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Georgia football enters ‘get stronger, get bigger phase’ as transfer portal options dwindle
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Posts: 10,410 admin
Georgia football enters ‘get stronger, get bigger phase’ as transfer portal options dwindle
Kirby Smart is focused more on the players on the team then the ones in the portal.
Comments
I can’t think of one player who enhanced his draft status by leaving the program. Just as with Brenton Cox and other blue chip recruits, they may get on the field sooner by leaving the program, but when it comes to money in the bank at the next level, their transfers cost them millions.
Jermaine Johnson may have improved his draft status. Of course, we'll never know. After all, three of his former Georgia defense teammates were drafted ahead of him.
Justin Fields also may have improved his draft status. Ryan Day ain't exactly a slouch at developing QBs, although three did end up getting drafted ahead of Fields last year.
Both those guys would have their physical attributes no matter what, but they got to start immediately at Florida State and Ohio State respectively which gave them more impressive performance metrics.
Maybe, but, Fields is flopping in the NFL, big-time, and unless he improves dramatically over the next couple of years, he won't be a starter very long. And, he certainly won't rate a middle to upper tier second contract. In fact, he looks fragile on the field and gets rattled easy, which tells me, he's not putting in the work to develop physically or mentally.
Ryan Day is all about Ryan Day. He didn't develop Fields at all. Fields was given multiple weapons and told to make a play where there was none. Undisciplined. Admirably, he did just that. He used his natural talent to make a play from time-to-time.
His ad lib skills were good at UGA as well. Only, that's not what Smart wanted out of him. Smart wanted him to know how to read defenses and make good decisions. Not, give up on the play and take off when he didn't know where to go with the ball.
By leaving UGA, to go to OSU, he failed himself. He would have been "developed" into a pro-style QB @UGA or one of the other top tier SEC Universities. Don't bother mentioning the 2020 season, where OSU only competed in 5 regular season games and was gifted a playoff spot. I throw 2020 out, when evaluating teams and individuals.
One play that stands out in my memory, as being indicative of where Fields was in his development at UGA, is the "fake punt". He looked like a deer in the headlights and was indecisive with the ball. Yep...it was toward the end of his Freshman year, but he wasn't remotely ready.
Either he didn't apply himself and relied completely on his natural ability or he wasn't capable of retaining the information required to operate a pro-style offense. I'm beginning to lean toward the latter. As the HS coach for Mill Creek says, he was "lidded out".
We've seen the best Fields has to offer and it's not bad...but, it will never be Great!
Oh yeah, and Jermaine Johnson's Dad probably understands now, why "Coach Smart rotates LBs and DLs for no apparent reason". It's because his Son was playing on one of the most iconic defenses ever to take a College field. It probably did cost Jermaine in the draft...it definitely cost him a Championship Ring and being part of something bigger than any one player. In 20 years, nobody's gonna come calling, wanting an interview him, regarding the "great 2021 UGA defense". They may ask him why he left. LOL
Would Jermaine have gotten as much time as 2021 as Travon? Maybe. He did get into the program earlier so he'd have an advantage of more reps. In that case would Travon be coming back for 2022?!? At the same time, Johnson's not as fast, he's not as strong, and he's not as long so Travon might have edged him out.
At any rate, I'm glad Travon was our end because he was absolutely incredible.
Don't get me wrong: I don't doubt at all that ANY college player would benefit from UGA in terms of player development. I'm just saying that -- despite the emphasis nowadays on physical metrics -- the stats that come from starting at a major program are (all other things being equal) going to have some influence on draft position.
Interesting take. For the most part, I agree. But, I think there's a disconnect between the way media evaluates a player, vice, the way NFL team scouts are currently evaluating players.
With the media, they are stuck on rating a player based on on-field statistics. Those don't always project an accurate picture of how a particular players talents will translate to the NFL game. Example: Manti Teo...2012 Heisman runner-up, did nothing against BAMA in the NCG. And, hasn't done much professionally, either.
They watch how players perform against other NFL talent. For instance, UGA vs BAMA or UGA vs MICH or BAMA vs CINCY, etc.. Those games pit projected NFL talent against projected NFL talent. Then, there's the one-on-one battles; Salyer/Jones/McClendon vs Anderson/Ojabo/Hutchinson...for example.
That gives them a much clearer picture of how a player will perform at the next level. As Packers HC/GM stated, "UGA and the SEC are close as you can get to NFL quality, without being in the NFL." (Paraphrase)
In other words, you can have 20 sacks against inferior opponents, but 4 tackles and 0 sacks against an SEC opponent and you're exposed...Ala Hutchinson and Ojabo
But, as you can see by some team's and experts' draft analysis, every NFL Team doesn't abide by those standards and it shows on the field, every year. LOL