Wide receivers: No A.J. Green, but plenty of options
We’re about one month away from the start of preseason football practices in Athens, so it’s time to start taking a closer look at Georgia’s 2011 football team. This is the second in a series of articles in which I’ll be breaking down each of the Bulldogs’ position groups to give you an idea who are the projected starters and what the expectations might be for this season. Then, as always, we’ll throw it open for your commentary and analysis. There are only 63 days until Georgia’s season opener against Boise State. Let’s get busy. . . .
Tavarres King hauls in one of his three TD catches last year in a game against Mississippi State. Georgia hopes to see more of this in 2011(AP photo)
WIDE RECEIVERS
- Projected starters: SE Marlon Brown (Jr., 6-5, 222), FL Tavarres King (Jr., 6-1, 192), FL Rantavious Wooten (Jr., 5-10, 185)
- Others to watch: Israel Troupe, Michael Bennett, Chris Conley and Malcolm Mitchell will likely get a chance to show their wares early as Georgia operates in a six-receiver rotation.
- Key losses: They don’t get any more significant than A.J. Green, who was snapped up by the Cincinnati Bengals with the fourth pick of the NFL draft after his junior season and left as arguably the Bulldogs’ best receiver of all time. Green and fellow NFL draftee Kris Durham were the Bulldogs’ top two pass catchers last season with 89 between them.
- Key fact: A fairly experienced group returns. King, Brown, Wooten and Troupe have played in 103 games between them, so knowing what to do and how to do it should not be a issue. King proved to be a solid secondary option opposite Green, hauling in 47 catches the last two seasons at a hefty 20 yards per catch. Brown, a former five-star prospect and No. 1 player in Tennessee, is poised for a breakout season. He had 11 catches and his first TD in 2010 and the Bulldogs named him Most Improved Receiver.
- Key question: Are multiple good options better than one great option? With Green on the field, quarterback Aaron Murray understandably had a tendency to throw the ball his way despite what coverages might have dictated. With no clear dominant force at wideout, Murray will likely need to be more reliant on his ability to read the defense and find the open man.
- Recent developments: Expect young players to have an impact as the Bulldogs search for a big-play threat during preseason camp. Conley, an AJC Super 11 selection out of North Paulding High School, enrolled early and impressed in spring practice. And the late recruiting victory for Mitchell, who had more than 1,400 yards receiving as a senior at Valdosta, could be a real X factor. He’ll be given every opportunity to prove himself and earn playing time.
- Outlook: Fair to good. Losing a mega-talent such as Green would seem to indicate an overall downgrade. But the Bulldogs have several players who have been toiling in his shadow and are eager to prove their worth. With a first-rate group of tight ends already in the fold, Georgia needs only two or three reliable targets out of this group to be effective and it says here it will have that and then some.
- Your turn: What do you think about Georgia’s wide receiver corps?
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346 comments Add your comment
AltamahaDawg
July 2nd, 2011
9:44 pm
One thing I am glad that Richt changed was the “running game co-ordinator” position. It gave him an excuse to put McClendon as the RB postion coach , which I believe was a mistake, and also I think if Bobo is going to get the blame for the Running game, he aught to have control over it. I understand that EVERYbody believed CSS was da man when he first came over from LSU, and I imagine Richt was trying to help his young OC out with the separation of duties, but clearly it didn’t work.
DAWG 73
July 2nd, 2011
9:49 pm
What killed us last year was lack of strength and fitness tp “finish the drill”. We pooped every time in the 3rd quarter. With Joe T and his staff I am confident we will do much better. We have the talent.
Biggdawgk
July 2nd, 2011
10:57 pm
Excellent
Valdosta Cat
July 2nd, 2011
11:00 pm
I am telling you guys right now – Malcolm Mitchell will be a star before it is all said and done. This id is EXPLOSIVE!! If he stays healthy he will be All-SEC before he graduates. The kid is a player. He is the best high school receiver I have seen in my 52 years of watching football. GO DAWGS!!
dawggie dawg
July 2nd, 2011
11:32 pm
well The Coach who I think butt is on the line is BoBo.He really needs to show a lot of improvement on play calling.I like A.J. Green,but I think our wide receivers will be much better since Murray won’t have to focused on one guy.MB needs to step up and be the man.
