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Even with JT Daniels entrenched, quarterback position still has plenty of spring intrigue
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Even with JT Daniels entrenched, quarterback position still has plenty of spring intrigue
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The QB depth chart will be interesting to watch. Can Bennett improve enough to be more effective against the best teams, if he's needed.
How quickly can Vandagriff learn the offense? Will
Beck or another player surpass Bennett and become QB2?
Will Beck transfer?
My magic 8 Ball says that Beck will transfer to South Carolina, Brock starts two years, then Gunner takes the next three.
I like the Little Train that Could story in SB, it reminds me of me in my former life to a smaller extent, he's got as much guts and determination as anyone, but if Vandergriff or Beck can't overtake him by fall then something is wrong with them(they aren't who we thought they were).
I believe SB could go to a DIv 2 school and lead them to a championship if he had a good surrounding cast, but for me I'm tired of seeing 5,6,7 passes batted down at the line of scrimmage.
We gave Bennett a lot of grief, but the reality is that he is truly maxxes out his physical talent and fights really hard for the spot. If a 5 star did as much as he did, they'd an NFL superstar for years. The problem is that ceiling is the difference between wins and losses in big games. I wish other schools would see that and give him a shot - in the right program and a lower division he could do some impressive numbers. He's just not NFL-caliber. He's an excellent college QB.
Beck deserves some playing time and he really deserved some last year. What bothers me is that Mathis was determined to be the best of all to start last season and then played poorly in games. JT didn't get a shot till Bennett was injured. It's like the whole Eason/Fromm thing. Fromm was clearly the better QB at g-Day time, but it took an injury for him to be put in. Would he still had been the starter if he hadn't been injured? It shouldn't work that way.
I understand that these are kids and Smart is a human being. He's not a monster like Saban LOL. But, I gotta ask - was Mathis selected as the starter because of his brain injury? Was he chosen because of his time with the program? Was Bennett chosen next because of how he's a pretty DGD? Was the decision made at Game #1 and not re-evaluated once JT was healthy?
I get that you journalists don't want to be an a-hole when asking questions, but could you not have asked "What does JT need to do to start?" I never heard a clear answer to that and I believe that there wasn't one given how he played once he finally was given the chance.
The same needs to be done in relation to JT. I love him; he's the most exciting QB we've had even compared to Stafford (#1 pick), but you have to give the others a shot even if you know they'll fail... in fact, having them fail is probably the best thing you can do for them. If they get picked off a couple of times, they get a shot of reality of what it's like in the SEC and it'll give them a reason to push themselves harder. If Beck transfers without a single play in a game, I'm going to be so mad...
Maybe so. So I guess that'd be:
2021: Daniels starter, Vandergriff backup (Freshman)
2022: Vandergriff start (Sophomore), Gunner backup (Redshirt Freshman)
2023: Vandergriff start (Junior), Gunner backup (Freshman)
2024: Gunner start (Sophomore)
2025: Gunner start (Junior)
The ONLY way that'd happen is if Gunner is red-shirted. Definitely a possibility with the 4 game rule, but I'm not sure he would stay that long.
I agree with the post below and I said as much last season and the years before with Fields. Let these guys come in, in blow out games and let these kids have some fun throwing it around and let them at least try to score. Don't just bring them in to hand off and not try to score. If that's the case, leave your starter in. Don't pee down my back and tell me it's raining. A QB can feel good if he gets in and leads his team to a score and perhaps goes 2-4 throwing on the drive or tosses a TD.
I don't like running the score up against a team you have down with your starters. However, if you have your 2nd stringers in or your back up QB, then it's the other teams responsibility to stop them. You darn sure wouldn't put your 2nd string LB's in and tell them not to tackle.
I would rather see a clueless freshman take snaps before Bennett. If Daniels gets hurt and Bennett is our second, the season is over. Just look at Bennett's stats. and game film last year!
You seem to be making a big assumption that I'm not sure is founded - that Daniels was completely ready for a while and Smart just didn't want to play him. I have to admit, in the heat of frustration around the middle of the season, I wondered aloud if that might be the case. But now that things have settled, it's worth remembering that being medically cleared and being ready to go at full pace aren't necessarily synonymous. Even after he did start playing, there was the occasional limp. And there was the comment from his dad at one point late in the season about how glad the whole family was the JT wasn't rushed into the job before his knee was ready. And it's not like Bennett got injured and Smart said, oh well I guess my hands are tied now, and at long last sent Daniels out there. The Florida game played out, in all its horrible splendor, with Mathis and Bennet; that indicates to me that Smart really did want to take his time and make sure putting Daniels on the field was really the best thing for everyone. I just don't know about this insinuation that Smart, who had to know what he had in Daniels, saw the results against Bama, Kentucky and Florida and still thought it was simply more important that the plucky underdogs stay atop the depth chart than that the guy who probably gives the team the best chance at the success they'd all been working for be given a shot.
I think people forget that Bennett helped stake UGA to a 14 point lead early over Florida. It was the defense that didn't do it's job. On the second touchdown was when Bennett hurt his shoulder (and the gruesome injury to Marcus Rosemy. ) He wasn't the same after that. One can only wonder "what if" from that point on. What if Bennett hadn't gotten hurt. What if Kirby had put in JT over Mathis. Irregardless because of the D, it turned into a track meet that UGA couldn't match on offense. But Bennett is a baller and DGD for sure. Can't fault him.
I don't think JT coming off knee surgery would be so **** as to inject himself into playing and put himself at risk if he knew in his heart he wasn't quite ready but only near ready. In other words he's a bright fellow and he knows what's on the line for him with his body and his being selected in the draft.
It seems to me and I could be wrong, but JT could of come out and said I wasn't ready to go in the Florida game. I wasn't quite their. But he didn't . If he wasn't, he sure could have saved his coach a lot of 2nd guesses from reporters, journalist and us fans. But he didn't. That speaks volumes.
Now from Kirby's perspective he could have just been overly cautious in putting him in, who knows his reasoning, but my hunch is JT could have played.
The first play of the game was a 75 yard touchdown run from White, can't really give Bennett credit for that. Before being injured, Bennett was 5 for 16 for a touchdown and an interception. Obviously, the defense had its issues that day. But I don't think Bennett's performance left much to wonder about. That's not meant to throw dirt in him or whatever. Overall, he played as well for Georgia as anyone could have asked him to. But that post makes it sound like he had the team humming along to a win before he got injured, which I think is quite a stretch.
Bennet played credibly until he hurt his shoulder in the Florida game, but Beck and Vandegriff are better raw talents. I can't wait for April.
Smart and Monken are the coaches that will decide who the Number One QB will be this fall, also who the Number Two QB will be. Some of this will also be decided during the Spring G-Day game.
I think Bennett is a DGD. I also think the writers at DawgNation (and perhaps Dawg fans) give him way too much credit. He came in and completed a pass when Daniels came to the sidelines. Mathis led a touchdown drive against Florida. Both of them had a great highlight, but neither is the next Tom Brady. Or even Jake Fromm. Bennett is OK, but as a previous poster said, if we have to rely on him, our season is doomed.