Spring-practice updates on five UGA players
Eight practices down, seven to go (including the G-Day game). At just beyond the mid-point of UGA spring football, here are updates on five players you might be wondering about:
- DeAngelo Tyson, DE: After playing the nose position out of necessity last year, he is working exclusively at defensive end this spring – a change much to his liking. “Playing nose was a hard task, but I did it to help the team out,” said Tyson, a rising senior. “Playing defensive end is much better. You don’t have all that double-teaming and triple-teaming and stuff like that. I’m having fun out there this spring.” Linebacker Christian Robinson said Tyson and the rest of the defensive line “have really stepped up. . . . Definitely, the defensive line as a whole is so much farther ahead than I could have imagined.”
- Ken Malcome, RB: Redshirted as a freshman last season, the tailback from Southwest DeKalb has been bothered all spring by a nagging groin injury. He believes the injury has diminished his effectiveness, but he has persevered and stayed on the field. “He hasn’t really been full speed” but had a couple of nice runs on Saturday, coach Mark Richt said. Said running backs coach Bryan McClendon: “You just want him to be able to be comfortable out there and know what to do. That’s what he needs to focus on, making sure he is learning the ins and outs of what we’re doing.”
- Justin Anderson, OG: He is making the adjustment back to the offensive line after last year’s short-lived shift to the defensive line, and he is working himself back into condition after toe surgery sidelined him for all but the opening game last year. “Repetition is so important on the offensive line, and I think he’s behind in that,” new O-line coach Will Friend said. “If he can get all that together, though, he’s got all kinds of tools.” Friend noted that Anderson wasn’t cleared to run until shortly before spring practice and is “not all the way in the great shape that he needs to be in. But he’s powerful, he’s big, and I think he wants to do good.”
- Christian LeMay, QB: The freshman quarterback from North Carolina, who enrolled in January, is mostly learning what to do because, as Richt said at one point, “it’s all brand new to him right now.” While experiencing the learning curve on footwork, fundamentals, etc., he has made a positive impression with his work habits and his demeanor in the huddle and the meeting room. In Saturday’s scrimmage, “he threw one of the better fade routes,” Richt said. “He put it in play, and Michael Bennett made a very fine catch. He also stood in there and threw a short curl, about a 10-yard curl route, to Bennett. He had to hang in that pocket.”
- Branden Smith, CB: An oft-asked question is whether he will be used more extensively on offense, where he has been deployed occasionally the past two seasons. According to Smith, he has worked only at cornerback and on special teams this spring. “They haven’t told me anything about offense,” he said, referring to the coaches. “Right now, I’m just focused on defense.” He also remains in the mix to return punts, although kickoff-return record-holder Brandon Boykin has joined the competition there.
— Tim Tucker, AJC
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144 comments Add your comment
AltamahaDawg
April 5th, 2011
11:37 am
I don’t get that much enjoyment reading “each post” by fans of other schools all day long for some reason. Or, I assume I wouldn’t anyway.
fan
April 5th, 2011
11:45 am
dawgfan, so stop watching football. You go on these blogs to complain about the coaching staff, great, NO ONE CARES!!!! Go cry on another blog, no one wants to hear your F’ing BS. I m tired of fans like you. F’ing CRYBABY.
B. Smith needs to gain muscle mass. How he only weighs 175 after two years in college football is behond me. He isn’t the brightest either, listen to him give an interview. Him being a 5-star has got to his head, he probably thinks he is so great cause he’s really fast and it seems that he only cares about making it to the NFL. He won’t make it to the NFL with just speed. Just my opinion though
dawgfan
April 5th, 2011
11:46 am
BYRD DAWG, Richt’s last victory over Bama was in 2007. That was a long time ago. Stop living in the past. They demolished us in 2008 and would have demolished us in ‘09 and ‘10 if we had played them. We have not been competitive at an elite level in the past 3 seasons. That is not an opinion. That is not doom and gloom. That is a FACT.