Armchair QB
July 3rd, 2011
12:01 am
from where I sit, things are looking pretty dismal for the Dawgs this season.
Hairy Dawg
July 3rd, 2011
3:16 am
The only thing goning be dismal this years is the hating on Coach Richt. He more Christian and leading us to dominants and winning this year to shut pie hole of bad fans. Dawgs is good from talents but got to fix Adams trying to control when Dawgs run Athens.
Stinger2
July 3rd, 2011
5:53 am
Dawg fans seem to have all kinds of answers as to why they had an off-year in 2010. On this blog, these ranged from poor OL play, poor defense, turnovers at at bad time, poor coaching, and etc. Amusing because if all of these reasons were correct, they would not have won any games. I think the real reason they went 6-7 was simply that the team was not as good as the fans thought they should be. This is always the problem at UGA…..fans…most of whom have expectations off the charts every year. Relax people…its only football.
It Ain't Rocket Science
July 3rd, 2011
5:56 am
CMR has the highest winning percentage of any UGA coach with over 5 years at UGA. CMR has the best bowl record of anybody who has coached at UGAS for over 5 years. CMR has had a team in a bowl game for every year he has coached at UGA.
He has earned the right to see if he can’t get the team, improved over the last couple of years. He should also have earned the right to some fan support as well.
Beast from the East
July 3rd, 2011
6:04 am
“He didn’t give up like Fulmer, quit like Meyer, or let his ego get the better of him bolt for the NFL only to come back like Spurrier and Saban.”
DG,
He hasn’t been offered a job by the NFL, so we have no idea if he would “let his ego get the better of him”.
mustard dog
July 3rd, 2011
6:15 am
DG…. Richt is an extremely good coach??? Well. I guess that is your opinion. Richt had the guts to change his defense??? Hell, he didn’t have much choice now did he? I hope people like you and Rogeriter are happy after we endure another season of this extremely good coach that had the guts to change the defense. Richt is not smart enough to evaluate who he needs to surround himself with as ass’t coaches. He got by for awhile with Donnan fodder. 3 games this past season I watched him keep playing with that hair and wearing sunglasses while being expressionless as we got beat. He is a phony head coach that implements changing colors, jumping off diving boards, celebrating in the end zone, etc. as substitutes for real coaching. He has no clue mentally as how to approach the Florida game and if you don’t believe it just look at the record. The quicker Richt and company ccan be vacated the quicker you will see a better football team. Richt is too worried about his tan and that hair to worry about the game.
old time dog
July 3rd, 2011
6:34 am
eYe feel Richt surely is aware that he took his foot off the pedal. eYe agree that his gimmicks and immaturity have been a major reason he has shown no obvious control over the team at times. He appeared to be a fairly good offensive football mind for a number of years but apparently lacked the staypower and fortitude to continue in the vein and passed the reins off to Bobo. His choices of assistants show maps of burning bridges and obvious poor calculation on his part. To me and obviously numerous others, he has proven to be outcoached by some of the league’s finest. Being beaten by another team is one thing but appearing not prepared and too hesitant is something entirely different. Bob made a great point earlier that due to salary he has no impetus to really do any better. He has had it made folks. We have gotten a nickle’s return for every dollar. I am as loyal a UGA as any but feel Mr. Richt needs to dig hard and then some if things ever change.
1962 Dawg
July 3rd, 2011
6:36 am
Stinger2
Your assesment of UGA’s problems this past season is our fans expectations?
Ofcourse we as UGA fans expect to win every game, dont you as a fan of Tech expect to win every game? If not you’re not much of a fan.
These comments coming from a fan whose team don’t seem to have any fans, the only sellout Tech has had in the past few seasons was the UGA game in 09. If i remember correctly UGA had more fans at that game than Tech did.
Difference in UGA fans and Tech fans is at UGA we support our team.
