Questions surround UGA receivers, NCAA rules
Mark Richt has made it clear that he expects Joe Cox to be throwing the ball for the Dogs this season, but the outlook at receiver, with MoMass gone and Kris Durham hurt, is a lot murkier. The Dogs are thin in the receiving corps and last year’s breakout star, A.J. Green, is going to see a lot of double coverage. Who can take the pressure off him?
Michael Moore looked great in the bowl game, but can he do it consistently? It’s likely that at least one, if not more, of the incoming freshmen is going to have to come up big for Georgia’s passing game to take off.
A lot of preseason anticipation is building up around Marlon Brown, who seems capable of an A.J.-like debut. But can lightning like that strike two seasons in a row? And highly touted tight end Orson Charles, a high school teammate of QB Aaron Murray, is expected to be more of a receiver than a blocker. Is he the answer?
I have a sneaking suspicion the key to great things out of the receiving corps could be Georgia’s plan to use talented cornerback Branden Smith as a Champ Bailey-style two-way player.
Richt summed up the situation in an interview with Matt Hayes of the Sporting News:
“Of course we’re really comfortable with A.J., and we feel like Michael Moore is going to do an outstanding job. The rest of the guys have got some things to prove, and there aren’t many left. We’ve got Tavarres King and Israel Troupe and two true freshmen [Marlon Brown and Rantavious Wooten]. Orson Charles is more of a hybrid TE/WR, but he has great receiving skills. We also might use Branden Smith, a corner who is also a kick and punt returner, and a guy we think we can incorporate into the offense.”
So who do you see becoming Georgia’s next great receiver?
Meanwhile, the Birmingham News takes a look at the proliferation of “secondary violations” of NCAA rules and the perception that many coaches think they’re worth incurring.
At least one football-related secondary violation gets reported to the SEC every week. UGA’s most recent ones were pretty trifling inadvertent stuff, but with Lane Kiffin throwing around secondary violations like confetti and Auburn apparently crossing the line as its Big Cat recruiting tactics get more gonzo, the question arises: Should the NCAA crack down on these “isolated” violations that “provide only a minimal recruiting, competitive or other advantage”?
And what constitutes too many secondary violations? The News couldn’t get a clear answer from the SEC or the NCAA. Somewhere down the road, though, this situation is going to have to be resolved.
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262 comments Add your comment
Its a Gator World
June 7th, 2009
11:20 am
GTMike,
Speaking of irrelevance.
Cuz
June 7th, 2009
1:05 pm
Back at you Gator World, have a pleasant Sunday.
shane#1
June 7th, 2009
1:21 pm
Many Tech fans post on this blog and some have made snide remarks about those of us that live south of Macon. Well Tech fans, I am happy to report that Mr Patrick Darsey of Albany Ga has been elected Greek Man of the Year at Georgia Tech. Patrick is VP of the Ga Tech Student Foundation Board of Trustees and has served in many Fraternity offices. Barring double secret probation from Dean Wormer, Patrick should go far in his career as an industrial and systems engineer. Put that in your crack pipe and smoke it, Atlantaphiles!
Cuz
June 7th, 2009
2:37 pm
shane, it is a pity that so many never leave the suburbs of Atlanta for God’s country south of the Macon and Dixon line. What the heck am I saying. Keep those rascals inside the metro area.
Its a Gator World
June 7th, 2009
6:28 pm
Cuz,
You’re right. I guess the defending national champions and preseason no. 1 are irrelevant. Then again, preseason don’t mean nuthin. After all, the dawgs were the preseason 2008 champions.
dawgystyle
June 7th, 2009
6:34 pm
Gotta love a redneck gator fan. Bet you didnt come out the closet till tebow emerged from the clouds and blessed us all with his personality. take your jorts back to yo mamas house. god bless
shane#1
June 7th, 2009
8:04 pm
Cuz. you are certainly right, my friend. If Atlanta sucked as hard as She blows, the Gulf wpuld be drawn right up the Hooch and the ATL would be a bigger port than New Orleans! Oh well. Now for a football thought, if I were CWM and my D looked like UGA’s D, I might considewr switching to a three four. Do ya’ll have any thoughts on the subject?