Be sure to come up for air every now and then folks and be careful not to get sand in your eyes.
Thanks for the lecture Altmaha.
Good day.
Worm
April 5th, 2011
11:49 am
Malcome couldn’t grasp the playbook last year..Hope he learns what to do and who to block..
I was told that if he ever entered the game, it would definitely be a running play because he hadn’t a clue about pass blocking.
DawginLex
April 5th, 2011
12:15 pm
so dawgfan, what do you propose is done about it?
All the griping in the world is not going to change a thing that happens on practice or in the games. It just keeps you miserable.
None of us like 6-7. But Richt is the coach and is trying to win. If you are a Dawg, you support the players and the coaches. Moaning and groaning only forces us to read your crap.
So I ask again, what do you want done right now to fix things?
If you say fire Richt and bring in a new staff right now, conversation over.
azdawg
April 5th, 2011
12:21 pm
Agree w/dawgfan. It’s not about gloom and doom but rather facts and stats! This years team has less talent than last seasons 6-7 team so why get your hopes up? We’ll see how good they are after first two games if they’re as good as hyped then give them credit where credit is due..
fair weather fans
April 5th, 2011
12:23 pm
So Dawgfan I guess the question should be why do you waste your time commenting then if you’ve got nothing to be positive about? Nobody cares what you think. If you were a real UGA fan you’d support your team in the good AND the bad. Not just when they are winning.
BYRDDAWG
April 5th, 2011
12:33 pm
dawgfan, in’07 we finished #2 in the nation! Living in the past?? Please…… We can only beat those teams on the schedule. I guess it was CMR’s fault that we don’t play Bama every yr -DOPE the SEC office makes our conference schedule!!! Fair weather you’re soooooo right- these negative “fans” are a joke….maybe they need to get on a tech blog so they’ll feel a home!
DawginLex
April 5th, 2011
12:35 pm
I’ll help you out dawgfan.
You want us on a par with the elite right?
It will take 2 more recruiting classes like we just signed to get our defensive talent up to that level.
So for 2011, we are not ready to play Bama or LSU and the good news is, we don’t.
Is Boise elite? We are about to find out.
The rest of the schedule is pedestrian and is not elite.
If this team can win 9 games, I consider that doing what we were supposed to do. Anything above that is overachieving.
Columbus Dawg
April 5th, 2011
12:39 pm
Who is this illiterate Auburn fool posting on the UGA blog? If I were so f$%#ing stupid that I could not read or write, I sure would not get on a major newspaper’s blog and show everybody. Oh by the way Auburn Moron, have you seen the Forbe’s article on your pathetic little Phenix City University’s recruiting probe? If Forbe’s is seeing it, it will not be long before many, many publications will be converging on your little craphole over there. I personnally can not wait for the hammer to drop on the Aubies. When everything is said and done Auburn will be reduced to something less than Troy University, they will be voted out of the SEC by the remaining members, and replaced by a worthy school. Keep on talking all the crap, idiot.
rogeriter
April 5th, 2011
12:39 pm
Dawgfan–It’s not so much you being critical as it is your arrogance in thinking you know more than the coaches–yet no one is trying to hire you. Maybe your making too much money and just not accepting all of their offers.
chc4
April 5th, 2011
1:07 pm
Branden Smith needs to become a decent CB before he thinks about offense. He’s been a big underachiever up to now. Vance Cuff was ahead of him most of the year for pete’s sake!
As for special teams. Smith needs to stop carrying the ball like a sack of Wonder bread. He’s a high fumble risk every darn time.
1eyedJack
April 5th, 2011
1:25 pm
Will we have to endure 5 more months of moaning and grumbling until we have a chance to put the world back into it’s rightful orbit? Just go somewhere. You ain’t got to go home….just get the he11 up outta here.
