Showing posts with label depth chart. Show all posts
Showing posts with label depth chart. Show all posts

Monday, February 14, 2011

UGA Depth Chart - Defense

NG - 1)John Jenkins jr. 2)Kwame Geathers rs. so 3)Justin Anderson sr.

This is where UGA got the biggest upgrade from last year. Jenkins should provide the big disrupting force in the middle of the line that makes a 3-4 its most effective. Last year Tyson filled in this role but he was not playing his natural position.

DE - 1) DeAngelo Tyson jr. 1)Arby Jones so. 2)Garrison Smith 3)Derreck Lott rs. fr. 4)Dexter Moran rs. fr 5)Brandon Burrows rs fr. 6)Jermemy Longo

This position gets a huge boost from Tyson sliding over to his more natural position as a defensive end. He was undersized as a NG but will be a big force as an end both in the run game and in an area the ends struggled with last year, getting pressure on the qb. Jones is coming off a strong freshman year and should be better with a year more in the weight room and a year experience.

OLB 1)Jarvis Jones rs so. 1)Cornelius Washington jr. 2)Ray Drew fr. 3)T.J Sterling so. 4)Chase Vasser so. 5)Sterling Bailey fr. 6)Ramik Wilson

Jones Could end up playing inside depending on how other guys on the team develop. I expect Washington to move over into Justin Houston's position from last year and be more of a rush lb. Drew will get time early and often especially in 2nd and 3rd and long situations. Though a first year starter look for Jones to make a lot of plays and be a leader on defense. He will be a 3rd year sophomore and got playing time his freshmen year at USC.

ILB 1)Christian Robinson jr. 1)Richard Samuel 2)Michael Gilliard 3)Kent Turene 4)Amarlo Herrera

Robinson is the lone returning full time starter amongst the linebackers. His position is set, Samuel as a former 5 star recruit who sat out last year with injuries and while making a position change from rb to lb. Many people believe he fits at lb much more naturally. If Samuel can't handle it look for Jones to move from outside linebacker to inside. Overall the linebackers seem to be deeper, faster, bigger group but have very little in the way of experience.

CB - 1)Brandon Boykin sr. 1)Sanders Commings jr. 2)Braden Smith 3)Derek Owens so. 4)Jordan Love so. 5)Nick Marshall fr. 6)Damien Swann 7)Devin Bowman fr.

This group returns both starters and the backups that got most of the playing time later in the season. Incoming freshmen will have a chance to provide depth and help out on special teams but I do not expect any of them to crack the top 3 (starters or nickel back).

S 1)Baccari Rambo jr. 1)Alec Ogletree so. 2)Corey Moore fr. 3)Jakar Hamilton sr. 4)Marc Deas 5)Chris Sanders fr. 6)Quintavious Harrow fr.

Rambo started the whole season and Ogletree played a lot picking up the starting job by the end of the year. Moore has the range and coverage ability from the safety position to play as a freshmen and help out the team  against teams that run 3/4/5 wrs by giving you a safety that can cover man to man when needed.


Overall the defense looks to improve for several reasons. The biggest and most obvious is having a true NG on the roster in Jenkins. Grantham can put in much more of his defense and be more aggressive as he will not have to hide the weakness in the middle of the line. The second reason for the defense to expect to have a big upswing is it being the second year playing under the 3-4 after making the change last year from the 4-3. This year players should be able to play more natural and not have to think as much about their responsibilities allowing them to play faster with fewer blown coverages. The biggest reason to worry is having lost its leading tackler in Dent and its biggest play maker in Houston.

Saturday, February 12, 2011

UGA's projected depth chart headed into spring practice - Offense

UGAHere is my look at what I project the depth chart to look like once the incoming class gets on campus. Lots can change in spring practice and as I see fit I will update certain positions, like right now Ealey dropping down the depth chart and possibly rising back up depending on how he handles his suspension and if he is able to get back from suspension before spring practice starts. Class will be according to what they will be come opening day

QB - 1)Aaron Murray rs so.  2)Hutson Mason  so. 3)Christian LeMay fr.