Coach D
June 7th, 2009
11:52 pm
Dawgtime…
The reason the defensive schemes aren’t matching the offensive scheme is because college defensive coordinators play a different style. To counteract the speed of these offensives, most of these DC’s play smaller defenders in their base defense( a 3-3 or a 3-5). These players were used in Nickel packages but since the spread offense has taken over the game, the smaller defenses are the norm. Of course the problem with this theory is two-fold 1.) These smaller defenses have a hard time with a big physical running game, and 2.) Most defensive coordinators rarely blitz anymore( guys like John Tenuta being the lone exception).
The simple truth is this: Divison I college football coaches are rarely the innovators they claim to be or are given credit for being. They borrow and steal from coaches who are innovators, many of whom only make peanuts at the high school and junior college level. The spread offense has come from a variety of places. High School coaches like Steve Nuss, Glenn Ellison, Darell ” Mouse” Davis, developed the ” run and shoot” passing part of the offense back in the 1960’s, and the running part that Coaches like Urban Meyer favor can trace it’s roots back to the single wing offenses of the 1920’s and 1930’s. It’s like the ” Wildcat Formation”( aka the double wing) that can trace it’s roots to guys like Hugh Wyatt who basically decided to made an entire offense out of a punt formation to help his very mediocre football team of 4th down! These coaches are the originators and innovators, guys like Leach and Meyer are copy cats.
So it’s really just a case of ” What’s old is new again”.
UGA_Alum_93
June 8th, 2009
12:10 am
It is amazing how many of the enemy frequent this board. If we are all that they say we are WHY ARE YOU HANGING OUT HERE???!!! The reason why you are here is because whether you are a Bama fan or Tech fan or UF fan or UT fan or South Carolina fan or LSU fan we have kicked your tail at least once in the past 20 months on the gridiron and you can’t stand it…it still hurts doesn’t it? Why don’t you get a life and go back under the rock you crawled out of and learn how to accept a victory or a defeat because as long as Richt is at Georgia you will be tasting defeat on a regular basis. His tenure proves it.
Cuz
June 8th, 2009
1:31 am
shane, I am already drawing up plans for Coach Mart-nez 3-4 scheme. Owens in the middle, Geno on the right, swap LB’s on the left and race a corner on the right side with the Mike slamming the center. Well it is a work in progress.
World, dont get your panites in a wad. I have alot of respect for what UF has done since 1990. I dont let my hatred of all things orange get in the way of that. I give props to your team, his holiness Tim Tebow, hard to hate the guy really, and your metrosexual coach. Urban is a heck of a coach, but he dresses funny. Why would a Gator fan care as long as he gets those W’s and MNC crystal football. I admire the guy so much, I would love to see him bring back Notre Dame, heaven knows no one else can. Tebow graduates, so what. Urban leaves, we might have a chance at becoming relevant again. This is SEC football, this is where the big boys play. All the rest are just JV as far as I am concerned, Southern Cal excluded.
Jimmy in Gainesville
June 8th, 2009
5:31 am
Why don’t the AJC or someone interview CMR and Rodney Garner to see why this year’s recruiting effort is moving so SLOW? Only four comittments and none of those real studs. It seems like Florida and Alabama and LSU are loading up and Georgia doesn’t even seem to be moving. Have we checked out? Is there a problem? I’d like to see something in print about what’s going on. I’m real concerned when I see the top players already comitting to other schools and we sit there with four recruits and none are really top prospects. How about an update article soon.
AltamahaDawg
June 8th, 2009
8:07 am
Cuz, you got to find a place for Dobbs, just on pure saved our ass a couple of times merit.
World, preseason #1, and defending NC, are historically not very good monikers.