Good news on the NFL draft

I know it is still awhile before our juniors have to decide if they are going pro early but with Georgia only having a handful of seniors that started this past year a big part of how good next years team will be is going to be decided by juniors that decide to enter the draft early. Think what you want about Mel Kiper he usually has a good idea of which players are drafted in the first round of the NFL draft. According to his "big board" there is no underclassman for Georgia that he has rated in his top 25. It is possible that one of them still falls into a first round grade by being in the top 32 but it is a good sign from a fans stand point the lower the grade that players like Charles and Rambo get. I wish them the best in the NFL I just hope they stick around another year before getting there.

Production replacement - receptions.

I am going to do a series on each position, what was lost in terms of production, who will be expected to fill that void, and if I expect an increase or decrease in production from the position. Seeing as AJ Green is clearly the biggest single loss of a player from last year I am going to start with the WR's but also lump in all receptions no matter the position. Last year UGA had 218 catches by 19 players. Seven of those players will be gone. Four out of these seven had less than 100 yards for the season. One other had 105 yards on 9 catches (Logan Gray). That leaves us with only two major losses when it comes to production in the passing (receptions) game; AJ Green and Kris Durham. They combined for 89 catches, 1507 yards and 12 td's.

The guy most likely to step up and take up a large portion of those catches is Tavarres King. He had 27 catches last year and I would expect for him to get around 15-20 more catches based simply on the fact that as the #1 instead of the #3 guy at WR. At his average of 18.7 ypc he actually averaged 4 ypc more than Green but 2 ypc less than Durham. Even if his average drops to around 15 ypc that will still more than fill the role of the number one guy in Richt/Bobo's pro-style offense but still leaves about 70 receptions that need replacing.

I expect Wooten and Brown to more than double their production from 18 catches to around 40 combined this season. I expect this as both are now more experienced and again from more playing time as guys ahead of them on the depth chart have moved on. That makes up for another 20 receptions leaving us at around 50 receptions up for grabs. Expect at least one freshman to come in (I am guessing Mitchell) and get at least 15 catches (more if he passes Brown and/or Wooten on the depth chart in which case they would be moved down to this spot). Down to a deficit of 35.

Last year our Rb’s combined for 13 catches. I expect Crowell will get around 20 catches alone as we try to get him into space. Last year’s fb's had 16 catches. That could go up as Figgins, a former tight end, and an athletic Ogletree line up at FB. Minus 15-20 from last year at this point.

Finally the TE's. We lost 1 reception by a TE with the graduation of Derek Rich. We added one of the best TE's in the country in Rome and get Lynch back after he redshirted last year. Charles will (should) be a focal point of the offense and I expect much more than his 26 catches from last year. Difference from last year after adding in TE's = ZERO.

All in all as big a loss as Green and Durham are I don't see there being a huge drop off in production in terms of catches. There will be a drop off in wow factor and teams having to game plan around one guy. There are advantages and disadvantages to that though. Sometimes it is harder to not know who to line up your best guy on and which side to roll coverage to. Let's hope that plays to Georgia's favor this fall.

Some good signs in spring

This article in the Athens Banner has a lot of things that I wanted to hear this spring.
When it says that Kwame is the most improved player of the spring that is a beautiful thing. Jenkins is expected to come in and win the starting job and be the missing link at nose tackle. If Kwame has truly improved that much it is great on many fronts. First it would mean if Jenkins does end up starting he will have earned the job, not been handed it for lack of options. Second it will mean that we not only have a starter at the position but an above average backup to where both can stay fresh throughout games and the season, ie no fourth quarter fading. Finally if Jenkins does not turn out to be what all Georgia fans expect (hope?) he can, we may have a viable option at the nose anyway.
Also hearing that Charles has been a go to guy is huge. He might be the most talented guy we have to catch the ball and need to find ways to get him the ball if we are going to be able to replace the production that will be missing with Green gone. Any pressure Charles can take off the receivers will be huge for Murray, who has played with Charles for a very long time.
With what might be one of the most under rated losses of last year of both long time full backs from last year it is great to hear Zander Ogletree get praise from Bobo. Say what you want about Bobo but he is not very quick with his praise of players. To hear him talking about the job done by a position we needed someone to step up is a great thing.