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Comments
“It’s when you’re first year and you’re doing that it becomes a little bit more alarming,” Smart said. “Why did you go there in the first place? You never really gave it a chance to grow. I evaluate the portal based on that, not the total number.”......there are a couple of guys left that I wise would reconsider and recommit!
The TP is tailor made for the Alabama (ie CKS) model. The TP allows CKS to bring in 30 player classes PLUS transfers. W/o running kids off like Saban did for years and Dabo did this week to Jaylin Kenard. It allows CKS to take a chance on a developmental kid knowing they can be encouraged to move on if they don't develop.
The down side of the TP is sometimes you lose players you want to keep. Before you throw dirt on JDJ remember he was pre season all SEC and all American. A major force in the '22 D. A force that was lacking all year. Especially vs AL. His play dropped off due to ? Conditioning? Injury? Neither MJ Jr or AJ Harris were very impressive in their time here. MJ Jr just looked too soft for a LB. Harris did not look quick twich enough to be an elite CB. With his loss it will be interesting to see if CKS brings in an experienced CB.
I guess the answer re: JDJ may be written into the question. Sort of. You say that JDJ was a force all of 22, but then question where that force was in 23. I may be mistaking your intention, but it seems like - because of the way you bring up the AL game players who replaced him out of literal necessity over the season - you have doubts about how/why he was replaced, considering those replacements may have been long term if he hadn’t left.
Starting from the end, nobody could know whether those replacements would have been permanent, even Mr DJ, himself.
Next, it’d be hard to say he wasn’t developing, particularly if his move was to KY. He was a vocal leader, and that was his standout quality, but he was also working under some of the best coaches for his position group in our time.
Lastly, mentioning those pre-season accolades is irrelevant. If he was denied the reality of any of them, it’s not because he was set aside by our coaches, it’s because he couldn’t legitimately physically contribute.
You’re a really informed guy, so my guess is that I’ve just missed something. If not, I hope this points to some worthwhile questions in your positions.
The point I tried to make vis a vis JDJ was that most fans (especially and including UGA fans) are quick to bad mouth a player that leaves ( JDJ) and try to tell everyone how much better his back ups are. It is the Fantasy Football mindset where people think you just plug in last years stat's (or HS accolades) into next year line up. Doesn't work that way.
He was a vocal leader. Something UGA lacked in '23. Personally I called out JDJ for his sideline tirade vs Lassiter in '22 as way over the top and bad form. You notice you NEVER saw him do that again. BUT 1) he was a vocal leader on a team that lacked leaders in '23 and 2) he was a player that "popped" (no pun intended) off the screen from the moment he started playing as a freshman. More so than #33 and #5 did this year or #11 has ever done at ILB. He was a force on D in '22. He arrived w/bad intentions and brought a load with him. His play in '22 was noticed. Hence the pre season AA and all SEC picks. In a "bad" year ('23) JDJ had more TFL and sacks in 9 games than Mondon did in 13 games.
#33 and #5 have a long way to go to be the player #10 was. Why the drop off in '23? IDK. But if he gets conditioned, his head right and healthy he'll be a sunday player in '25. He is the kind of player you want at MLB. He can fill an inside gap and send the ball carrier in the other direction. Something we didn't see much this year from the UGA LB's.
CKS is concerned about leadership. UGA is a team dominated by freshman and sophomores. When you add in 28 freshman to the K/P and LS that is 1/3 of your team right there. Every year. Add in soph's, TP players and developmental players (OL) and that may be more than half the team. Many of the best UGA players bolt to the NFL after 3 years. Mature players are getting scarce. Mature leadership seems to be lacking. (speeding/racing)
Sacrificing maturity (and guys transferring) may be the price UGA pays for bringing in bigger recruiting classes.
Kirby is a master at this stuff. Not sure anyone could do it better. Instead of complaining about the way the world is he finds a way to make it work and to be as honest and forthright with his players as he can be. That is what leadership is.
Improvise, Adapt, Overcome.