Recent dismissals, arrest leave Georgia with secondary concerns
The dismissal last week of three Georgia football players coupled with the legal trouble facing Sanders Commings has left put the Bulldogs in a pinch in the secondary.
Initially thought to be a team strength heading into the 2012 season, Georgia’s defensive backfield is suddenly left precariously thin and extremely vulnerable after head coach Mark Richt booted off the team Nick Marshall and Chris Sanders. Including the departure of three other defensive backs since the start of last season — Jakar Hamilton, Derek Owens and Jordan Love all left, allegedly of their own volition — that leaves the Bulldogs with just nine scholarship defensive backs heading into spring practice next month.
Included in that number is senior and starting cornerback Sanders Commings. However, Commings is not expected to be available for at least the first couple of games next season due to his arrest on a domestic violence/simple battery charge last month. Unless those charges end up getting dropped, Commings is likely looking at a suspension of at least two games.
Game 2 is, of course, on the road against pass-happy Missouri. The Tigers return starting quarterback James Franklin, leading receiver T.J. Moe and two other receivers with 20 or more catches from last season. Meanwhile, they added wide receiver Dorial Green-Beckham, the nation’s No. 1 overall recruiting prospect, on national signing day.
The Bulldogs will play most of the season with four senior starters — Commings and Branden Smith at the corners and Bacarri Rambo and Shawn Williams at the safeties. Rising sophomore Damian Swann figures to fill in for Commings. But Swann is likely to be the starting nickelback as well and, as we’ve seen, Georgia probably plays 66 percent of the time in its nickel package.
So which players will be the sixth and seventh defensive backs on the field for the Bulldogs is the real issue here. It will have to come from a group that includes sophomore safeties Marc Deas, Corey Moore and Quintavious Harrow, redshirt freshman Devin Bowman and true freshman and recent signee Sheldon Dawson of Memphis. Georgia also has several walkons in the secondary, including juniors Blake Sailors and Luis Capella and sophomore Connor Norman. But generally if you’re having to play walkons you’ve got problems.
The lack of depth could affect the Bulldogs in other places as well. Branden Smith, for instance, was expected to return kicks and take some snaps on offense. But the Bulldogs might need to weigh the risk of Smith multitasking against the possibility of injury and/or fatigue. They’re going to need Smith to play great on defense next season, first and foremost.
And what about Georgia’s defense beyond this season? Again, all four starters are seniors. Who are the cornerbacks of the future? Are they on campus yet? Are there some 2013 prospects that are good enough to come in and start in the SEC?
Granted, that is a somewhat pessimistic view. As we’ve seen from defensive coordinator Todd Grantham, he has a decidedly NFL mentality when it comes to playing time, keeping his starters in the game for the entirety regardless of time or score. And his very mantra is to put the 11 best players on the field regardless of their declared position. You’ll never hear a coach, particularly that one, say they can’t get it done.
Here’s another thought: Would Georgia dare play Malcolm Mitchell on that side of the ball? The rising sophomore was the Bulldogs’ most explosive wide receiver last season. But he was, after all, considered one of the best DBs in the nation coming out of Valdosta High. Could he play defense even part-time?
All food for thought. It’s not my intention to preach doom-and-gloom for Georgia’s secondary. Again, at full strength and with everybody present and accounted for, there are few defensive backfields in the nation that can compare. But suffice it to say, injuries or further attrition of any sort could spell big trouble for this secondary.
Again, a brief rundown:
LOST DBs
- S Jakar Hamilton, transfer
- CB Jordan Love, transfer
- CB Nick Marshall, dismissed
- CB/S Chris Sanders, dismissed
- CB/S Derek Owens, transfer
STARTERS
- CB Sanders Commings, Sr.
- CB Branden Smith, Sr.
- SS Shawn Williams, Sr.
- FS Bacarri Rambo, Sr.
RETURNEES
- CB Damian Swann, So.
- S Marc Deas, So.
- S Corey Moore, So.
- S Quintavious Harrow, So.
- CB Devin Bowman, RFr.
ADDITIONS
- CB Sheldon Dawson, TFr.
WALKONS
- CB Luis Capella, Jr.
- CB Corey Dunson, Jr.
- SS Autin Herod, Jr.
- SS Connor Norman, So.
- CB Blake Sailors, Jr.
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321 comments Add your comment
roughrider
February 7th, 2012
5:35 pm
GTBob: Your life seems to revolve arguing with these college boys. Grow up and get a life.
GTBob
February 7th, 2012
5:41 pm
Ask WVU how good one of the top ACC teams can make your offense look.
Clemson certainly had a monumental breakdown in that game. WVU pretty much thrashed LSU though so it’s not a very good comparison.
