Two-minute drill: Ealey, SEC all-stars, BCS
Marc Weiszer of the Athens Banner-Herald talks with running backs coach Bryan McClendon about the fact that incoming freshman tailback Washaun Ealey will have to make the adjustment from the run-oriented Wing-T offense he played in high school to Georgia’s balanced pro-style offense. “We know he has the ability to make plays with the ball in his hands,” McClendon says. “The thing is if you play a guy like that who can run the ball good and can’t pass block, every time he’s in the game, you know he’s going to run the ball. The defenses know that, too. You have to make them a well-balanced guy. In that offense that he played in high school, he didn’t do much pass blocking. It was a Wing-T team and it was pretty much give him the ball and they wore him down.” But, McClendon notes, Knowshon Moreno also played in a Wing-T offense in high school. …
In the spirit of baseball’s All-Star Game, ESPN.com’s Chris Low has come up with all-star teams for the SEC East and SEC West. Three Dogs make the offensive all-stars for the East: A.J. Green, Clint Boling and Trinton Sturdivant. And two Georgia players show up on the East’s defense: Geno Atkins and Rennie Curran. Low’s East team has a definite orange and blue tinge. The offense has six Gators, the defense has three, all three special teams specialists are from UF and the coach is Urban Meyer. …
Dave Curtis and Matt Hayes of the Sporting News discuss chances of the Cotton Bowl becoming the fifth BCS bowl game, among other topics. Says Curtis: “It’s far from a lock, but an extra BCS game is getting a serious run as a sort of compromise with the Utah-Boise State faction looking for more access to the big-money games.” Hayes adds that the addition of the Cotton would likely mean the current double-hosting model for the BCS title game would be finished.
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28 comments Add your comment
BruffDawg
July 15th, 2009
4:30 pm
Pass blocking is important, but I think with an improved line we will see Ealey in the backfield later this fall. We don’t want to lose a year of elegibility with him if he turns out to be a three w/o degree player. Plus we can put him in two back shotgun sets at first for pass blocking.
dawgstephen
July 15th, 2009
4:54 pm
Ealey is a terrific talent. he will be fine. the coaches know what to do. There arent as many questions as everyone thinks, especially at QB. more on my blog
http://www.dawgstephen.blogspot.com
ACCFan
July 15th, 2009
4:58 pm
Don’t know how many of you Dog fans have actually seen Ealey play, but I can tell you that he is not a big time back at this time. And, some of the things he displays on the field are not what you would want to represent your school. He is young ….and perhaps he will mature in terms of his actions ….but he has a long way to go to play big time SEC football.
W.E.
July 15th, 2009
5:14 pm
So that means he COULD immediately be an ACC player.
The Dogfighter Returns
July 15th, 2009
5:32 pm
What do the GOP and Michael Jackson have in common? They both like to get in bed with little boys.
Quack!!! Quack!!!
southgadawg88
July 15th, 2009
6:01 pm
….Well if Moreno played in the same offense in HS and CMR said if he had to do it all over again he would not red shirt Knowshon due to his pass blocking short comings I would suspect that it will not keep Ealey off the field.So what if the other team has a good idea it’s a run play when a certain player is in the game?You still have to stop him.
BruffDawg
July 15th, 2009
7:19 pm
I like the change of pace between using Chapas and Thomas as a Halfbacks. Big bruiser followed by a scatback. Chapas is fast enough to be a halfback. Split carries between him and thomas. Munz can block. King can toughen up and maybe he will see more carries. Put Samuel on d rushing off the edge. That would give the d some juice.
Joe
July 15th, 2009
7:39 pm
Uh Oh, don’t let the Atlanta Sports Council read that about the Cotton Bowl. The AJC will be pimping the Peach/Chick-fil-a Bowl for the next month.
southgadawg88
July 15th, 2009
7:59 pm
…What?Chapas?Are you serious?
The Truth
July 15th, 2009
8:03 pm
Hey ACCFan…I think Mark Richt and his staff know a lot more about judging football talent than you do. I’ve seen Ealey play twice and both times he looked like a man amoung boys. He was also offerd by Florida, LSU,Auburn etc. so their staffs also know he’s the real deal. Please go back to judging Tech talent….they need all the help and input they can get!
Cuz
July 15th, 2009
8:03 pm
Try to stop Muz. Five yards and a world of hurt.
southgadawg88
July 15th, 2009
8:12 pm
…I seriously doubt we get very far with any of our fullbacks as a tailback.
Salty Dawg
July 15th, 2009
8:14 pm
Cuz, I know you’d like it to rhyme with your name, but I think it’s ‘Munz’.
Salty Dawg
July 15th, 2009
8:16 pm
I’ll say it myself. “whatever”.
southgadawg88
July 15th, 2009
8:19 pm
…Might like to see Samuel as FB/LB though.
