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Comments
I'm going to be a little conspiracy theorist now. We all know KS and NS are real close with summer homes at Lake. Did KS know he was retiring? Which made him seek CD extra hard at the end of the SEC championship game. All the pundits had talking all week about how KS never stops recruiting. I have a deeper CT about possibly knowing he was retiring but I'll leave that one to your imagination.
Agree. And wholeheartedly at that. Our Defense is FAR from broken just because Downs didn’t come here. And I hold no malice against him. At least he didn’t commit to UGA on Monday and decommit on Tuesday !! Things like that DO irritate me. Downs never said he was coming here.
And our Secondary Unit is Very potent without him. OSU fans are saying on their board that with his signing they now have The best Defense in the country. Though they Do have a talented Defensive roster, their forgetting one little item. Coaching.
If all that talent isn’t coached up it won’t matter much when playing the top teams in CFB. I Trust Kirby and his staff to Coach Up our Own Very talented players. Our Dawgs will be fine in the Secondary. What we Could use is more Experienced and Talented Depth on our Defensive Line and OLBs. To Me that’s more a question mark than the Secondary.
Wow. Lots of bitterness over not getting some extra icing on the cake. I don't get all the "good riddance," "bad for team chemistry" "he wouldn't have played much here" etc. Yes, he would have played a lot of snaps at Georgia. No, that wouldn't make him bad for team chemistry, for all the same reasons that other portal additions don't just come in and immediately wreck the locker room. I don't know why some are acting like they wouldn't have wanted to see Malaki Starks and Caleb Downs anchoring the defense next year, or like it wouldn't have been a great thing. Downs was the top rated player in the state coming out of high school and was the first freshman in over 50 years (or something like that) to lead Alabama in tackling. It's not casting aspersions toward our current roster to acknowledge that we probably don't have a second guy like that right now. No team does, including Ohio State with Downs.
And someone below said it was "not a good look" for Georgia to try to sign him. I couldn't disagree more. There is no way that players come to a program like Georgia expecting the coaches to stop trying to bring in as much talent as they can, just because they've arrived. If Smart saw this opportunity and said "nah we're good," he wouldn't have been doing his job.* Again, don't mistake this for doubting the guys we have. Obviously they have talent and potential or they wouldn't be here, and I'm rooting for them just as much as anyone else is.
*It's not as though Smart is going about it willy nilly. Under the first article about Downs' decision, someone questioned Robinson's recruiting ability because we didn't sign any of Bama's other DBs in the portal (except Pope). It's very likely that Georgia/Smart simply didn't feel the need to go after all those guys. But for a proven talent/producer like Downs, it would be hard to justify not at least trying.
Immaturity? Or maturity? The kid is already acting like an NFL player like his brother. This was a business decision. Handed a bigger check. Handed a starting position. Handed a leadership position. At UGA there are leaders being cultivated (player leadership council/board). Leadership has to be earned. At OSU it will all be handed to him.
When I see a case like this I am reminded of Trevor Lawrence. Lawrence is known only to the most ardent CFB and NFL fans in his "home" state. He is nobody in GA. It would be hard to find a person in their home state of GA that doesn't know who HWalker or SBIV is.
Everything about this addition seemed upsetting to the UGA culture. It is a loss but not that significant. If UGA had a spot (1/85) for Downs then there is probably spot for an elite DT or 4th QB (Sayin?). Sayin is CB'd(?) to OSU. Not sure I understand why Sayin would go to OSU when OSU already has a 5* QB (Air Noland) in the '24 class.
From the pressure cooker of playing defense in the SEC to the defense optional B1G. Not really that surprised! Ohio State’s big goal now is beating Michigan while Georgia’s is to beat everyone!
We move on and continue our journey without him. That's what happens next.
Go Dawgs!
After the year he just had, I see no reason to think he couldn't have legitimately earned the role on the field at Georgia that he's being "handed" at Ohio State. And given 7 or 8 months to acclimate, same goes for a leadership position.
As for Sayin, one could also say, why would he come to Georgia behind Stockton and Puglisi?
Supposedly the Washington Commanders and Falcons are talking to CKS. Offering crazy numbers like 20-25 million for bait. DOn't shoot the messenger.
