Practice goes on. (Image; Georgiadogs.com)
I took a look at the 23 new faces on the Georgia Bulldog football team, and I attempted to rank them based on their odds of redshirting. "1" being the least likely to redshirt and "23" being the most likely. Here's my list:
| Player Name | Comments | |
| 1. | Scott Haverkamp OL | JUCO looks to have locked a starting OG spot. |
| 2. | Vince Vance OL | Has already burned his redshirt at GMC. He has 3 years to play 3. |
| 3. | Trinton Sturdivant OL | Freshman starting role to protect Stafford's blindside. |
| 4. | Jarius Wynn DE | Dawgs desperately need him to push up the depth chart, but regardless he's not redshirting. |
| 5. | Corvey Irvin DT | Dawgs need "grown men" at DT. |
| 6. | Ben Harden OL | More in shape than Anderson. Better body than Perez. Cross training OG and C. |
| 7. | Drew Butler P | The punter's spot is WIDE OPEN for Butler to take it. |
| 8. | Justin Anderson OL | Physically, looks the part. |
| 9. | Rennie Curran LB | M. Washington has never really contributed. Curran could fill the 2nd MLB spot. |
| 10. | Bruce Figgins TE | Ben Watson starter kit. Getting work on almost every special teams unit. I have him rated too low based on the DawgPost.com interview today. |
| 11. | Caleb King RB | More on Caleb below. |
| 12. | Charles White LB | Someone has to provide depth at LB this year. Will it be CW? |
| 13. | Tanner Strickland OL | When Harden qualified, it may have pushed Strickland's chances down. |
| 14. | Aron White TE/WR | Would benefit greatly from a year of growing into his body one way or the other. |
| 15. | Israel Troupe WR | It's a crowded WR corp where practice reps are hard to come by. |
| 16. | Walter Hill WR | Less polished than Troupe. |
| 17. | Clint Boling OT | Could make a big push for PT in '07. But he's still growing into his body. |
| 18. | Justin Houston DE | Recently moved to LB. Learning a new position screams redshirt. |
| 19. | Neland Ball DE | Near mortal lock to redshirt at ~225 lbs. |
| 20. | Vance Cuff CB | Just arrived on campus. No class separation among young CB corp. |
| 21. | John Knox S | Just arrived on campus. Buried on '07 depth chart. |
| 22. | Chris Little OL | 40-50 pounds over reported "ideal" and a broken wrist. |
| 23. | Logan Gray QB | Recovering from mono, very skinny and behind Stafford and Cox. |
If I were guessing where you draw the line between redshirts and kids who play it would be around 10th on the list. As for Caleb King, I think there are only two athletic reasons to redshirt (yesterday I could only think of one):
- 1. If you think the guy will be here for Year 5. Essentially a redshirt allows a coaching staff to trade Year 1 for Year 5. Nothing about Caleb King's recruitment or talent level suggests to me that he's intending to be here 5 years.
2. There are simply no touches available in Year 1.
Richt is pretty unpredictable regarding redshirts. DJ Shockley, Knowshon Moreno, Akeem Hebron, and Paul Oliver are some of the biggest name recruits under Richt, and they all redshirted. Whereas little known one and two star recruits like Nick Jones, Jarvis Jackson, Fernando Velasco, Kelin Johnson and Tra Battle (walkon) played immediately as freshmen.
So you never know. The above is my list. Your thoughts? Specifically...does Caleb redshirt?
See Also (aka Reading Tea Leaves):
-- Figgins getting ready to play - DawgPost.com
-- Aron White Unsure of Natural Position - ABH
-- Few first year plays to make an impact - AJC
-- Figgins draws rave reviews - Columbus Ledger
-- Richt says Vince Vance buying into system - David Ching
-- Caleb King Video - GSB
PWD
13 comments:
I think you have to keep Caleb's academic record in mind. He may not be here for four years for one reason or the other. Should you use him now somewhere? Special teams?
