The Man They Call RAMBO

While this is a National college football blog there are certain teams that we will cover on a bit more of a local basis. One of those teams is the Georgia Bulldogs. This off-season we’ve already covered them quite a bit and most recently with our Georgia Bulldogs Roundtable Discussion and our Fall First Look. Another thing I plan to do as football season quickly approaches is highlight some of the players on the Georgia team. So far we’ve taken a look at two players, Branden Smith and Caleb King, that could have a profound impact on the 2011 Georgia Bulldogs. Today, we will take a look at a guy who has been a bit under the radar this off-season but is one of the most important players on defense this year for the Dawgs: Bacarri Rambo.

When you think of Rambo you think of a determined man that will stop at all costs to get what he wants and will go through anybody to get there. Bacarri Rambo is yet to fill that image for the Georgia Bulldogs but there is one play that sticks out in the minds of Georgia fans from the 2009 season that was “Rambo-esque” and it was the game saving hit that Rambo put on Mario Fannin late in the 4th quarter.

As a red-shirt Freshman, Rambo struggled to get on the field as former DC Willie Martinez remained loyal to the upper classmen despite their lack of success on the field. In 2010, Rambo started every game and was an important part of the first year of Todd Grantham’s 3-4 defense. Despite being second on the team in tackles, Rambo still struggled at times to be in the right place when needed. One thing I saw in Rambo that I took as a positive is it seemed like he started to be in the right place more often as the season unfolded. Maybe it was just getting used to the defensive schemes, maybe it was getting his feet under him after that nasty concussion he received from the game saving hit he layed on Mario Fannin, maybe it was missed assignments by his teammates and maybe it was a combination of all of those things. One thing is for certain and that is that Rambo will be relied upon heavily this year by Todd Grantham and the Georgia defense.

From a fans perspective it sure didn’t seem like Georgia had a good year defensively but from a statistical standpoint, the Bulldogs made a lot of improvements. The Dawgs were fifth in the conference in passing yardage (180 per game in 2010 against 213 given up in 2009). They also had 16 interceptions in 2010 versus only 10 in 2009. One area where Georgia wasn’t very good last year was against the run and that was because they simply didn’t have the personnel to play the 3-4 up the middle and that affected every other area of the defense. This year Grantham has brought in JUCO NT Johnathan Jenkins and Kwame Geathers has matured. Georgia appears to have the hogs up front to play the 3-4 this year and I feel that this is going to open things up for the rest of the defense. This means that the safeties won’t have to cheat up to protect the run and that allows players like Rambo to be able to be more of a factor in the passing game and to not have to worry about other players missing assignments. 

Georgia’s secondary has some very good talent with the likes of Brandon Boykin, Branden Smith and Sanders Commings at CB. Georgia also has some very talented recruits coming in this fall in Nick Marshall, Damian Swann and Corey Moore. But Georgia still has a big question-mark at the safety opposite Bacarri Rambo. Rambo was already going to be a big part of this team but now with Alec Ogletree (probably our best player on defense) moving up from safety to ILB, Rambo’s play at safety will be even more important. I’m of the belief that the front seven for Georgia will take a big step forward because of the size that has been added (Jenkins/Geathers), the skill that has been added (Ogletree/Jarvis Jones) and guys will be playing positions that better suit them (DeAngelo Tyson/Cornelius Washington) I think that will take some pressure off of the secondary. That being said, this is the year for Rambo to step up as a leader of the secondary. Not only will he need to play better football this year but he will also need to take the other safety under his wing and make sure he knows his assignments and he understands where he needs to be on each play. Can Rambo step up to the challenge? It’s one of the more interesting storylines for the Georgia defense this year as they fill the safety spot opposite of Bacarri Rambo. As a junior, this should be the year that Bacarri breaks out.