Well actually football officially kicked off in Athens yesterday with the first practice-conditioning practice with helmets, shorts/shirts. Things really kick off Monday, with full pads. The team did get good news earlier this week when Devin Bowman learned he had passed his HS graduation test. Now today, hopefully, Kent Turene finds out if he will be eligible to play this fall. The NCAA clearinghouse is supposed to let him know today. Key word, supposed to let him know. I REALLY can't stand the NCAA these days but that is another story, for another day. Course also still up in the air is the Jarvis Jones situation, in which I truly believe he is going to be good to go for Boise State. Speaking of Boise, they are preseason ranked #7 in the coaches poll, UGA comes in at #22. Honestly, I am shocked at both. I personally thought Boise would be in the top 5 and thought UGA MIGHT make it at 24 or 25. I will be curious to see what the numbers look like when the first media poll comes out, just how different that poll will look compared to the coaches. For now, let's take a look at the top 25 coaches poll-ok, I posted the poll but something is going on with my blog here and I lost a lot comments-along with the top 25.
So, it seems strange that 5 SECw are ranked, all of which are ahead of UGA and UF. Of all the teams ranked, only two had losing records last year, UGA at 22 and Texas at 24. I personally think Oregon is overrated, they return their QB and RB but replace a lot of guys on the OL and DL. I think Auburn is way overrated as well, and I think it will be interesting to see how SCarolina and Miss State respond to actually getting some love in the preseason, both schools had good years last year but are not used to being so highly ranked and certainly teams will not overlook them any longer.
A few more notes, if I can remember what I typed out before everything was lost-TJ Stripling was back at 100% yesterday-great news for our depth at OLB, especially if Jones is suspended. Sterling Bailey was in green, no contact. He is headed for a RS year as is Xzavier Ward, the OL that had surgery after his HS season. John Jenkins had to be assisted off the field, evidently heat related issues. Looking at pictures of the guys in helmets, shorts/shirts, Crowell looks in great shape, as does Mitchell and Scott-Wesley. Jay Rome and Ray Drew are two pretty big dudes, course Jenkins is mammoth. Interesting that Richt made the comment, #3 and 4 are available and they will have to see how much offense Branden Smith plays as either he or Crowell will have to switch a number if Smith looks to be playing a lot of offfense. This makes sense because I can't imagine having to take Crowell out every time BSmith enters the huddle. I think it will be very interesting the next week or so, as the coaches evaluate the true FR. Because we are short on numbers, it could be very possible more FR than normal will play. The fact Grantham and Olivadotti have spent so many years in the NFL-where they have a 53 man roster, I think is giving Richt some perspective-yes, some positions are very thin in the depth department-the OL immediately jumps out. But, that being said, in most cases we have some talent and some depth and if someone goes down, another kid needs to step up and maybe even move to another position to sure up depth. Well, all for now, hope you all have a great weekend and Go Dogs!
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