Tech fans don’t!!
Maybe that’s why we expect to win every game and you folks don’t!!
Fan
July 3rd, 2011
6:58 am
Richt’s record the last three years is dismal at best. Looks like a downward trend to me. My guess is 2011 will be more of the same with the same old excuses and with the same old Richt apologists saying just give him another year.
bobby
July 3rd, 2011
7:13 am
uga’s receivers have the talent to be great but outside of king their receivers are unproven. marlon brown and wooten have the abitlity there is no question about that but they’re totally unproven. To me brown is the key to this receiving core. He 6-5 over 200 pounds and does have speed, quickness, and leaping ability. He has got to be the man in this unit because of his size he a mismatch waiting to happen.
» SEC: Evans trying to rebound; Bama’s secondary violations John Clay’s Sidelines
July 3rd, 2011
7:42 am
[...] Even without A.J. Green, Georgia has options at wide receiver [...]
joe
July 3rd, 2011
8:10 am
All those reserve receivers and TE’s available and we only have two or three OL to back up our OL. Poor recruiting and planning…MR has to start recruiting at least one OL/Position each year. Injury and leaving the program has really put UGA in a dire position. No one should ever trash this OL because they are what we have. As we speak of the new recruited receivers we know it takes at least a year to develop an OL into playing time. Jones and Sturdivant were exceptions. We need to recruit and sign the five star OL and then maybe some of the WR’s will approach the level of Momass and others. No one will approach Greenes level anytime close.
GT
July 3rd, 2011
8:15 am
How can this year’s crop of receivers be as good as last year’s. And you still have the same OC and head coach.
mike bobo garbage play calling
July 3rd, 2011
8:24 am
look for tavaris to have huge year brown needs to step up troupe could also be a star
dawggone
July 3rd, 2011
8:24 am
uga has the best players, the best coaches, the best stadium, the best mascot, the best cheerleaders, the best students, the best fans and as we always do we will win the national championship this year and every year from now on.
dawggone
July 3rd, 2011
8:24 am
Oh, I almost forgot to add, uga sux
DawgToo
July 3rd, 2011
8:36 am
BOBO, just go back and look at GA and Ark game the year before. Bring back your confidence and agressiveness, geese! CMR is too nice, but don’t make him to go out of his way to save your job.
old time dog
July 3rd, 2011
8:36 am
Altamaha… I enjoy your comments but want to point out that just because someone is not pleased with our coaching and direction shouldn’t be confused with whether they are a true fan or not. Those fans that have confidence in Richt hopefully will be right and those like myself who don’t would be happy to be proven wrong. Richt shouldn’t be handed a ongoing vote of confidence based on previous shortcomings though. Losing games can be attributed to lots of factors but it is clearly apparent he has cast doubt over whether he wants to continue or not to me. Richt seemed to me like he tried to run the team on autopilot and did not have us prepared like we could have. When you look back at the discipline or lack thereof, it became a situation which seemed to even carry over throughout the games. Late hits out of bounds, stupid celebrations over just making ordinary, routine plays, having the wrong number of players on the field in more than one instance are several things that tell me something is wrong. The most perplexing thing to me was the end zone celebration in the Florida game during a time when discipline was clearly waning. That idiotic move seemed to cause the officials to sternly scrutinize us the rest of the season and Richt is damned lucky things didn’t spiral out of control between the two teams and cause a major situation. All these things are not to say he hasn’t had some good moments and is a really fine recruiter and has pretty much kept his nose clean. eYe just don’t perceive him being anything more than someone whom once they got monetarily satisfied, lost alot of their drive and focus. I sincerely hope to eat these words as a UGA fan of 52 years and see Richt regain a strong toehold.
Paul N Destin
July 3rd, 2011
8:49 am
UGA …it must still be off season because Dog fans are still talking about how good UGA will be this year.
Saint Richt
July 3rd, 2011
9:08 am
LOL HOMER…………great options. Maybe Marlon Brown’s Grandma will let him catch the ball this year?
