Can you feel it? Football is in the air. The NFL lockout is finally over and teams are scrambling to pick up UDFA’s and sign free agents. Incoming freshmen are either on campus or arriving and getting their feet wet in the college experience and getting ready to try to have an impact for their team of choice. I thought about coming on here and discussing the Butch Davis stuff but then I realized it’s been a minute since i’ve posted something about my team, the Georgia Bulldogs. So let’s forget all about the horrible off-season of scandal and let’s dive right into what the off-season should be about…HYPE! The off-season is about hope, it’s about dreams, it’s about not being able to wait to see your team suit up and smack the crap out of the guy standing across from them. So here it is…the five things I’m most looking forward to about Georgia football this season….
1- Johnathon Jenkins- When you spend the better part of your Saturday experience watching your team get pushed off the ball by South Carolina, Mississippi State, and Colorado you get kind of cranky. It causes you to do crazy stuff and it affects your personal well being. Imagine how DeAngelo Tyson felt last year. He’s a 4-3 defensive lineman who was asked to play the nose last year in Georgia’s first year of the 3-4 and it just didn’t work. This year DeAngelo moves out the DE and he welcomes in his new favorite part of the Georgia team, JUCO Nose Guard Johnathon Jenkins. Jenkins his here to cure your mental healthy Georgia fans! Jenkins fits the nose position much better than Tyson and Jenkins has been getting rave reviews from the guys on campus about his size, the shape he came into camp and his speed. He is ready to make an impact on the Georgia D-Line and he makes the DL more stout just by simply stepping on campus.
2- The New LB Corps- We lost Justin Houston and Akeem Dent to the NFL and Marcus Dowtin took his talents to North Alabama to play for a Bowden. We only have two returning LBs with starting experience in Christian Robinson and Cornelius Washington. So why am I so damn excited about this LB group? The first reason is Alec Ogletree. He’s a tackling machine who was Georgia’s number one recruit in 2010 and really started to make an impact at Safety towards the end of the year last year. Coach Todd Grantham has moved him inside and he is going to use his speed and strength and when all is said and done he is going to be a special player. Playing inside with him is Christian Robinson and he has really taken on a leadership role this off-season and will be the captain of the defense. Robinson gained valuable experience last year as a RS Soph and is ready to take the next step this year. On the outside Georgia returns Cornelius Washington but he’s moving from strong-side LB to weak-side LB and it’s a much better fit for him and will allow him to get after the QB more and do more of what comes natural to him. He will also be pushed by Freshman Ray Drew, who is a big strong kid and will see the field this year early and could have a big impact. Taking over at strong-side LB is the guy with the most upside (along with Ogletree) and that’s Jarvis Jones. He’s a much better fit at that position because of his speed. Look for him to be a big upgrade for Georgia at that spot.
3- My God A Freshman- The immortal words of Larry Munson in describing Herschel Walker. Don’t worry, I’m not going where you think I might. I’m not going to compare Isaiah Crowell to Herschel Walker. But what I will do is dream about how good this group of freshman just might be and how much of a positive impact they can have on the field. Let’s start with one of the kids out of Valdosta, Malcolm Mitchell. I’m hearing nothing but good things about him. Aaron Murray is literally talking about him like a school girl dreams of Justin Bieber. Christian Robinson has the balls to compare him favorably to AJ Green in certain aspects of his game (his ability to stop on a dime and the separation he gets on his routes). I am licking my chops to see this kid line up against Boise State. Besides Mitchell, you have a guy like Isaiah Crowell that everybody knows is going to get his shot at being the next big RB at Georgia. I want to see him line-up and take one to the house! And then there are guys names popping up like DBs Chris Sanders, Damian Swann, and Corey Moore that are getting props from their older teammates. This incoming freshman class looks like it could be a special one for Georgia. I’m excited to see them out on the field.
4- Orson Charles- This is the year that Orson hulks up and goes beast mode on the SEC. We’ve seen glimpses of what he can do in the past but this is the year for him, Aaron Murray and Bobo to get on the same page and he’s going to be a go-to guy. He’s such a mismatch as he’s too fast for a LB to try and cover and he’s just too physical for a DB. He’s going to break some DBs off like he did Florida’s National Championship Trophy when he shattered it on a recruiting visit in High School.
5- Special Teams- This is an area that for some reason we don’t talk about very much. Probably because it’s not sexy. But it wins football games. In case you have been sleeping in a cave with no internet access for the past three years (which if that’s the case I would question how you found this blog or how you can afford a computer) then you know that Georgia has the best kicker, Blair Walsh, and the best punter, Drew Butler, in America. If we need to get punted out of bad field position then it’s no problem. If we need a last second FG made it’s not an issue. Games and seasons come down to special teams and I would bet my money on those two guys over any other guys in college football right now. Oh yeah, did I mention that our returners are Brandon Boykin and Branden Smith. Boykin has returned 4 kick-offs for TD over the last two years. With Logan Gray moving out to Colorado and taking his fair catches with him that leaves Branden Smith poised to make an impact in the punt return game. Smith averaged 14.3 yards per return last year (which would have put him 4th in the SEC but he didn’t have enough returns to qualify). Watch out for these guys on Special Teams.
It’s pre-season so let’s get excited thinking about what’s to come. Let’s not get caught up in chasing down some kid who signed an autograph for somebody in some store. Now is the time to think big and to let your expectations run wild because college football will soon be upon us.
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