Gary
February 7th, 2012
5:44 pm
GTBob, I am pretty sure the difference is we play defense as a conference as well as offense. Plain and simple it is hard to score in the SEC, just ask your power offense coach. Teams like Oregon, Ok St have flashy offensive but tend to give up a ton of points. While they are currently struggling with a new coach, the only team Florida ever struggled to score against was Bama. Difference is they also played damn good defense too. LSU does not have a pretty offense but their D makes up for it and helps make the rest of the SEC offenses look pretty bad. I am pretty sure Auburn won with offense in 2010. Cam Newton, Tim Tebow, Percy Harvin, N. Moreno, AJ Green…. I could go on all day about great offensive players from the SEC. The main reason for their success in the NFL is not just talent, but also facing SEC defenses week to week.
GTBob
February 7th, 2012
5:45 pm
That’s a bit misleading. The SEC actually plays defense. Outside of Clown U and VT, who plays defense in the ACC?
That is any SEC fans argument. Its ok that we have bad QB’s and terrible offensive teams because we can always just every SEC team has an unstoppable defense. Sorry, its a weak defense. It doesn’t mean that the SEC doesn’t play good defense because they do, but they are also completely awful on offense.
Gary
February 7th, 2012
5:47 pm
I am sorry? WV thrashed LSU? Did you even read how impressed the WV coaches were with LSU. WV is a pretty rowdy stadium. They even get to sell coctails. LSU walked in like they owned the place according to the WV head coach and played that way from start to finish.
Beast from the East
February 7th, 2012
5:50 pm
“WVU pretty much thrashed LSU though so it’s not a very good comparison.”
Since when is a 47-21 road win a thrashing? I would say (along with any reasonable person) that LSU beat the hell out of WVU. Keep it real, Bob.
GTBob
February 7th, 2012
5:50 pm
While they are currently struggling with a new coach, the only team Florida ever struggled to score against was Bama.
What? Florida was one of the worst offensive teams in the country. They actually scored less points against Auburn and Florida St then they did against Alabama.
Stinger2
February 7th, 2012
5:52 pm
GTBob: I just left GT blog announcing S. Hill is invited to the combine. Did not see a single post from you. Maybe you could give these UGA folks a break and go to your own school`s blog is you have anything worth while to post.
GTBob
February 7th, 2012
5:53 pm
Since when is a 47-21 road win a thrashing? I would say (along with any reasonable person) that LSU beat the hell out of WVU. Keep it real, Bob.
WVU put up 533 yards in that game and pretty much moved the ball at will. That was more points and yards then any SEC team even came close to against LSU.
Beast from the East
February 7th, 2012
5:53 pm
OK Bob, the ACC is far superior on offense, defense and special teams. They also have the head-to-head and bowl records to support that. Feel better? You and I both know it’s a lie, but if you say it enough you just might start to believe it.
Rich
February 7th, 2012
5:55 pm
Malcolm Mitchell will probably see a lot of PT in the secondary until the depth gets situated. Also, Josh Harvey-Clemons can play strong safety if we need him too much like we did with Alec Ogletree when he was too small to play LB. Justin Scott-Wesley and Blake Tibbs also has the size and speed to play in the secondary if needed as well. Also there have been rumors that Chris Sanders will get reinstated but who knows. 2013 is the year to worry about in the defensive backfield, not 2012.
GTBob
February 7th, 2012
5:55 pm
GTBob: I just left GT blog announcing S. Hill is invited to the combine. Did not see a single post from you.
Everybody knew Stephen Hill would be invited to the combine, and getting invited to the combine isn’t exactly news. This conversation is more interesting.
Beast from the East
February 7th, 2012
5:55 pm
“WVU put up 533 yards in that game and pretty much moved the ball at will.”
Yep, but only managed 21 points. Hung 70 on the ACC bowl rep. Who got thrashed?????????
GTBob
February 7th, 2012
5:57 pm
Beast from the East, I never said the ACC was better on defense or special teams. Frankly they aren’t even close. They are much better on offense and QB play though.
Beast from the East
February 7th, 2012
5:59 pm
“They are much better on offense and QB play though.”
Against the inferior defenses of the ACC. Once again, besides the Semis and the Hokies, who plays defense in the ACC?
GTBob
February 7th, 2012
6:00 pm
Yep, but only managed 21 points. Hung 70 on the ACC bowl rep. Who got thrashed?????????
Both. If you watched the LSU/WVU game and thought LSU looked good on defense then you have a screw loose.
Techster
February 7th, 2012
6:01 pm
Just wondering — on a typical Fall Saturday, how many dog players are wearing police monitors on their ankles. Does anyone have the stats on that?
Beast from the East
February 7th, 2012
6:02 pm
The SEC wasn’t as good as usual of the offensive side of the ball as previous years, but I still think some of that was due to the great defenses in the SEC. 6 of the top 18 defenses in the country. No other conference was even close on that side of the ball.
