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Kirby Smart makes QB declaration on SEC Network, helps Stetson Bennett polish fundamentals
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Kirby Smart makes QB declaration on SEC Network, helps Stetson Bennett polish fundamentals
Georgia football coach Kirby Smart said Stetson Bennett made great progress during the bye week, polishing fundamental skills leading up to Kentucky
Comments
Well, that is one less thing I have to do over the next few weekends, why waste time with a team going nowhere.
Kirby is now channeling Richt. I hope his failure to take action doesn't leave us in 15 years of purgatory, again.
Kirby has all the indications of becoming another underachiever.
Yes, of course he is. The ideal player for coaches: someone who works his butt off and gives it everything he's got.
And so, our season has reached the limit just like Bennett has. We'll beat Kentucky and we should beat Florida and we'll make it to the SEC championship game... but then prepare for a bowl game. JT will be gone this season with probably no more than a dozen pass attempts in cleanup and good luck trying to get any serious QB transfers again.
I mean, could you at least give JT a chance? At least Mathis was given a half.
I dunno. I love Smart and really haven't questioned too many of his big decisions, but the fact that no QB other than Bennett has made a SINGLE THROW in a game starting the 2nd half of the FIRST GAME does not sit well with me.
Newman left because he figured this out and JT will be shopping himself the moment he can. The question will be whether Beck holds on for another year or goes and whether Vandagriff continues to stay committed.
I'm not trying to be negative here, but honestly if I were a big time QB recruit, I don't think I could stay committed to a program that isn't going to give me a real chance to go out there. Eason was given a chance and so his transfer made sense (and he wasn't selected in the draft much higher than Fromm), but Fields + Newman + Daniels makes a pretty clear indication that superstar QBs need to go elsewhere.
Oh well. Guess I can't complain about a likely Top 10 finish, but we are just so, so close...
This post has become typical of posts on DN blogs. So, it’s better to “try Daniels”, the third string QB in the coaches eyes, and risk not winning the East? Really, who are the “idiots”?
Would Dabo and Saban bench their best chance to win for an inferior QB that increases their chance of losing? Heck no!
Yes, it is frustrating being a Dawg fan this year! It’s frustrating watching Clemson’s and OSU’s QBs hitting wide open experienced receivers against absolute jokes of defenses in the All Cupcake Conference and the Big 1! None of the Dawgs QBs have that luxury with our young receivers and SEC defenses which are usually at least average even on the lower echelon teams.
Lest we forget, Mathis is a red shirt only in terms of eligibility. He is as much a true freshman as Beck when it comes to taking live practice snaps. Neither had any practice whatsoever from April to August.
Daniels, even with a healed knee and no COVID, had already been relegated to backup at freakin’ USC...and he has been deemed the savior of the Dawg offense by the DN experts? Really, who are the idiots?
Maybe we will just pull JTD off the bench second half of SECC and beat Bammer just like Saban did to us with Tua!
If the coaching staff says Bennett is our best QB, then so be it. It does, however, speak volumes about the other 3, who all came into the program with sparkling credentials and huge fanfare.
Reality check for all of us....Kirby wants to win and will put the best team on the field each week. Kirby has chosen Stetson for our QB this year like it or not. He will be our QB unless he proves he is not. Daniels and Beck are either not as good as Stetson because of injury, lack of readiness or lack of skill. I HATE the situation we're in with QB, but this is reality for 2020. We will not be Bama, Clemson or Ohio St. this year. All we can do is trust Kirby to get us there asap. Yes I'm concerned too he will not and that will take care of itself. But this year is what it is. Let's just make the best of it. Frustrating but reality.
New flash: If Kirby had a better quarterback that guy would be the starter.
Anyone thinking the other fellows in the QB room aren't being given a chance is forgetting about football practice or never played football. In football everyone's job is on the line every game and every practice. The coaches are in love with winning and couldn't care less about who plays as long as it's the best player at that position.
Stetson Bennett is a DGD and a decent enough quarterback, but even if you disagree with that, Stetson's the best we have or he'd be sitting on the bench. Bennett is very new to the starting position, but he's an athlete, and a competitor, and a scholarship player who earned his free ride. Kirby says he is improving and growing into the position. Why would Kirby play Stetson and let a better quarterback sit on the bench? He wouldn't. The idea is crazy.
We don't have a better quarterback than Stetson.
Go, Dawgs!
I agree. It is frustrating seeing all these other teams playing their highly recruited freshman QB's. The reality is those teams aren't contenders so they can afford to play them and let them gain experience. We are going for the SECE championship and on to the SECC game and hopefully a very high bowl game of some meaning so we don't have the same luxery of "trying out" our new QB's in a game situation. Only case to see their talent this year in a live game is we are getting whipped or doing the whipping and Kirby starts putting the ohter guys in and let's them do more than just hand off the ball.
