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Buck DE: J. Wynn (SR) - Wynn, a junior college all-american at defensive end, was *finally* moved back to his natural position of DE for the Florida Game. Lots of candidates to back him up here including Battle, Dobbs, Lemon, Woods, etc. Prediction: Upgrade in size and strength in '08.
RUSH DE: R. Battle (JR) - Moving Battle over from Buck to Rush would give us 40 more pounds over Howard. We'd lose a step in pursuit, but we'd improve vs. the run. Lomax will be a senior next year, but he's mostly a pass rush specialist. Prediction: Upgrade vs. the Run. Downgrade vs. the Pass.
DT: Owens (Sr) - He has been slowed by ankle problems this year, but he has a world of ability. Corvey Irvin as a SR backup is also nice. Prediction: Upgrade in experience.
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Overall DL Thoughts: The Martinez/Van Gorder defensive scheme from the past few years demands a front four that can get a consistent pass rush without having to send two blitzers per play. We haven't been deep enough, big enough, experienced enough or talented enough the past two years to provide the stable front four the scheme requires. The size, depth and experience challenges should be gone next year.
SLB: Dent (So.) or Ellerbe (Sr.) - Ellerbe played some SAM linebacker vs. Florida for the first time. Much of that came while Georgia was in its 3-3-5 look. Dent has out played B. Miller in my opinion already this year. Prediction: Upgrade in speed and ability regardless of which direction we go vs. Brandon Miller.
MLB: Ellerbe (Sr.) or Washington (Sr.) - I think Ellerbe's starting spot will be determined by Dent and Washington. In other words, if we want the best 3 LBs on the field, we already know that Ellerbe is one of them. Upgrade in experience if its Washington here. Upgrade in speed and experience if its Ellerbe here.
WLB: Curran (So.) - Against Florida, Rennie had the best game for a Georgia Weakside Linebacker since Tony Taylor left. If he stays healthy, he should hold onto the 1st team job and enter next season with six starts under his belt. Upgrade in experience.
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WC: Prince Miller (Jr) or Bryan Evans (Jr) - I'm not up to speed on the injury situation. Is Bryan Evans hurt because it seems like Miller gets clowned quite a bit in coverage and his tackling is a bit suspect. Either way, we return depth here. Push or Upgrade (I say Push b/c Prince won't get any bigger)
SC: Asher Allen (Jr) - Allen has played better and better each week. Upgrade in experience. My only concern is depth. I'm not sure who his back-up would be. Remarcus Brown is basically buried on the depth chart right now.
S: CJ Byrd (Sr) - I'm expecting some sort of three safety rotation where Quinton Banks backs up both Jones and Byrd. We lose experience and leadership from Kelin Johnson, but we're replacing him with another fifth year senior. It's probably a push.
S: R. Jones (So.) - With a year of experience under his belt, I think he makes the proper play on the first quarter deep ball near the end zone vs. the Gators next year. That first TD was simply a rookie play. He has the speed and size to be a monster safety. Upgrade in experience.
Overall DB Thoughts: UGA cornerbacks have typically blossomed late in their sophomore seasons. The junior year has been the payoff year. That was true for Wansley, Bryant, Thorton, Minter, Jennings, Oliver, etc. Martinez has subbed safeties more liberally this year than he has in any year that I can remember except '03 when he utilized Greg Blue off the bench for Jones and Davis. In other words, the backups aren't as green as normal.
In Sum:
Not only do we return 9 of 11 starters from the Florida Game. But we return 18 of 22 players on the defensive two-deep. Only Brandon Miller and Thomas Flowers are seniors among the back-ups.
The future looks bright.
See Also:
-- 2007 UGA Depth Chart - Georgiadogs.com
-- We game planned energy and Xs and Os - Get the Picture
PWD
13 comments:
I agree that the D should be improved in 2008, and by the looks of the schedule, we'll need it! Looks like we'll play 9 (10 if Vandy makes it) bowl teams from this year.
8/30/08 Georgia Southern
9/06/08 Central Michigan
9/13/08 at South Carolina
9/20/08 at Arizona St.
9/27/08 Alabama
10/04/08 OFF
10/11/08 Tennessee
10/18/08 Vanderbilt
10/25/08 at LSU
11/01/08 Florida (Jax)
11/08/08 at Kentucky
11/15/08 at Auburn
11/22/08 OFF
11/29/08 Georgia Tech
12/06/08 SECC Game
I love the off week between Bama and UT. The 4 away games in a row (LSU, UF, UK and Auburn) is brutal.
It'll be interesting to see who has open dates before they play us once the final schedules are announced. UK and AU might have open dates the prior week, but they both still need to add 1 more team next year.
Akeem Hebron returns for next year, too.
We have to play LSU at Death Valley right before Fl in Jacksonville? That is very, very scary stuff.
Plus the Ariz. State game is going to be a better matchup than I thought when we originally scheduled it.
Schedule is BRUTAL. Easily the toughest in the nation next year. But, that is ok with me. Arizona St. loses Carpenter (thank God), Tennessee loses Ainge (THANK GOD!), LSU loses a lot on Defense, Auburn should be terrible next year and UK loses Woodson (Thank God).
So it is going to be tough, REAL tough, but if we can beat Bama and Florida again, we should be 11-1.
Jarius Wynn will be a monster next year.
i think you're discounting the play of CJ Byrd. For a first year starter, he has played extremely well. I don't know how many times i've seen him as our last line of defense and made the stop, but its quite a lot. I think he does need to improve coverage ability, but he has certainly been solid (imo better than Kelin was his first year starting).
Rudy Carpenter is a 4th year junior.
He can go pro, but he has another year of eligibility.
we could have as many 62 Fr/So on the roster next year. Amazing UGA is so young.
I was looking at Kentucky this year and they do lose a quite a bit of their aerial attack next year. They look like they will have better run game and the defense should be more experienced.
But I think this was their year to put it all together.
Oh God, you are right about Carpenter....ummmm, uh oh.
That might be the game of the year.
No way we don't lose twice, even if we are the best team in the country. The amount of attition from 10/11/08 to 11/15/08 will be immeasurable.
2008 will likely be the most talented UGA team ever, but there is no way we can go undefeated.
Hopefully next year will play out similarly to this with respect to undefeated teams.
I read blogs to try and understand football.
Can anybody tell me how we looked so shitty against Tennessee and so good against Florida?
Is it simply a fact that Cutcliffe owns Martinez?
Good comment on Jones - I was pretty down after it looked to me like he hesitated on that long ball that had his name written all over it, then I remembered how much abuse Bruce Thornton took from our section before turning into a great corner that earned a Sunday paycheck. Hope we see the same progression here.
This may not be the proper place for the comment, but anyone else think Martinez is pissed that his planning (and calling) was overshadowed by the celebration? That guy really needs a hug after this season and last. Say what you will about Tebow being hurt, not running as much, etc... still, the pressure, the blitz, it looked like a great performance to me.
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