Ok, it is now August and the players will report back tomorrow-well, they are already in Athens for the most part but tomorrow is the official day they are supposed to be in Athens. As of this minute, the only two I am aware that are not already on campus, Kent Turene and Devin Bowman. Both are hoping to be cleared and ready to go soon. With Bowman, simply put he has to pass a portion of the high school graduation test-he is just waiting to get his test score, yes or no, then he knows what comes next. For Turene, a bit more complicated. He is from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla, school gets out much later in most Florida schools than schools in Ga. He is officially ready to go but the NCAA clearinghouse is reviewing his transcript. Of course the fact it is taking this long makes anyone wonder, what is the hold up here. I have no clue but I am hopeful he makes it in because he has a legit chance to see the field this year.
Now, on to my personal top 5 keys to this season. These 5 keys are not really ranked 1-5 but just rather 5 things in my mind that have to go our way to turn the program around. First up is Isaiah Crowell. There is no question this kid comes with a ton of hype, but also a ton of questions. He had a lot of nagging injuries on the high school level, I have read some reports from various sources that he has not been the top level guy in the off season workouts-work ethic could be questioned (and again I state, from my various sources that I wouldn't say are 100% reliable). My point here, we MUST have a decent running game to allow our QB to play to his ability. Richard Samuel has been moved to help this position but I think all UGA faithful have come to expect that our run game will rise or fall on the play of Mr. Crowell.
Second up would be the emergence of a second big play WR. I am sold on Tavarres King-I expect him to have an outstanding year, and of course Orson Charles is a big weapon at TE. But, for our offense to consistently move the ball through the air, considering our questions at the RB, we have to have at least one guy step up. From all accounts of summer workouts, that player could be freshman Malcolm Mitchell. I still also have high hopes for Marlon Brown, also I personally believe Michael Bennett can come in and give us some steady hands-be a good possession receiver. We can't forget Rantavious Wooten either but bottom line, we need someone to step up and provide a steady/dependable force oppositve King.
Third up would be the offensive line, simply put, trying any way possible to find a little bit of depth. I am comfortable with a starting five of Glenn, Gates, Jones, Burnette and Anderson. But we have to have 2-3 more guys that we can throw in there when these guys need a blow, especially early in the season when it is so hot. I think the development of guys like Houston, Lee, Austin Long, along with maybe a FR lineman thrown in there, critical for the season. If we can have 8 lineman at SEC caliber level, I will be pretty happy with that.
Fourth up is the DL, a real key to our entire defense in the 3-4. If we have a NT that requires two OL to block him, then have DE's that are demanding a couple guys block them, our linebackers should clean up. This D is made for linebackers to shine, but it all starts with the front guys. If they are doing what I hope they can do, it is going to make our entire D so much better. The addition of the John Jenkins, and the luxury of having a Kwame Geathers available and ready to battle, that is really going to be crucial. We just need to have DeAngelo and Abry to step up their games. But, if our DL can play better than last year, that can have a big time impact on our D and I think especially in stopping the 3rd down conversions-which must be corrected or else this year.
Last is the linebackers-I personally think we have a ton of talent at this position but much of it is untested. You have Christian Robinson in the middle who played a lot last year, you have Cornelius Washington as well, then Jarvis Jones (if he is not suspended), Alec Ogletree who moved from a starting safety spot. We lost a lot of depth at this position for various reason-Dent, Gamble, Houston, Dowtin, Nick Williams (although his position was always changing). We will likely be turning to some true FR to help bolster the depth here and if those guys can play as well as we all hope, this position can be outstanding. But, again, it remains an uncertain position until we see it on the field. Like I mentioned with the DL, this D is made for linebacker play-they should be making a bulk of the tackles, they are constantly moving around-the offense never knows what they might do an a given play-blitz, cover a back/TE, line up 5 yards back, come up to the line, just a lot of options for these guys and a lot of opportunities to make big plays. Can these guys make the big plays?
I think those are 5 pretty obvious positions/players that we will be counting on to step up (I guess all I didn't mention was defensive back and kickers-I am really going out on a limb with my predictions here). We are relying on some true FR to make contributions but there are not many teams in the nation that don't also look for some of the new kids to step up. I think it is obvious that this team must do a good job with turnovers-last year was actually a good year in that regard, but the turnovers we had were just so bad, it sometimes masked the overall turnover ratio that was in our favor last year. I am also hopeful the strength and conditioning will be much improved. Our guys made a lot of mistakes late in ball games, the difference between a win or a loss is such a fine line. If our guys make a play here or there last year, we win 8-9 games for sure. The fumbles or blown coverages can't be blamed solely on strength and conditioning but certainly when you begin to tire late in a game, you have to dig deep and make the play-that is something we always seemed to do during Richt's first 4-5 years for certain. But then again, we had players like Greene, Pollack and Davis around. We need more players like those guys to step up. The coaches can only do so much, sometimes the players just have to step up and make the plays. I will say though, if you look at the leaders/seniors on this years team, I really like our player leadership. A guy like Ben Jones is a great role model and leader for our players, this is a kid that just believes in hard work and getting after the opponent.
Time will tell but as August hits today, the most important season in recent UGA history is getting closer and closer. The hot seat rumors are there as the season begins. The future of UGA football is really hanging in the balance this year. Lose and probably force out one of the best coaches in our history. Recruiting falls apart and we search for the next guy that can get us over the hump-easier said than done. Win and the program gains a little bit of security and we have another recruiting class worthy of a dream label. Most of us thought last year was the crucial year, coming off the 8-5 season but there is little doubt, this year is THE year. The year to show whether our program is back and Richt is the man or the season to say, yep, time to probably go in another direction. Simply put, a school like UGA can't have a 6-7 followed by a 7-6 for sure, especially with our schedule. I think 8 or more regular season wins is essential and I fully expect at least 8 regular season wins, my current thought is 10-2 regular season IF the most of the 5 I listed above play to the level I personally expect. What do you all think? I am probably a bit too optimistic but that is the beauty of August, everyone is unbeaten and full of confidence.
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