Jack
July 3rd, 2011
9:13 am
@Paul Destin: You must have a trouble with comprehension. Most of these posts express concerns from wide receiver to running backs to coaching. You are the one stuck on stupid.
Hit A Single
July 3rd, 2011
9:14 am
Well I see the top five list is nearly completed. And I don’t mean the top five best teams, I mean the top five crooked programs.
1. Southern Cal.
2. North Carolina
3. Oregon
4. Ohio State
Tie at #5
5. Tennessee
5. Auburn (I heard they will be number one by Jan.)
Cullowheedawg
July 3rd, 2011
9:27 am
Reading all the stuff says we have a lot of possibilities, very good talent, but they need to step up. For the last several years we have heard, “FINISH THE DRILL”, well we obviously did not do that. I think it needs to ‘DRILL THE B*********S” and if we do that then we have a chance of finishing well. Also I do think we need to work on establishing the pass in all ways using the talents of our q”back and receivers so that we can also turn loose our backs and I do think Caleb has an excellent opportunity to excel and bring in IC also.
I project a 9/3 season, but that will not win the east.
Cullowheedawg
GDAWG65
July 3rd, 2011
9:42 am
It’s obvious that ‘Jacket Man’ needs to be in a straight jacket. He’s nuts.
UGA '05
July 3rd, 2011
10:08 am
Don’t worry about the o-line. Joe T is working with the whole team to make sure they can finish all 4 quarters. And by the time preseason practice rolls around, they will be able to finish strong through all 4 quarters.
dawgfan
July 3rd, 2011
10:18 am
Since Tech fans are so keen on talking about why certain teams go 6-7, let’s talk about why their joke program went 6-7. First of all, they played Georgia. That’s pretty much an automatic L on the schedule every single year. Secondly, their coach is one dimensional. If you want to lead the nation in rushing he’s your guy. If you want to win a bunch of games and play at an elite level, you might want to look elsewhere for a coach. Last but not least, Tech fans historically have a loser mentality and make excuses and rationalizations for their failures on a football field. Yes, I think this loser mentality trickles down to the players and coaches themselves. There is no accountability. Paul Johnson knows that 8 wins a year in the weak ACC will keep his job safe. The players know that Tech fans will always bail them out with the weak academic excuses. There’s just no incentive for greatness at Tech. Yes Tech fans, we UGA fans have very high expectations for our football team. What’s so wrong with that? We have balls and you don’t. Simple as that.
Thanks for reading.
Hairy Dawg
July 3rd, 2011
10:26 am
Coach Richt can’t do the one thing he needing most. That replacing Adams with supporting pres like Bammers and no more pointy headers. Us good fans got to up the pressure to bring in a pres focused on Dawgs and winning national champs instead a choking recruiting like Adams. We gots to support Coach Richt and quit trying to hot sitting him. Then Dawgs can recruit with no restrictoins like Bammers but we got more talent in state. That leads to stockpiling talent on team and at Hargraves while cutting loose the stinkys that not playing to expose talents for NFL. Once Coach Richt have no more Adams hancuffing in recruiting from Adams then he have best team in SEC with speed to winning several repeat BCS.
AltamahaDawg
July 3rd, 2011
11:21 am
old time dog, why are you giving me the “real fan” lecture? Not only have I NEVER accused anyone of being any less of a fan to be unhappy with losing football games, I have specifically stated that one has nothing to do with the other, and I have openly defended folks (whom I completely disagreed with thier point) when they were called that.
There are some folks who are so over the top negative, every post , every topic, that they blend in with the trolls that do the exact same thing. They choose that persona, so they get what they deserve in term of perception about thier support. But the fans who just post sincere, honest, factually correct criticism, I have never seen one person blast them for that. Have you?
My last post was fair criticism of Coach Richt, and I have no fear whatsoever of someone questioning my fandom. But I don’t need to trot out that straw man to cover the fact that I can’t defend some over the top emotional rant though, so why would I?
SSIgator
July 3rd, 2011
11:37 am
AltamahaDawg -
A little sensitive today. Bad night last night?
