a better judge of QB talent than his coach. Now, he is a Heisman contender, will probably be a first round pick, if not the FIRST pick. And where is Fromm? 167th pick, last year and now buried on the Buffalo Bills depth chart and at risk of being cut.
I am confident Kirby will mature as a coach as the years go by. I am confident he will learn to not go for fake punts or fake field goals when his team is in a close game. I'm optimistic he will lose his passion for going for it on 4th down within his own 45 yard line. He may not be a great judge of QB play/potential or naming a starter. If that is a challenge for him, he should maybe turn that role over to someone else. (maybe he already did?) He doesn't have a great track record. Eason was listed as the starter in 2017. When he went down in game one, it was apparent that his backup, was better qualified. After watching Eason's performance against PAC 12 teams, after he transferred, it was apparent that Fromm was the better qb, all along. In 2018, Fromm was, understandably, the starter over a greenhorn Fields. Fields left for more playing time and we can see the argument that his skills are/were better than Fromm's. Now, we are looking at a similar case, where a backup may be better than the starter. This seems to be a serious for Kirby. Why have we not even seen JT Daniel? With the way the mailman throws the ball, and he is listed as starter, is it possible that he practices better than shows in a game? ALso, he may not be a great mentor. UGA has lost many athletes transferring after junior year who probably would have really bumped their stock with another year at UGA. Why are they leaving? Hope we can get it together, put the best personnel on the field, and assure we can attract top QB talent. Go DAWGS!
Please stop talking about Fields. We didn't lose him. First off, he committed to Penn State and THEY lost him. Second, we gave him playtime as a Freshman. Quit whining about how he should've been the starter.
The Top 2 QBs of the 2020 class committed behind the Top 2 QBs/NFL draft picks. You think that they expected to start Freshman year?
2019 Top QB - Only 10 Attempts: Maybe he should've transferred since he wasn't named the starter?
I can appreciate how complex football is with huge rosters, success relying on ALL participants (a QB is nothing without a solid OL, receivers, good snapper and a good run program to keep the D off balance). It makes coaching a basketball program with a superstar something a baby could do in comparison.
Combined with a short season, it's very difficult to get enough playtime for everyone and still win games. That being said, Smart needs to realize that he'd have a lot less QB questions if he could just get lots of QBs as many throws as possible. If they overthrow and throw INTs, people stop asking about them...
Great perspective. We also aren’t Penn State or Michigan. I think most posters on DN are trolls from other fan bases and the writing here stinks. Typo “golf flub” says it all. DN is a flub!
" I really believe Newman would be here playing right now if spring practice hadn't been canceled."
There's some rank speculation with nothing to back it up. It also makes no sense. But it's interesting that folks want to cite "circumstances" to give Kirby a pass (3 OCs, no returning starter at QB, not at all uncommon by the way), while not acknowledging that Kirby is the **** head coach! These things didn't just "happen" to the clueless. They aren't tornadoes or locusts or the Invasion of the Body Snatchers. We've got no QB ready? Well, duh, is that an act of nature? Here's the skinny: The FL game produced the lowest (combined) QB rating in the history of the SEC. But nobody else even took a snap. Call Alabama. Is this a concern for them? Call Clemson. Is this a concern for them? Is this a concern for UGA? Suppose we'll see.
I think everyone needs to pump the brakes on their critisims of Kirby and get some perspective on what the program has been through this year. Under circumstances, changing OC's for the third year in 3 seasons with no returning starter at QB was going to be difficult at best. Not to mention the first full season for our O-line coach. Include the loss of 4/5ths of the offensive line from last year, the QB and the RB. I really believe Newman would be here playing right now if spring practice hadn't been canceled.
Is it any surprise that most of the preseason prognostications picked the teams that had returning starters on offense - like Bama, FL and TxAM to be the best teams in the SEC this season. Many outlets expected the Dogs to lose to AL and LF and clearly those predictions were correct. I remember BA poo-pooing articles that predicted this would be the year that the Gators would win the east. Well maybe they were right and we're too close to the program to see it.
At least we aren't TN, SC or LSU, all of whom are doing much worse under similar conditions. I think we need to cut Kirby and the coaching staff a little Covid break and back off the bashing a little. We are all on the same team here.
One of the main reasons that the program is in the state it’s in is because the press covering it has failed to do it’s job. Allowing CKS to not answer questions. Refusing to call him out for his evasiveness. Not demanding to attend practices at a Public University! Unless and until the press increases the pressure, you won’t see an increase in performance.
BA, We as Dawg fans do not like to be lectured in regard to important topics, and told to "quiet down". Realize, we lost a Future NFL starter, and potential H. Trophy candidate, playing at Ohio State currently, because he was mishandled by the program. Fromm was technically good, better than we have now, but will never be a starter in the pro's. Fields will be a NFL starter next year. J.T. has a proven track record, better than anyone we have currently, and has been playing with the scouts since cleared for play. Why? We don't know, which creates DRAMA. Who creates this drama?, the coaching staff, because they do not reveal any reason, while our current QB's rack up a 46% completion percentage and worst QB ratings in the past 15 years...That causes DRAMA... Don't ask us to stop the drama,, the coaches, and better play on the field will stop the drama.