AltamahaDawg
April 5th, 2011
1:30 pm
Somebody was “hyping them”? really?
yea, just presenting the facts right.
dawgfan
April 5th, 2011
1:46 pm
Well, I guess I’m not getting invited to the Christmas party this year.
rogeriter, you don’t have to be a doctor to know that cancer is a bad thing. Catch my drift? Probably not.
This is a waste of time. It is apparent that most of your opinions are based on emotion and not facts. We all have that warm and fuzzy place in our hearts for Coach Richt. Up until 2008 we had a lot of fun with him as the coach. I just think the fun is over and I have seen nothing in 3 years that tells me otherwise. Don’t attack me because I choose to base my opinion on facts. More importantly, don’t read my posts if you don’t like them.
Thanks.
DawginLex
April 5th, 2011
1:54 pm
dawgfan,
Why won’t you answer my question?
It could be therapeutic………….
ncbulldawg86
April 5th, 2011
2:03 pm
Hey, “Jack Webb”dawg!!! What an exciting person you must be to have a conversation with. I bet your story telling is even more impressive. Just the “facts”… oh, please, get over yourself. I wonder how many more ways you can keep saying the exact same thing over, and over, and over and over again? Let me guess, you have zero faith in the coaching staff and the Dawgs suck, is that about right? We get it. Now here is an idea, let’s try moving on to a new topic to ramble on about, or… is that too much to ask?
AltamahaDawg
April 5th, 2011
2:27 pm
That’s funny, we are all in here talking all the time about specific players, and scoring margins, and staff, and key match up, and classes, and people. You know all that emotional stuff.
While you are putting out all that factual information like “clueless idiot”, “living in the past” “sand in your eyes”. The closest thing you come to factual is referencing games from year ago, and you can’t even talk about them without tossing out trite phrases. Your whole thesis is emotionally based. You can claim not, but it so clearly is. Oh yea, you got that 6-7 down pat. Has anyone disagreed with that?
FACT is the past does not dictate the future. (although FACTS from the not so far past are pretty good too). FACT is you have no earthy idea whats going to happen. FACT is your qualification to judge what is going on is purely amateur same as the rest of us.
Biggest FACT is the one you refuse to deal with , and that is that Richt is the coach now and the FACT is you have 2 choices, right now. You are emotionally pretending that you have more. It’s not a FACT, but its pretty darn safe bet that Richt will be the coach next year too.
You are the one ignoring the facts. You are dealing in opinions, wishes, and wants.
Dawg Gone
April 5th, 2011
2:36 pm
AltamahaDawg my hat is off to you but unless I’m mistaken dawgfan is anything but one…not because he is the anti-koolaid drinker, a realist in a universe of us emotional underachievers like us..no its just because he is not a UGA fan…I’m thinking he is a Bug that has more patience than most , he bashes and deflects just to try and get our goats…you bring stat’s and adult discussion to him and he acts defensive…I admire your patience but I’m thinking he is not changing…and if he does it will only be to come out of the closet as it were.
cadawg
April 5th, 2011
2:41 pm
no one is less factual than the fact-mongers on these boards. cheers, altamahadawg.
dawgfan
April 5th, 2011
2:43 pm
Dawginlex, what I want done right now is to get a new coach. As you pointed out, that isn’t happening. That’s why I’m miserable. Its just going to be the same crap this year that we’ve seen the past 3 years. We’re always “rebuilding.” The refs are always after us. Injuries are insurmountable. I’m just fed up with it all. We need some new blood. All of you mamby pamby fans will be saying the exact same thing at the end of this year. Mark my word.
WIN WITH RICHT
April 5th, 2011
2:45 pm
All the Richt bashers are going to be eating crow after the 2011 season is over.
AltamahaDawg
April 5th, 2011
2:53 pm
Wasn’t a single FACT in that 2:43 post. 100% emotional. Had way more to do with you, than it had anything to do with football.
