Hey folks - as a member of the DawgNation community, please remember to abide by simple rules of civil engagement with other members:
- Please no inappropriate usernames (remember that there may be youngsters in the room)
- Personal attacks on other community members are unacceptable, practice the good manners your mama taught you when engaging with fellow Dawg fans
- Use common sense and respect personal differences in the community: sexual and other inappropriate language or imagery, political rants and belittling the opinions of others will get your posts deleted and result in warnings and/ or banning from the forum
- 3/17/19 UPDATE -- We've updated the permissions for our "Football" and "Commit to the G" recruiting message boards. We aim to be the best free board out there and that has not changed. We do now ask that all of you good people register as a member of our forum in order to see the sugar that is falling from our skies, so to speak.
- Please no inappropriate usernames (remember that there may be youngsters in the room)
- Personal attacks on other community members are unacceptable, practice the good manners your mama taught you when engaging with fellow Dawg fans
- Use common sense and respect personal differences in the community: sexual and other inappropriate language or imagery, political rants and belittling the opinions of others will get your posts deleted and result in warnings and/ or banning from the forum
- 3/17/19 UPDATE -- We've updated the permissions for our "Football" and "Commit to the G" recruiting message boards. We aim to be the best free board out there and that has not changed. We do now ask that all of you good people register as a member of our forum in order to see the sugar that is falling from our skies, so to speak.
Greg McElroy on Georgia: ‘There are more questions on Georgia’s roster than people realize’
System
Posts: 11,081 admin
Greg McElroy on Georgia: ‘There are more questions on Georgia’s roster than people realize’
Georgia opens the 2024 season against the Clemson Tigers on Aug. 31. And even though it is the first game of the season for both sides, ESPN’s Greg McElroy sees it as the biggest non-conference game in all of college football.
Comments
Yes, plenty of questions… but I'm very optimistic, if not confident, in what will be the answers. Go Dawgs!
I rewatched the 4th quarter of the SECC game last night on SEC Network and I saw our young and very talented mIddle LB get exposed by Milroe. Twice that I know of and perhaps other times in the game as I only watched the 4th quarter CJ got caught between a rock and a hard place when Mliroe went back to pass and as soon as Milroe looked like he was about to tuck it and run CJ came charging in only to have Milroe shovel pass the ball to Bond in the area CJ vacated for a big first down and then again on the very next play or soon thereafter, CJ went charging towards Milroe leaving Bond all alone in the flat and it was an easy pass completion to the 1 yard line. Hind sight of course is 20/20 and I'm not an x's and o's kind of guy, but I hope that is fixable, either through better coaching in what to do in that situation, and experience(learning by your mistakes) and or through a better defensive scheme/plan moving forward so that it won't be a rinse and repeat when we play them this year.
I'm not so concerned about the D-line. The interior will be stronger than last year and just as deep. We lose Mykel at DE, but he's not going far and Ingram-Dawkins has been very good when healthy.
There are naturally be some questions about the secondary, especially early on. We lost mainstays to draft and their replacements don't have a lot of experience. But the best safety in the land is back, while Augero, Everette, Robinson and Bolden have sky's-the-limit upside. The question isn't whether our DBs will perform together as an elite unit; it's when.
All babble from Mc… and then CR repeats the babble
Funny, UGA's front 7 was recently picked as the best in the country by 1 media outlet, and probably by more than 1. DAWGS secondary is no question mark. It returns an All American in Starks, add in Robinson, Bolden, and other talented players already with experience, and you have the recipe for greatness. mcelroy's statement only shows has no clue about UGA football. greg mcelroy is a typical bama homer.. but according to espn he's an "expert" . That only holds true because they sign his paycheck. Espn now equals nothing more a circus show with all of their so called "experts"..
Wouldn't have Clemson's defense also made a statement that day seeing as they gave up the same amount of points as the Dawgs defense?
Mac lives on Yadda Yadda Island.
I’m not saying Mac is completely full of it, I’m sure he believes some of what he says. Really though, I think that’s of no consequence. He is doing his job. Part of his job is to work up drama for this particular game.
It seems apparent by the spread and the Noon kickoff that the powers behind ESPN don’t see it as the huge ratings grabber they envisioned. It’s likely Mac is just being a team player for his employer and doing what he is told.
Again, I’m not saying he is lying. He is just trying to improve initial ratings.