"....whether Vandagriff continues to stay committed." 2020 is a grab-bag year. 2021 is not.....so far. Vandagriff will not stay committed if UGA stays with Bennett. He has far too much talent to sit on the bench, behind a JUCO walk-on two star. Kirby is not my pick for a QB coach...he is a great defensive leader but not offensive...meaning QB. So, we likely lose another stellar committed QB because Kirby wants to settle for the SEC East....at best. Mathis will leave and so will Beck...IMO. JT, I am not sure of, as he is obviously damaged goods or he would be where Bennett is...I believe....opinion. It is Kirby's team to win or lose. Not mine. Have at it Kirby. (This is not a staff decision, it is Kirby's). KY will reveal a lot. They are wise to Bennett's deficiencies. just as Bama is. I pray I am wrong!!! I love the Dawgs. But some of these decisions are totally confusing me.
If Mathis and Beck aren't good enough to beat out Bennett, why panic over them leaving?
As for Vandagriff, keep in mind that not even Trevor Lawrence started his first few games at Clemson. If Vandagriff isn't confident enough to think he can come in and win the job, do we really want him?
I'm confident he will come to UGA and play when he earns it.
I don't think anyone is saying bench SB, but I do hear a lot of people (self included) who are saying give Beck or JT some playing time(if we can keep from having a nail biter against Kentucky) and just see how they look. Start developing another guy.
I am saying that if SB is better(more talented) than Beck and JT then something is wrong with the rating system and nothing should be trusted (or CKS is simply going with old reliable in his mind). I believe he did the same thing when he stuck with Fromm over Fields.
I am one who has watched tape of JT at USC and came away impressed with his poise and ability to find the open receiver(something SB didn't do against BAMA) go back and watch the tape and freeze the moment SB gets set to throw. See who is uncovered and who he ends up throwing to. It's an eye opener.
I've gone on record saying the same thing that Hunter Mason said(before he said it), that we should win out the East with Bennet. We just won't beat BAMA with him.
If that's the case then we just as well start giving the most talented guy(s) some meaningful playing and see how they respond or we just kick the can down the road til next season and start afresh with a QB with ZERO experience.(unless you're ready to roll with SB again)
Would Saban do that? No never... he certainly didn't put in a Freshman backup QB in the 2nd half of the National Championship game to beat us. Nope, never done that before.
A very talented freshman quarterback that had the benefit of enrolling early, going through spring drills and practices, summer workouts, fall practices, and an entire college football season. A very talented freshman QB, by the way, that about the only thing he did right in the NC game was hit a wide open receiver that was running free due to a busted coverage. Lord, how people have short memories when they are bent on making a point that is apples to oranges!
If Bennett is the guy, so be it but again, you have to play to his strengths. I get that he is smart and prior to the alabama game did his check downs but he does NOT have the long ball in him. You can win every game with 5 - 15 yard passes that go for completions. I like high percentage better than a heave and a prayer.
I would, however, point out that at the beginning of the year Kirby said he would have packages for D'Wan (or whomever was next) but we have yet to see those. Every other team does them and it breaks things up. If we have talent, they don't have to start but do something, ANYTHING, to mix it up. Especially when it is going bad.
I'm not so sure it's time to panic about losing any current or future roster members. With Vanadgriff slated to come on board, then with Mathis, Daniels, Beck and yes even Bennett, there will indeed be some crowding that will more than likely lead to one or more of these guys leaving. But we still don't have a clear sense of where each individual player is at with respect to injury recovery, development, contentment to stay and grow in the program, how the 2021 competition will shake out and what specifically it would take for each to decide the transfer portal is his best option. Even with departures, we may still see an overall improvement in the quarterback situation a year from now.
I keep going back and forth on how concerned to be about all of this with respect to the decision-making element. I can accept that Daniels and Mathis simply need more time, considering the severity of their injuries. The thing that gets me, though, is why not try Beck in that case? I get that he might not be showing an ideal readiness as a true freshman, but he probably never will until he starts getting significant first-team reps and/or real game action. Yeah, as a fan I'm kinda observing by candlelight here. But it seems like it will always be hard to say with any certainty that Beck isn't a better option until a side-by-side comparison can be made. I do believe there are games left on the schedule that can still be won while making such an assessment, at least for stretches here and there, and despite taking some of those first-team practice reps away from Bennett.
I hear what people are saying about trusting the coaching on this. And I do want to. I might feel better about it all if we were getting complete explanations, but I understand that will always be a long shot. Might as well sit back and hope for the best. After all, what else can we do?