GTBob
February 7th, 2012
6:03 pm
Against the inferior defenses of the ACC. Once again, besides the Semis and the Hokies, who plays defense in the ACC?
The ACC isn’t great at defense as a whole, but they are better on defense then the SEC is on offense.
RedandBlack
February 7th, 2012
6:04 pm
Is the signing period over for 2012? Can the Bulldogs still sign some eligible High School Seniors that have not yet committed to a college or university? What about possible Junior College Players? Surely, there are some six foot athletes out there that can cover in the defensive backfield. It is time to beat the bushes, and there is still time to do so. Go Dogs!!
Beast from the East
February 7th, 2012
6:04 pm
GTBob,
No doubt WVU moved the ball on LSU, but you have to give LSU credit for coming up big in the redzone and on special teams. That’s what they did all year and it took them all the way to the BCSCG.
Buzz2011
February 7th, 2012
6:05 pm
The Dawg secondary concerns are secondary..Where is the head coach and where is the discipline they require? Could they get Spurrier out of South Carolina?
GTBob
February 7th, 2012
6:05 pm
6 of the top 18 defenses in the country.
Yep, and 6 of the worst 22 offenses in the country.
Beast from the East
February 7th, 2012
6:07 pm
GTBob,
Think one has anything to do with the other?
GTBob
February 7th, 2012
6:09 pm
No doubt WVU moved the ball on LSU, but you have to give LSU credit for coming up big in the redzone and on special teams.
I would but a week before that, WVU had a tougher time moving the ball against the worst team in the ACC. Pittsburgh completely shut WVU down compared to LSU. It was an awful defensive performance which never seems to occur against SEC teams.
GTBob
February 7th, 2012
6:12 pm
GTBob,
Think one has anything to do with the other?
Of course they influence each other but the entire SEC outside of Arkansas has pretty poor offensive numbers. All of these teams play cupcakes and the SEC bottom feeders so it doesn’t make sense that none of them can put up decent overall offensive numbers.
Beast from the East
February 7th, 2012
6:14 pm
GTBob,
We’ll just have to agree to disagree.
Junior
February 7th, 2012
6:20 pm
When UGA gets a real good coach, call me at BR-549. I will give him a gallon of real good moonshine.
LakeDawg
February 7th, 2012
6:22 pm
Barring injuries, I don’t think the Dawgs are in trouble for the upcoming season. They are two deep with SEC caliber DBs. Even if the backups are inexperienced. Next recruiting season though, they will need to stock up with DBs, OL, aand inside backers.
Jerry Sanduskey
February 7th, 2012
6:24 pm
I will take care of those problem case young men, they will be squeelin like pigs in no time!
LakeDawg
February 7th, 2012
6:56 pm
The SEC offenses looked horrible until they played out of the conference.
Jborodawg
February 7th, 2012
7:09 pm
We’ll be a little thin at DB, but we’ll be okay….as long as we continue to have an overall dominating D.
I’m not sure about the comment that CTG doesn’t substitute during the games. I’ve seen a good bit of it.
And, yes, players who’ve been dismissed can also do penance and earn their way back. Just have to wait and see.
Have to admit, it’s a sad situation. Hope those guys get their acts together.
Sautee Dawg
February 7th, 2012
7:20 pm
Wet Willie
Don’t go counting on these 2 players being on Bammers roster yet, Or were you counting them toward Bammers Greyshirt number for 2013? Or did you have 2 seniors you were thinking about medicaly kicking off the current squad to make room?
you do know that 2 players with more stars might come along between now and signing date 2013 that bammer would rather sign don;t you?
Monkey
February 7th, 2012
7:20 pm
First, I have to agree with another post. Michael Carvell is completely a UGA writer who is only out to “turn”, “sway” and push recruits away from Other schools and towards UGA with biased post. He needs to get a job at one of the Georgia websites where he will be loved for his posts than falsely reporting under the AJC Sports banner.
Now onto the Grantham run UGA defense. Unless a coach comes in with great players already on the team it is hard to play great defense for 11 or 12 games. All good coordinators need at least 2 springs, summers and falls to get the kids to fully understand what they are teaching and to get the prototype players in place to play at the level and to be in position he wants them in.
I am not a UGA fan(no Duh!) but I respect the job he is doing and I put him in the top 3 or 4 coordinators in the conference.
jalex49
February 7th, 2012
7:28 pm
The db group is fine. Georgia has Branden Smith, Davin Bowman, Damian Swann Marc Deas, Derrick Owens, and now Sheldon Dawson.
They also have a couple guys on offense that could fill in quite nicely if need be-but I don’t think that will need to happen.