Our DL and LB unit will be the best in the land this year and that will give our DBs time to grow up. Could we lose an early game to Alabama? Of course but this team is fully loaded and we should roll through most the schedule. There is a reason we are favored on the road against 3 top 10 teams and it isn't because we are'nt fully loaded. However, this year turns out it will be fun to watch this talented team. Probably 50 of our 85 players will be in the NFL - think about that.
There are question marks on every level of the UGA D. Whether this is a championship level D will depend on how those questions are answered.
On the DL 78 and 97 have been (are only?) solid rotational pieces. Can they rise to the level of All SEC? They haven't showed that so far. 93 has been fighting stress fractures in his foot/feet the last 2 seasons. Big guys with foot failure are tough to count on. We will see. 13 is the most talented UGA DL. But due to injury (motor?) really hasn't lived up to his ranking/measurables. Maybe he does this year before he goes NFL. 44 and 52 will have to take major steps up for this DL to make significant improvement over last season. The rest are 1st of 2nd year players that haven't shown they can play at an SEC level yet.
UGA seems to like to recruit ILB's that are smaller and can run sideline to sideline. That's great. Until you meet someone else that can play bully ball and run the ball down your throat. According to PFF (?) the Alabama OL is rated #1 in the country. 33 (now #3) and 5 couldn't stand up to SEC offenses last year as freshmen. Mondon stat's for 3 seasons are not impressive considering his playing time. Hopefully 11 gets his shot playing more at ILB and is an upgrade over 2, 3 and 5. The freshmen LB's will be great on special teams. Not ready for primetime PT on D yet.
More questions at OLB. 32 is a try hard player but extremely limited in production and ability. Not enthused about moving 13 to OLB. He is UGA's best DL pass rusher. Moving him will mean that 35 (now #10) , 29 and 26 have not developed significantly enough claim the OLB position. How many game reps will 13 get at OLB? Whatever he gets will be taken from 10, 26 and 29 and slow their development. Is 13 a quick twitch athlete that can thrive at OLB? We will see.
Starks is an ALL American. The rest of the secondary are question marks. 1 and 4 should have good CFB careers eventually. How soon they start to make an impact may be what puts this D into the championship level category. 6, 8, 12 have good upside but are they ALL SEC level players? They have not been to date. 9, 14, 15 (now #7), 17, 20 , 22, 27 have not shown yet whether they can be anything more than rotational substitutes.
Lot of young guys on D that need a lot of development for this D to reach the championship level UGA fans have become accustomed to. Some will develop. Some will not and wash out/transfer.
Great analysis, Dad (as always). Good to bring things down to Earth. But I'm still more optimistic than you.
Definitely no Jordan Davis or Jalen Carter on the interior DL. But I actually did think Brinson and Stackhouse flashed some havoc toward the end of the year (particularly vs Bama). They should be stronger this year, and another year in the system should make Christen Miller and Jordan Hall into pretty stout rotation guys.
I guess we'll see about the Mykel OLB experiment. I've wondered about his speed in that position (he's fast for a DE but not for an OLB), but I'm also guessing that Smart and Schumann wouldn't be trying this out if they didn't see upside. If Ingram-Dawkins and others stay healthy, we'll have more depth at both OLB and DE than last year.
Mondon actually had 144 tackles over the last two years (1st and 2nd on the team). Not a lot of TFLs but that's not really his role. CJ Allen looked great as a freshman (quick study, too) and our major talen at ILB runs deeper than I ever recall (even if they're not that experienced).
So I see the front seven as upgraded this year, while the secondary has a lot more questions than last year. That's a flip from last year's strengths. But unlike last year's sub-Georgia-standard DL, the supposed weakness in the DB could become a strength by the end of the year because we're so rich in young talent there.
Pay no attention to Dad. This is a championship level defense. We will have the best front 7 in the country this year. We have a very talented secondary (although young). Not concerned at all.
The biggest question I have for the defense is will anyone be able to score on us? I'm predicting 12 ppg which is similar to 2022 level. Sacks should be way up and picks up. Fumble recoveries will be up (sad last year). Look for KJ and Ellis to be major contributors this year. By end of year KJ and Ellis will make our secondary the best in the country. Linebacking unit full of NFL top 3 talent. CJ will win the Butkus this year. Smael also will be a finalist. Jalon is special as well. Mykel on the edge will obliterate opponents. Think JaDaveon Clowney.