A UGA fan ponders what he’d tell his own son in that situation
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Hate to bring up the obvious, Bill. We all know that Arik Gilbert, if his head is pointed in the right direction sans a 360 degree twist, offers unique capabilities. Though we will learn nothing about his decision making, one does wonder if this very unfortunate injury to our best receiver might make UGA an even more inviting site for his landing.
I've been wondering why everyone is just assuming Pickens won't be back for the 2022 season; I wasn’t aware of that ominous message he posted. I'll preface this with the standard caveat that I'm no expert, but it's kind of weird to me that it's being treated as a given that his draft stock won't be affected at all by the fact that he won't have played for over a year after coming off a season ending injury. Seems like the idea of returning for his senior year and cementing his status as a first round lock would at least be considered as a mere possibility this early on in the whole thing.
Pickens is an elite player and he will be missed. However this isn't 2019 where we had no WR's. Nor is it last year where we had WR's and didn't have a SEC caliber QB until JT was in the lineup. We will have enough firepower to get the job done. The bigger concern is the OL where we have to find the right combination of guys to give JT time to throw it to the WR's.
UGA football is going to be "investing" a lot of time ( and money ) in rehabbing Mr. Pickens, as well they should. If he were not eligible for the NFL draft after this year, I would probably expect that he would be out for the year, and then come back the following year. He would need to concentrate on rehabbing that knee while also gaining strength and conditioning for his other knee. There are few, if any, places that offer a better rehab program following ACL surgery. Unfortunately, his other knee has to be considered as slightly higher risk than someone who has not had an ACL injury. In spite of being eligible for the draft, he needs to rehab as if he is coming back to play another year. Then he needs to get the best information possible as to his projected draft status, and then weigh the risks and rewards of returning for another year. If he is able to safely return in mid-year, then he may bolster his draft status. If he cannot return this year, and decides he needs to move on to the next level, I would wish him well, and would hope he would be able to have a "cameo" appearance like LeCounte had. Sadly, I am not sure he is NFL "ready" yet, and would have benefitted from being able to play this year. Had he been able to show what most of us expected him to be this year, he certainly would have been a first rounder. I wish him well in overcoming this adversity no matter what he decides to do.
I believe Pickens has played his last down for Georgia, especially if he’s projected as a first round pick.
With Pickens gone, who will step up and get in a fist fight with th Tech guy or who is gona squirt th water bottle in th face of th Tennessee QB ?