He was a lock to start on any team in the nation
Coaching ( Kirby Smart & staff) trumps One very talented player. It’d been nice to have gotten him. But no malice from me that he’s gone to OSU. He never said he was coming to UGA, best of my knowledge he never even said he was considering UGA.
We’re not gonna get every single great player coming down the pike, Especially with NIL being factored in. It is what it is. What we DO have is Allot of great players that can be coached up. My advice would be to place our faith in the coaching at UGA.
We have THE number one recruiting class pretty much unanimous through the majority of recruiting agencies. Plus Kirby has done well tapping into the TP, and keep in mind he’s not done. The UGA Dawgs will not have a losing season for Not signing Caleb Downs.
Heck OSU wouldn’t have him right now if Saban hadn’t retired !! It’s Not a loss, a loss is when you lose something you Had, Dawgs never had the guy in the first place. So he chose OSU, I don’t think Kirby needs to concede our 2024 schedule because of that !! 😀
Like I said several times we Might already have a Caleb Downs type player, even two or three. How ?? Because he showed his stuff as a Freshman. We’ve got highly talented guys that have Not Yet had the opportunity TO show their stuff !! We might very well have some very pleasant surprises of our own !!
Right now it’s unknown. What we Do know is Kirby and staff are Very adept at developing talent. OSU fans were talking about how Easy their first seven games are. And how that bodes well for them to win a Natty. Not necessarily.
We as Dawgs fans have seen that sometimes an easy schedule can actually Hurt you rather than help. And for the individual player having things “Easy” doesn’t prepare you for the NFL. It’s Downs and his family decision to live with. But it’s possible he might end up wishing he Had came to UGA for his NFL future. Be a Dawg become a Pro !!
Two opportunities and no cigar. The boy just doesn't like UGA. It's his loss, not the Dawgs. I do not wish him good luck in his new venture because he will be helping one of the enemies just like he did at Ala.
I think the simplest answer to the headline is that the Dawgs just keep on Dawggin. He was great for Alabama, sure. He’ll make a pointless splash at OSU (from a team perspective). Won’t affect us one iota.
There is no doubt he could've and probably would've "earned" starter, leader etc etc. But the key word is earn. At UGA players need to earn it (playing time, leadership) every day/every practice/every practice rep. That is a grind for a player of Downs' caliber that wants to play, get his money and move on to the NFL ASAP. In your words, "given 7 or 8 months to acclimate", that's a day in day out grind for 7 or 8 months. Pro's look out for #1. It is a business. Downs is already there.
When you are that talented it is easy to lead on the field. Your talent pops off the film. But it takes a lot of effort to be a leader off the field. Jalen Carter was a big time leader on the field but rarely brought up as a leader off it by CKS. It is just easier to make your bread and live the good life.
Justin Fields could've earned starter and leader at UGA his second year. He was NOT ready to be a starter in his 1st year. Fromm's experience made him the better and safer player to play. CKS likes safe play at QB. His talent would've pushed Fromm aside in Fields' 2nd year. Fromm's QBR declined 30 pts in his 3rd/last year at UGA. Fromm didn't play that well. Fields would've supplanted him. Fields QBR was 40 pts higher than Fromm's in '19. But Fields wanted the guarantee of being the starter so he left for OSU.
Downs is a made man. He would've been asked to do more at UGA than he will be at OSU.
Sayin will have less and lower rated competition to beat out at UGA than at OSU. Sayin has 2 more years of eligibility than Stockton. There is no 5* (Raiola or Noland) in the '24 class to compete with. Sayin was the #1 rated QB in the '24 class. He was also named MVP at the Elite 11 QB competition. Both Raiola and Puglisi competed at Elite 11 and were outplayed by MVP Sayin. He has generally been rated as the better prospect, coming out of HS, than any QB on the UGA roster. I don't think anyone could say Sayin is behind Puglisi. As for Stockton, Sayin has more eligibility and can replace him when he moves on if he cannot beat him out in 2 years.
Based on Downs decision, what impact does the have on UGA?? From my understanding, Georgia was a third option for Caleb Downs. Why is that? What answers are there to explain why one of the best potential safety’s chose OSU over his previous coach at a school that would complement his style of play??
seriously I need to know how UGA didn’t land this kid and what affect does that have on UGA recruiting moving forward. I just see it as a big loss and would like an explanation or even a theory.