Caleb had a 4.0 his first semester at UGA. Give the kid a freakin' break. His academic 'troubles' stemmed from his early HS career. He was an A/B student by the end.
He's no James Brooks.
If he is as good as advertised, let him play. Next year is most likely going to be our best chance to make a run at the NC. Why not give him some experience this year so he will be more mature next. Just a thought. Go Dawgs.
"Caleb had a 4.0 his first semester at UGA"
I'm sure he took some REAL challenging classes....pfffffttt.
Anyway, the only reason we shouldnt redshirt him, is to get him some experience. This time next year it will be Knowshon and Caleb. That's it. We need to let him return some kicks or something. Get him prepared for real action next year.
I think the outlook for next year is the biggest reason he doesn't 'shirt. As anon just said, get him some touches 'cause it's just him and Knowshon next year. Despite having them both in the same class, I think you have to Celeb ready; even if it's just the game day routine, the noise of the crowd, the pressure of big time ball. Special teams work will still get him that even if he doesn't get many snaps. Heck, even snaps against W. Carolina and Troy help.
Caleb should redshirt. We already have one too many talented players who deserve to play at that position. Imagine if King comes out of the box and lights it up, even if that's at the end of the W. Carolina game. It will only further muddy what has been a muddy position for the last three years.
Why is it that folks always talk about the danger of rotating QBs and the impact it has on their psyches, but rarely about other positions? It takes special guys and a special situation (Cadillac/Ronnie Brown being one) that can handle splitting the load, particularly when there's no rhyme or reason to the split. We need to pick a guy -- doesn't matter to me which one -- and stick with him this year, spelling him just enough to keep him fresh for the 4th Q. If we don't, it will start hurting us on signing day.
I have no influence over this at all, but if I were asked I would lean toward RS for Caleb. He can get experience on scout teams and in fact, it is clear that KM did get experience which has helped him. But, mainly, we are not very likely to need him, and it would have to be a better plan to let him keep working on his leg, and letting a little more time pass from the broken leg. It's the kind of thing that could end up helping him later in his career.
Nice job as always.
Didn't I read in some report (and it may just have been in a practice post) that Boling was playing with the second team OL? I agreed with you that he was probably going to redshirt, but I hear he's playing well.
You never know with the OL....
c. paul, I think it was David Ching who said that C. Adams told him that Boling was making a push at tackle that might mean Adams would move back to guard. With the "best 5" -- which really means best 10 -- scramble going on, and all the new guys, it's hard to say, because everyone is competing with everyone, not just the guy ahead of him at his current position.
I also agree with PWD that in a perfect world Boling would get a year to grow into his body before getting put out there with the full grown men.
Ironically, it seems that now that Callaway is gone, in Boling we finally have the recruit Callaway always dreamed of -- a rangy, athletic young guy who would add weight and strength while retaining agility (and with two good shoulders).
Caleb will not and should not redshirt and here are my reasons:
1) He is not a 5 year player
2) He will gain that intangible with the game-time experience even playing solely on special teams
3) God forbid, If Moreno goes down prior to the season next year, we'll have a back we can count on that won't have that deer in headlights look
4) The state of Georgia is loaded with talent (especially at the tailback position) so we don't need to worry about class separation with Caleb - there will always be talented backs available next year and beyond.
Just find a way to get him in the game!
NOT ENOUGH PEOPLE ARE TALKING ABOUT KING ON SPECIAL TEAMS.
he's the best return guy we've got whether the coaches know it yet or not. he's a different caliber of athlete than flowers, asher allen, henderson or any of those other dudes.
he's not your ordinary football player. he's a breakout player like georgia has been needing. that's the only thing holding coach richt back from playing in the championship game is a breakout offensive player. stafford could be one too. and that's why i'm realisitcally excited about 2008.
FYI - to my note before. Boling practiced with the first team today in place of the injured Adams.
no redshirt. backfield next year of stafford, moreno, king and southerland. the only people we lose on defense will be johnson and miller. gimme r.jones and r.curran. VERY NICE!! I like you... how much?
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