This is the most set position on the team as far as the starter. After a very strong season as a first year starter Murray looks to not only improve upon the best statisical season any freshman qb at UGA has ever had but also looks to be the un-questioned leader of the offense. I would project LeMay to be #2 should Murray have miss any time due to injury but I think that Richt will redshirt him this fall so that there is a 2 year separation from Murray.

TB - 1)Isaiah Crowell fr. 2)Caleb King sr. 3)Ken Malcome rs fr. 4)Carlton Thomas jr. 5)Washaun Ealey jr.

Crowell has the best chance to start of any of the incoming freshmen for several reasons. First he is probably the most talented of a very impressive class. Second it is a position that clearly needs a spark after underachieving the last two years. Third the other players on the team that have combined for every start last year have both had their share of troubles off the field. Behind Crowell the spring will determine who gets to be the first guy off the bench.

FB - 1)Alec Ogletree so. 2)Bruce Figgins rs. sr.

Either of these two could start but I am going with Ogletree as the more athletic of the two. Bruce I expect to be in more in short yardage situations for his size. If he trims down he could be a big weapon out of the backfield just having converted from TE.

TE - 1)Orson Charles jr. 2)Aaron White sr. 3)Jay Rome fr. 4)Arthur Lynch rs so.

The deepest position on the field. I expect(hope?) to see some 2 te sets this season to take advantage of this depth. Also Charles and White could be split out to the slot to help create mismatches as well as provide some needed depth to the wr position. Bobo needs to take advantage of the talent and depth this position provides.

WR - 1)Tavarres King rs. jr 2) Malcolm Mitchell 3)Marlon Brown jr. 4)Rantavious Wooten jr. 5)Chris Conley fr. --- Israel Troupe rs sr., Michael Bennett rs fr., Justin Scott-Wesley fr,  Sanford Seay fr.

Beyond King as the number one guy this is a very hard position to project. Several of the players have been on the team for a few years and while showing flashes of promise have had no real breakout game. I think behind King it will be WR by committee and expect to see a lot of guys in the 15-20 catch range. This is a position that needs more than one guy to step up and be productive for the team to turn around their W-L record from 2010

LT - 1)Trinton Sturdivant rs. sr
RT - position battle amonst AJ Harmon, Kolton Houston, Brent Benedict, Austion Long and incoming freshmen Xzavier Ward and Watts Danzler.
C - 1)Ben Jones sr. 2)Chris Burnette so. 3)David Andrews fr. 4)Ben Reynolds rs fr.
LG - 1)Cordy Glenn sr. 2)Dallas Lee rs fr. 3)Hunter Long fr.
RG - 1)Kenarious Gates so. 2)Ben Harden sr. 3) Jonathan Owens jr.

The biggest battle here will be for the RT position as the other positions are already set with returning starters and Gates who didn't start the whole season but did get a few starts under his belt. It is possible Glenn will move to RT if the players behind him at guard perform better than the group competing for the RT position. Look for Sturdivant to return to full form and be an all SEC LT.

Kicker - 1)Walsh sr. possible all-American
Punter - 1)Butler sr. best punter in country his so. year
KR - 1)Brandon Boykin sr. very dangerous return man
PR - 1) Branden Smith - probably fastest player on team and one of the fastest in the SEC

What it all means. The offense put up a lot of points in the second half of last season until the bowl game. Even in setting a record for most games in a row scoring 30 or more points by a UGA team the offense struggled within games to maintain. Putting up big first halves only to disappear in the second half or having slow first quarters looking unstoppable in the second and third quarters only to go away again in the fourth. The biggest reason for this was unexpected sub par play from the offensive line. Led by Murray there is a great amount of talent on the offense this season but none of that will matter if the offensive line does not find a way to maintain its play for a full 60 minutes. New S&C coach and a new OL could be just what the line needs to exceed expectations this year after failing to meet them last year. If this happens look for offense to be one of the best in the SEC.