Georgia is just fine and with Todd Grantham at the helm of the defense it will be solid. I do hope they get the rb/db from GMC, to add to the depth, but don’t know if it’s really necessary?
Besides, Georgia could look at some unsigned db’s that may not be four or five stars but have the ability to develop in the Georgia system and contribute?
As far as the OL, if they feel Georgia isn’t for them ,that’s their choice and although I would love to have seen them stay, I feel better with what’s currently on the roster and what Georgia signed for 2012.
kral
February 7th, 2012
7:50 pm
wet saw you live in concert in the 70’s it was great..
DPete
February 7th, 2012
8:02 pm
What about B. Sailors? Dude was a stud on special teams last year. It’s also possible Todd Gurley could play DB.
Big Jacket
February 7th, 2012
8:20 pm
Funny how easily GTBob can frustrate the Dawgs with simple math and logic.
kral
February 7th, 2012
8:43 pm
yes big j..he uses the scientific blog method…comparing one thing to another on a blog is easy…but factually..deductions without true correlation are worth spit in the wind…stay down wind when blogging..or carry kleenex…simple math
Vince says he'd fire Adam$
February 7th, 2012
8:53 pm
“We will beat UGA and win a bowl game at some point. Who knows when, but statistically speaking it has to happen eventually.”
___________________________________________________________
Georgia tek is what flipping a coin repeatedly ? At some point, statistically speaking, it is going to come up heads ? Excuse me, GTBoob, sir, in football, the coin flip comes only before the game – and, all that determines is who has the choice first, to defer to 2nd half, or to receive the beginning of the game. There is no other coin flip in football. Georgia tek recruits # 58 rankings and # 52 rankings in recruiting and UGA recruits # 7 and # 11 rankings in recruiting. Georgia has beat Georgia tek 10 of the 11 games of our current head coach. It has nothing to do with coin flipping, statistically speaking, that Georgia tek will beat UGA, other than statistically speaking Georgia tek should not have won the 1 game against UGA you did win. And, as for bowl games, Georgia tek has not won a Major Bowl Game since 1955, fifty-seven years ago.
If there are any, statistically speaking, points which can be made about Georgia tek : They are that Georgia tek again will most likely lose its bowl game, it will be a lesser bowl game we are then discussing you lost again to. And, They are that Georgia tek will again lose to UGA, as you have done 10 of the 11 years of Mark Richt.
AltamahaDawg
February 7th, 2012
8:53 pm
I’m real sure that wet willie would gladly show folks that know him in real life, his little cartoon character in here.
Vince says he'd fire Adam$
February 7th, 2012
8:59 pm
As for the reply to me that we are improving with a 10-win season :
There are 27 teams who just put up a 10-win season 2011. Of the 27, we not only beat none of them, but we also had the Most Losses with 4.
Perhaps you consider that improving ?
Obviously.
I do not consider that anywhere near acceptable that Georgia has lost 9 games in a row to teams who finish in the top 25, nor do I consider that Georgia has lost the last 7 games in a row who finish top10 to be anywhere near acceptable either.
Obviously you do.
That is the problem around here :
6 years and 25 Losses the last 6 years to show for it.
And, THAT is improving ?
Hogwash.
27 teams had 10-win seasons.
Do not bring this weak BS about us having a 10-win season with 27 others who did that as well, and we dead last of the 27 with 4-loss season, again.
Like we always do.
Verne Lundquist
February 7th, 2012
9:10 pm
With Jarvis Jones and our front 7, who needs a pass rush?
Verne Lundquist
February 7th, 2012
9:10 pm
I meant to say who needs a secondary?
kral
February 7th, 2012
9:18 pm
Let’s see..we won 8..6…10
kral
February 7th, 2012
9:23 pm
comparing to 27 others..and we were the worse team of the 27….another example of the scientific blogging method
G Marmalard
February 7th, 2012
9:26 pm
How did Lsu even make it to the national championship? Terrible offense and mediocre defense. Man they got lucky. I guess if they played in the acc they would have gotten pummeled since the ACC offenses are tremendous and defense is only slightly behind SEC.
G Marmalard
February 7th, 2012
9:35 pm
Gt has better offense and Pitt has better d. Man Lsu and sec are bad. Gtbob has convinced me with his irrefutable logic.
flo-ri-duh
February 7th, 2012
9:44 pm
Aubarn, Bummer, Tenn & LSU have already inquired about Marshall. FSU is also being considered. Maybe UGA should hve suspended them for one year instead of releasing them to the competition.
athdog
February 7th, 2012
9:46 pm
Well, Coach Bobo could help our defense by committing to the run against a Mizzou Big Twelve defense. Of course, we’ll go deep on first, overthrown, run on second and ten, for two yards and throw a screen on third and eight for four yards.