Salty Dawg
July 15th, 2009
8:45 pm
Just an aside here, but GA has (according to CNNSI) 5 QBs, 5 FBs and 9 TEs on their roster. By comparison, FL and AL have about the same number of QBs, but about 6 FB/TE’s (total) respectively. I know the offensive scheme dictates a lot of this, or maybe we’re recruiting the best athletes without regard to position, but why so many FBs and Tight Ends for us ??? Maybe we should instead bulk up the offensive line. Or special teams. Just a thought.
BruffDawg
July 15th, 2009
8:56 pm
Did you see Chapas run in the Gday game? He has great vision and Richt already said that he was considering using him as a tailback. Not a breakaway runner, but a great change of pace back. With our o line this year we should lean on people and get three yards. Two back system with a thumper and a speed back?
D.Ellis
July 15th, 2009
9:01 pm
Salty Dog-UGA does not have 9 TE’s on their roster that much I can assure. At the present moment I Know of 4 and 1 of which is not on campus yet who is a hybrid TE/WR (Charles). Maybe CNNSI was jsut listing players who have “taken snaps” at TE. I don’t know of any team with that many TE’s. Not even Dan Reeves carried that many TE’s.
Also I started beating the drum late last year for moving Samuel to LB. Dude is a contact first kind of guy who has very good speed for that spot. RB field barring any injuries is a log jam. Samuel is to good of an athlete to be sitting on a depth chart that can go 5 deep at RB. He could start but there are more “pure” RB’s on the depth chart. Just my opinion and it;s probably wrong but with his speed and nose for contact he could be nasty on the outside.
But he can also be a very good RB as well with out a doubt. I jsut want to see him on the field.
The Truth
July 15th, 2009
9:12 pm
Just booked my flight to Oklahoma City. T-minus 7 weeks to Okie St. in Stillwater. P.S. Today is the worst sports day of the year…
jrmdvm1
July 15th, 2009
9:20 pm
So everyone knows Ealy will run when he is in the game, right? I think there is a little thing called a play-action pass. No pass blocking by the back getting the fake. He “blocks” just by drawing defenders to try to stop his “run”.
dawgstephen
July 15th, 2009
9:30 pm
I notice that there are LOTS of great players on the “All Star” teams that Chris Low from ESPN talked about. Notice on defense that Jeff Owens isnt mentioned. I disagree with Jeff not being on that team, no disrespect to the others…but Jeff not only belongs on this list, but might be the best D-tackle in the SEC, much less the best in the east. Just my humble opinion. Go Dawgs
http://www.dawgstephen.blogspot.com
AltamahaDawg
July 15th, 2009
10:12 pm
17 TE’s I read. And 5 longsnapper.
Preston
July 15th, 2009
10:20 pm
If Caleb King isn’t up to speed very early this season, bench him to develop the younger guys. Same goes for Cox at QB. I have high hopes for these guys this year but if they lose a couple of games early in the season, sacrifice the season for the future. Murray is going to be a great one!
Cuz
July 15th, 2009
10:32 pm
Okay Salty, left out the n. My daughter called and I hit submit before profreading, get it a joke. I appreciate your picking up the slack for me, Lord knows I need it.
To answer your question about the TE’s and FB’s. When we lose players in a position the previous year we stock them like cord wood the following. The Dawgs have been doing that since St. Vince.
Alt, that many longsnappers. Is that an Altamaha river sub species of the South Georgia Snapping Turtle. And why did the Snapper get dissed for the Mascot at Southern over an Eagle. How many eagles has anyone seen in Statesboro. I get the blues just thinking about it. Okay Erk’s Eagles does roll better than Southern’s Snappers. But just think of all the innuendos. Oh the sheer profundity.
Cuz
July 15th, 2009
10:33 pm
I have already sacrificed a chicken Preston, does that count?
southgadawg88
July 15th, 2009
10:33 pm
….We didn’t get to see the power guys in the spring Bruff…I see it as Samuel/Jackson and Ealey competing for 1 slot to split carries with King.Thomas will get some touches in a lot of ways besides RB.As for King…he moves like Champ Bailey..he glides when he runs ..it looks like he’s not running hard(Say whatever Champ seemed to move in slow motion!!) anyway King is a glider not an explosive short stepper like Moreno..I don’t see him exploding thru the gut of a defense ..he’s not that type of back.He’s more like a Hearst..a home run hitter.Tell you this..from what I have seen on the field..I have more belief that King is going to play well than I do in Cox.Jeff Owens can play his way into a high 1st rd pick if he’s healthy.Owens healthy is going to transform our entire defense!Teams are going to have to double him or Atkins on every snap.Geno came into his own mid 07 and teams found out that they couldn’t block him one on one either.The team took off then…those two guys are going to be special to watch.
AltamahaDawg
July 15th, 2009
10:44 pm
I think the term you were looking for is cooter.
Ain’t wastin no more time…..
Johnny DangerDawg
July 16th, 2009
1:12 pm
If the other team “knows” Ealey can’t pass block, then just send him out onto the field with Logan Gray (for just a few plays a game). Ealey can run it or Logan can fake a pitch to Ealey but then run it himself. Then, when the defense really loads up the box, have Logan THROW a pass to Ealey.