AltamahaDawg
April 5th, 2011
3:01 pm
nah, he’s a follower of the University Of Georgia football team. I don’t doubt that. Can’t help thinking like 20 yr olds do these days.
I blame to much overly dramatic fake reality TV.
DawginLex
April 5th, 2011
3:03 pm
dawgfan,
So in other words, you don’t have an answer, just a bunch of griping.
Richt is going to be the coach-THAT IS A FACT
Now you must decide if you are going to support him, the staff and the team or not.
Pretty simple.
Your blog handle is a lie.
Call me dumb, delusional getting my hopes up whatever. You are dam right I get my hopes up. It’s Georgia football and I am a DAWG.
I’m not going to apologize for it.
WIN WITH RICHT
April 5th, 2011
3:19 pm
We have a coach that is a proven winner. He is averaging nearly 10 wins a season and has finished ranked in the top ten 6 out of ten years. Georgia was one play away from playing for a NC in both 2002 & 2007. Richt will have the Dawgs playing for a NC soon.
TrueDawg
April 5th, 2011
3:27 pm
why are there so many Au”bum” players posting on this blog? the east is like AA football? since the SEC champ game has been played The East has dominated it until last 2 years…look at the record. I know as a Dawg fan UF has got the best of us the past few years, but The Dawgs have owned Auburn the same way..go back check the records.
Win or Loose, I’ll be yelling Go Dawgs come sept in the Dome. Stand behind CMR this year..He has earned that!! after this year..we’ll see. I believe when he leaves, We’ll all miss him and not know how good we had it!
Brucerugby79
April 5th, 2011
3:36 pm
Hey ALL IN at least we can spell,You didn’t even go to Auburn.
WIN WITH RICHT
April 5th, 2011
3:38 pm
True Dawg
You are right. In thirty years before Richt, UGA had only won 1 SEC title without Herschel Walker. Now these fair weather fans are shocked when we don’t win it every year.
BYRDDAWG
April 5th, 2011
3:42 pm
Win, you got that right! I was a freshman with the WALKER DAWG & I know how precious SEC titles are…GO DAWGS
Joey
April 5th, 2011
3:44 pm
Coaches all say Lemay is behind, but said that last year about Mettenberger too. I’ll judge on G-DFay with my own eyes.
My guess? Lemay will outplay Murray, and Mason will outplay Lemay.
Sorry, I just have no confidence in Murray after last G-Day, Florida, Bowl game, Murray tends to choke under pressure. 0-6 against ranked teams? Really, we can do better.
jasont13
April 5th, 2011
3:53 pm
DawginLex, I’ve asked numerous times on these blogs for the Richt haters to not only name a new coach but list a staff. What’s funny is on every occasion I do not get an answer. Real fans stand by their team/school no matter what the situation may be.
jasont13
April 5th, 2011
3:54 pm
Screen name used to be Marcus and nows its Joey….
AltamahaDawg
April 5th, 2011
3:58 pm
To be fair, nobody is calling for winning it every time. Can’t really get on somebody for saying “somebody is a clueless idiot” and then exagerate that other side at the same time. I think 6-7 deserves some complaining/concern. I dont know that anyone was really expecting a SEC crown last year either.
However winning it in the past, several times, is factually a point worth making. Clearly this coach knows how and can. Stating there is Nothing to prove he can is simply false and emotions speaking.
Joey
April 5th, 2011
3:58 pm
Check out Lemay’s highlight videos on youtube. Can’t wait for him tto strut his stuff on G-Day.
The new era dawining soon….
DawginLex
April 5th, 2011
3:59 pm
Hey Joey,
You back for more abuse?
riddle me this:
You checked LSU QB depth chart lately?
1.)Jefferson
2.)Lee
3.)Mettenberger
He can’t beat out Jarrett “Pick 6″ Lee yet you say he was our savior that “transferred”.
Bottom line is I was correct.