Armchair QB
July 3rd, 2011
11:40 am
Shuffle ‘em in and shuffle ‘em out … oh, and it would be nice if you’d go to class a few times while you’re here … we want to keep up appearances that we are a place of learning.
- Mark Richt recruiting pitch
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
July 3rd, 2011
12:41 pm
SSI gaterd
Altamaha is very defensive of any criticism of UGA especially his favorite coach
Dont worry bud, UGA has way too many fans like him and fans who have a lot of money that go to UGA games for a social event
The president of my company has 10 tickets and told me he doesnt care about UGA he just uses the tickets for business
Dont worry enjoy beating us year after year
Altamaha is one of the many fans who crawl up into a ball with a thumb in his mouth when we play FL, then after the beat down he cheers himself up by reminding himself that Richt is a 10 game winner
AltamahaDawg
July 3rd, 2011
12:43 pm
Pretty much the level headed response tone I give all the time.
Do you seriously not have anything better to do in your life than make sophomoric jokes in another man’s sports blog, SSI? you have to see how sad that is, right?
AltamahaDawg
July 3rd, 2011
12:50 pm
Spoken like a man who didn’t read a word I said flat tire. Well one thing is true, I have a lot in common with the guy who is the president of your company. (aside from also being the boss) I don’t get to sit back and throw darts and talk a big game and hope somebody mistakes that for DOING something. Maybe that the big differnce in how I behave about football games.
And speaking the folks in here who choose to be be pretty much indidiquishable from the trolls….raise your hand.
AltamahaDawg
July 3rd, 2011
12:51 pm
new word there.
SSIgator
July 3rd, 2011
1:14 pm
AltamahaDawg -
Good Lord man, relax a little bit. Whenever I need a little comic relief this is a great place to visit from time to time. I am also very impressed that you care so deeply about my opinions. Only last week I was “Glynn Middle School” and this week I am “sophomoric”. I am really rising fast on your chart. Maybe soon I will be at the same level of insight that you have managed to achieve. One can only hope. The Dalai Lama certainly has nothing on you oh wise one.
Smoke & Mirrors
July 3rd, 2011
1:26 pm
How can A.J. Green
be regarded as the best Georgia reciever of all time?
A.J. Greene NEVER
even cracked a 1,000 yard recieving season in three years.
What a joke.
Delbert D.
July 3rd, 2011
1:47 pm
Part of the mental conditioning problem for Murray is that a he runs through his check-downs, he has to avoid the shock factor at who he is seeing. Jeez, I thought he was a LB; OK, we’ll just chuck that one out of bounds.
AltamahaDawg
July 3rd, 2011
2:11 pm
Yes you have taken the big step to sophomoric. Now if we could only get you to act like a grown man.
goodnessgracious
July 3rd, 2011
2:35 pm
Michael Bennett
Poopdawg
July 3rd, 2011
2:45 pm
Smoke, your the joke!
Hairy Dawg
July 3rd, 2011
3:22 pm
Exactly. Smoke done smoking the funny cigaretts. AJ Greene had talent and dominants numbers and that why other team double covering all time and AJ still burned em. That shows talent and high drafting more than any other Dawg receivers.
Lydia in Senoia
July 3rd, 2011
3:25 pm
A.J. Green was a cancer to this team. They’re better off without this low class punk.
Hairy Dawg
July 3rd, 2011
3:34 pm
AJ Greene knew how to play while exposing his talents. Dawgs need a team full of players like that instead of stinkys that fumbling with bad attitude like Ealey. That why we cut Ealy this spring. Crowell is goning be 100 tines better than Ealy and may break Herschel freshman records.
mustard dog
July 3rd, 2011
3:57 pm
Altamaha, Why did you say what you did to old time dog? I went back and read some of your previous posts and you were griping about people putting Richt down. I agree with old time dog in that you don’t have to like Richt and still be a true UGA fan. You try to come across as the final word on things but your ego and big mouth say otherwise.
SSIgator
July 3rd, 2011
4:02 pm
mustard dog -
Don’t you dare insult the wise one. Did you not know he is the keeper of the KoolAid machine?