Dogs come out of spring drills with areas of concern lingering
Caleb King and the running game didn't make much of an impression at G-Day. (Brant Sanderlin / AJC)
There were some aspects of what we saw in the G-Day game that definitely should be encouraging to Dogs fans, particularly when it comes to the defensive side of the ball.
But a lot of the questions facing Mark Richt and his staff as they entered spring drills remain unanswered and could be potential areas of concern.
Since they were split up between two teams, it was difficult to get a real fix on where the offensive line stands, but as I noted in my G-Day wrap-up the run-blocking still was unimpressive and there were too many sacks given up. And, unfortunately, this is one area where the incoming true freshmen aren’t likely to make much of a difference. The OL worries me. A lot.
As for the running game, the best you can grade it after G-Day is an “incomplete,” since Washaun Ealey sat out most of the spring and Isaiah Crowell is still finishing up high school. Caleb King was solid but not spectacular in his handful of carries and doesn’t appear likely to suddenly develop into a game-changer. Ken Malcome is a work in progress but far from ready to be a featured back. And Carlton Thomas did nothing to change the impression that, at best, he should be a change-of-pace back on outside plays.
But if Georgia’s prospects at tailback rely on Crowell duplicating the true-freshman success of South Carolina’s Marcus Lattimore right from the start, well, that might be bucking the odds. Still, at least the Dogs are looking at a major talent infusion in the tailback corps come August.
The G-Day showing of the receiving corps was a mixed bag. Tavarres King looked pretty good, though he’s not going to make anyone forget about A.J. Green. But beyond him, there’s still a big question mark. Marlon Brown remains inconsistent. Michael Bennett and Chris Conley are still developing. Come August, Malcolm Mitchell could indeed have an opportunity to establish himself as a freshman like A.J. did. But my money is on hybrid tight end Orson Charles, Richt’s “overall MVP of the spring,” to become Aaron Murray’s go-to guy, especially early in the season.
On the other side of the ball, prospects are definitely brighter on the defensive line and at linebacker after the spring, but we still don’t know who, if anyone, is going to step up at safety. Generally, though, there are fewer questions lingering about the defense than there are on offense.
Those are my concerns coming out of G-Day. What are yours?
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213 comments Add your comment
Timbodog
April 21st, 2011
7:53 am
According to scout.com,
Richt is ranked #7 in the SEC of coaches you’d want to start a program.
Ranked #38 in the nation.
AltamahaDawg
April 21st, 2011
8:54 am
Wow, scout knows the differnce between #38 and #39, in terms of coaches to “start a program”? Sweet.
But what really matters is how the Madden2011 simulation turns out.
Timbodog
April 21st, 2011
8:59 am
Altamaha,
It’s obviously not exact, but recruits read this stuff. It doesn’t exactly inspire much confidence in our head man…Richt is listed in Dabo Swinney territory.
TechRedNeck
April 21st, 2011
9:08 am
I’m a nerd and a troll, but thank GOD I,m no dawg fan.
Timbodog
April 21st, 2011
9:40 am
Orson Charles is a stud. We need to go to him early and often. 90% of the teams we play CANNOT cover a tight end of his caliber, so let’s look his way as often as possible. He is a real matchup problem for almost every defense we will play.
Bobo doesn’t need to get too cute; hit Charles 3-4 times every series to open up the running game. The points will come.
DawginLex
April 21st, 2011
9:46 am
Posted this on the other blog:
Bottom line for Dawgs success is improvement on defense.
A little history:
2001-Allowed 19 ppg. Gave up 30 or more points ZERO times
2002-Allowed 15 ppg. Gave up 30 or more points ZERO times
2003-Allowed 14.5 ppg. Gave up 30 or more points ONCE(National champ LSU
2004-Allowed 16.5 ppg. Gave up 30 or more points ZERO times
2010-Allowed 22 ppg. Gave up 30 or more points FIVE times.
3 of the losses(SC,MSU,UCF) you can put on the offense 17-6,24-12,10-6
4 of the losses squarely on the defense-(Ark,CU,UF,AU) Gave up 31,29,34 and 49
Improve the defense to 2004 level and we improve to minimum of 8-4 or 9-3 even with no offensive improvement. Murray in his 2nd year with Lemay for change up should offer some improvement.
Defense is the key though.
Timbodog
April 21st, 2011
9:49 am
Agree for the most part, DawginLex…
Only problem is those teams also had strong running games. Not sure if this team will have a strong running game. We are pinning too much hope on a true freshman. Luckily Murray looks like he can handle some pressure, and like I said, he and Charles can stretch the field to open up some rushing lanes.
I’m still not sold on Grantham (he was, what, our 5th or 6th choice?), but hope I am wrong.
Reality Check
April 21st, 2011
10:00 am
DawginLex, you make some good points and get back to the real problem over the last few years. The defense has got to back back to the 2002-2007 levels for UGA to improve. No one wants to admit this but despite all of the moaning about play calling the offenes has been mostly the same for the last ten years. The David Greene teams were not exceptional offensive teams, but UGA had a top 10-15 national defense every year. Last year showed some improvement on D as well as turnover margin and penalties. It was not realistic to expect a top ten defense in year one switching to the 3-4. At times it was a matter of trying to fit square peg players into a round hole. This year Defense should show improvement with more beef upfront with JJ and Geathers has a year of maturity as his backup. Not sure how so many people can question the OL when the starters did not even play together in the spring game.
Big Dawg
April 21st, 2011
10:48 am
First off it was only a spring game with a lot of players not playing due to injuries. Still too early to be worrying about things that none of us has any control over. As for the offensive line that is a big concern due to injuries, hopefully some of these highly rated and regarded OL will step up this year and play up to their hype coming out of high school.
Al Johnson
April 21st, 2011
12:49 pm
I love my Dawgs! I always read this blog…and when I’ve had my fill of sports I read Twenty-First Tycoon. It’s an awesome site and it’s based out of Georgia…which is better than supporting some stupid New Yorker!
College Spring Football Recap - 4/21/2011 Afternoon Edition
April 21st, 2011
4:05 pm
[...] still has questions to answer up front with the offensive line and at running back on offense and the secondary on [...]
Carlton
April 24th, 2011
11:48 am
Mine is the O-Line. Even though they were split up, there still was 4 of 5 starting offensive linemen on one of the teams and they underperformed badly in the G-Day game. I’m not concerned about the running backs. I said it months ago: Carlton Thomas will be a swing back who makes catches out of the back field, Caleb King will primarily be a blocker, Ken Malcolme will be a short yardage situation back, and the two tailbacks to split most of the regular carries will be Washaun and Isaiah. Write it down…
WR isn’t a problem. Charles will be the primary target, T.King will take over the flanker position just fine, Marlon Brown showed a little promise with his G-Day performance. I think people are making too much about AJ leaving. Obviously he was great, but I truly believe the rest of the receiver corps will actually benefit from his departure. Our offense won’t rely solely on #8 anymore. I’ve been saying this for months now too.
LawDawg
April 26th, 2011
11:32 am
Orson Charles was Murray’s go to guy last season. He seems to have a serious case of Martrez Millner’s dropsy. I’m not at all sold on Charles based on his performance the last two years.