He will be more like Daniel Cobb-go look him up if you are too young to remember.
You have been abused.
Dawg Gone
April 5th, 2011
4:03 pm
Joey really not sold on Murray…in the UF game he made a red-shirt freshman mistake and we lost..but Joey he brought us back from 2 scores down at the half to send the game into O.T..what UGA QB last did that?
WIN WITH RICHT
April 5th, 2011
4:04 pm
Joey
You are obviously a pure judge of talent. Everyone else seems to feel that Murray will challenge for All-Sec this year.
DawginLex
April 5th, 2011
4:04 pm
Oh Joey, more abuse for you loser.
I thought Logan Gray was going to be the starting QB for the University of Colorado this year according to you.
Funny thing, I don’t see him mentioned in the article…….
http://www.buffzone.com/ci_17760317?source=rss_viewed
Abused again
RakkasanDawg
April 5th, 2011
4:07 pm
Is Garrison Smith still on the roster? I remember him coming out of high school highly rated and have not heard of that young man since.
Joey
April 5th, 2011
4:11 pm
Can’t wait for G-Day so we can see Aaron “I’m a nervous wreck under pressure” Murray try and go up against Christian “Mr. Poise” Lemay.
Start the drum beat, change is coming to Athens….
AltamahaDawg
April 5th, 2011
4:11 pm
Joey, Lemay just set foot on campus, I have a feeling he IS behind. Although what coach said he was “behind”? They said he was learning right? At the pace you could expect a guy to be just getting there. I thought they actually said he was doing very well.
Mettenberger was in his second year. Thats not much of a comparison, is it? (You may recall that was his second G-day game. Failed to complete a forward pass in the first one, it seems like.) I don’t really remember them actually saying anything about him being “behind” going into that game last year. Why woudl it even matter? His fate was sealed long before that, and G-Day was nothing more than a scripted tryout for his next school. Richt was extremely generous to do that for him.
Takes a keen eye to see through all that fog, and know what they really meant to say I guess.
DawginLex
April 5th, 2011
4:13 pm
Altamaha,
Joey has been shown to be an idiot. He focused his venom on Murray saying Gray and Mett were better and should have been playing.
Gray nowhere to be found at CU
Mett 3rd string at LSU
Now Lemay will get all of his support
Joey, I hope Lemay is good and can play some series this fall but it is not going to change the FACT that Murray will be All-SEC this year.
Idiot.
DawginLex
April 5th, 2011
4:15 pm
Rakassan,
Garrison smith is listed on the spring roster
6′3″ 294 pounds DE
DawginLex
April 5th, 2011
4:16 pm
Hey Joey,
Show me where Logan Gray is going to start for Colorado this year.
Show me where Zach Mettenberger is going to start for LSU this year.
You can’t can you?
ABUSED
ABUSED
ABUSED
ABUSED
ABUSED
ABUSED
ABUSED
RakkasanDawg
April 5th, 2011
4:18 pm
Thank you Lex. I thought that young man was going to be an impact player when he signed. I hope that will still be the case. So far, minus Jakar Hamilton’s bonehead comments, I’ve been pleasently suprised with the Dawgs so far this spring.
DawginLex
April 5th, 2011
4:19 pm
http://gridironfans.com/forums/sec-discussion/153780-lsu-qb-jordan-jefferson-still-top-depth.html
********************************************************************
1. Jefferson
2. Lee
3. Mett
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
ABUSED JOEY
LOSER
Joey
April 5th, 2011
4:20 pm
We gonna see on G-Day if Richt right about Lemay being so ‘far behind”.
I get a chuckle out of that one.
Watch him smoke Murray.
Joey
April 5th, 2011
4:21 pm
G-Day will reveal if Richt’s shooting straight about Lemay’s development. Watch and see,
In a few days, the legend begins…..
DawginLex
April 5th, 2011
4:24 pm
joey just ain’t too bright is he boys?