Ok so now that we are less than a month away from fall practice starting, a friend asked me to give my thoughts about which of our new arrivals will make big impacts this season. So, first of all I will list the players I fully expect will redshirt-of course just my opinion but I feel pretty secure in most of these.
Devin Bowman
Chris Sanders
Nathan Theus
Xzavier Ward
Hunter Long
Justin Scott-Wesley OR Sanford Seay, possibly both although these guys could stick on special teams
Zach DeBell
Sterling Bailey
Quintavious Harrow-he could play special teams but will stick him here
Christian LeMay-I believe the coaches would really prefer to have two years between he and Murray. Only a Murray injury pulls the shirt off LeMay.
Now let's move to guys I THINK will play but probably will not be impact players.
David Andrews-I feel like we need to go ahead and play this kid, even if Burnette shifts to center after this year, we need more depth at center.
Watts Dantzler-we have a lack of depth at OT and from what I have heard, this kid reported to school in very good shape. He already had the ideal size for a tackle at 6'7" and 315lbs. I think he is more ready to play than DeBell thus he is listed here.
Jay Rome-kid will play more than likely just because of his upside, I would love to see him redshirt personally. Simply put, just too much depth ahead of him for him to make a huge impact at his position.
Chris Conley-because he was around in spring, I think he gets a shot at playing some, over the two kids above that I have redshirting.
Corey Moore-I do see him playing and think he will be very good but he has a lot of talent ahead of him so I can't see him making a giant impact this season-could be wrong with this one because this kid is going to be good.
Damian Swann-again, he has some really good talent ahead of him and I just don't see him making a huge impact. I think he can be a solid backup this year and have a legit shot to start as a soph.
The trio of LB's, Amarlo Herrera, Ramik Wilson, Kent Turene-I think it is possible one or maybe two of these three redshirt actually but I can't begin to predict which one that might be nor can I honestly see one of these guys being a major impact-we have in my opinion a solid group of LB's already on the roster. But one or two of these guys can certainly provide quality depth/backups for the starters.
Five to watch, possible high impact players-
Isaiah Crowell-he plays a position of need first of all. You might say, not really because we have 3 guys, 2 of which have extensive playing time, ahead of him right now. But, none of the 3 players we have beside IC are home run threats. I personally hope and believe Caleb King will have a BIG senior year. I think everything is in place for this to happen. This is his 5th year in the program, in case you have missed this, he avergages 5 yards a carry for his career. Has he been all that we expected coming out of high school-uh NO, but has he been a pretty solid SEC back, YES. Not to mention he knows the offense better than any back we have, he can catch the ball out of the backfield and he can pick up the blitz, Caleb is our best back by far right now. That being said, Crowell comes in with the hype and also flat out, the kid can play. I fully expect him to be King's backup this year, I have said before I DO NOT like Carlton Thomas as an every down back-I think he can be useful as a kick returner and situational back. Ken Malcome, he looked strong to me in G-day but has had some injuries here and there. I expect that he will be #3 on the depth chart and could also get some significant snaps this season but Crowell will be given a shot to make a big impact no doubt.
Ray Drew-while we have a lot of quality players and depth at LB, I think this kid is a beast and I believe he will eventually push Cornelius Washington for PT at OLB. He could also benefit should Jarvis Jones get suspended for a game or two due to the Columbus situation. Less face it, right now on the depth chart at Drew's position, Reuben Faloughi and Chase Vasser. I am not saying either of those guys are bad players, far from it but there is no doubt Drew is in my opinion much better.
John Jenkins-until we all witnessed the outstanding play of Kwame Geathers in G-day, this guy was a lock to start at NG and I think was the biggest need in our recruiting efforts. Now with Geathers in MUCH better shape and looking like he is ready to be a real star, Jenkins comes in still to me the odds on favorite to start but maybe not-worst case, provide us with a great luxury at a position that is TOUGH to play. From all accounts, Jenkins is tearing up the weight room, the guy is hungry to play and ready to play being a JUCO guy-a rising junior. I think when all is said and done, this kid could end up being the one that has the greatest impact on the 2011 season. Let's be honest, DeAnglo Tyson did his best at the nose last year but it was not his position. The kid just did what the coaches asked of him to try to help the team out. If we would have had Jeff Owens, Atkins, or Weston last year, I doubt we would have suffered the damage done to our interior via the run game. Now that Tyson has moved back out to his position, he will no doubt be a great player and Jenkins/Geathers in the middle SHOULD really allow our DE's and LB's to make a lot of plays.
Nick Marshall-this kid makes the list of impact players because of his all around ability. I fully expect he will earn time over Swann as a reserve DB and because he is a former QB in HS, and a VERY good one at at that, I think the coaches are already picturing him working some behind center in the "wild dog" formation, I think him working that position is better than Branden Smith because while Smith is faster than Marshall (probably not much though), Marshall can throw the football. I have watched him enough to know this, he was recruited by a lot of schools as a QB.
Malcolm Mitchell-I have been saying for a while now that a big worry for me is who will step up oppositve TKing at WR. I still hold out hope that Marlon Brown will live up to his hype this year, I also hope that Wooten and Troupe can play a role, as well as Michael Bennett. But to me, Mitchell appears to be the standout WR that can make a big impact immediately. I think Conley will get a chance as well but I don't see him as being a kid that will really be a game changer his first year, Mitchell can be that guy with speed and athletic ability. I think the fact that this kid was a star CB and WR, the coaches IMMEDIATELY said he would play WR speaks volumes-I think the coaches realize the type impact he can have opposite King who likely draws most of the attention early in the season along with Orson Charles at TE of course.
So, there you have it, I believe 5 newcomers have a shot to make a HUGE impact. I believe it is possible 4 of the 5 could actually start at some point during the season-I don't think Marshall will get that nod but all others I could see starting a game this season. Those that read this, feel free to add your thoughts via a comment. I think one thing is for sure, our coaches are on the hot seat this year, and they also are only a few years removed from the Moreno decision. We only got two years from a kid that was simply an outstanding football player. Those two factors together mean that our coaches are going to give ALL our young guys a fair shot and WILL play those that can help us win now, rather than playing the conservative game with them. Jim Donnan has said before, he regrets that he didn't play David Greene during his last year in Athens-yeah, remember that Quincy Carter 5 INT game that year in Columbia coach!! We will all find out pretty soon as I expect after a week or two of practice, the coaches will start making decisions on who they plan to play and who will head for a redshirt-even if they don't make it public until a week or 10 days before the season, I suspect they will begin to make those calls pretty early in the practice schedule.
A few more tidbits before I check out. First, Athens paper has some pictures of the new scoreboard at Sanford Stadium. Looks nice, I don't know the specifics of how it differs from the last one-which I thought was really nice.
http://www.athenscms.com/oa/zenphoto/070611-sanford-stadium-sports-new-scoreboard/
Finally, to close out this week, I copy/paste a free article from the Dawgpost, about our players making the trip to Camp Twin Lakes to visit kids with cancer or those in recovery, what is called Camp Sunshine. With all the negative about athletes, especially pro but college kids get some negative pub as well, I always enjoy reading stories like this one about what a big difference these guys make and how much kids really look up and respect the young men playing in Athens. Also nice to read the comments from our players on how much they enjoy spending time with the kids.
http://georgia.scout.com/2/1084797.html
Hope you all have a great weekend. Go Dogs!
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