Horrible, awful, dreadful, terrible news: Trinton Sturdivant is hurt. There's no official word on the injury yet, but it looks like he is lost for the year. Of all the players to lose for the year, Sturdivant may be the most damaging. Unlike Stafford or Knowshon, there is no back up at left tackle, the most crucial offensive line spot, with any appreciable experience to speak of.UPDATE 9:15 AM: Per Georgiadogs.com, it's official. He's gone for the year.
Now, it sounds as if the line will be reshuffled to protect Stafford's blind side. Josh Davis is the official back up, but sources speculate that Kiante Tripp, Vince Vance, Cordy Glenn, or Clint Boling could move to left tackle. (Image: DawgPost)
The dim view says this is a serious, serious blight on any championship hopes. Without Sturdivant, we will return only two starters on the O line and one of those will be playing a new position. If Boling moves, every O line spot will have a new face this year. On the line, experience counts and we'll be breaking in someone new everywhere. A potential strength has now turned into a very ominous question mark.
An optimistic view says this is bad, but manageable. We may be young up front, but have talent to burn. Someone will step up. Last year, things looked much worse, but guys like Boling and Sturdivant stepped up and played great. If Stacy Searels could cobble together a good line last year, this year his job should be easier with added depth and talent.
I'm somewhere in the middle. We've got talent to replace Sturdivant, but we'll need some time for the line to gel. From a talent perspective, I'm not frightened of anyone until we face LSU's pass rush. I can't think of another really scary pass rusher on the schedule before then. But, scheme wise, Ellis Johnson, Nick Saban, and John Chavis will be staying up late tonight designing stunts to befuddle Josh Davis. Even if we can't find someone to fill Sturdivant's large shoes, you can still use Bruce Figgins or a back to slow a pass rush and protect Stafford's back. In other words, even if we can't find someone as good as T.S., we can scheme around it until the line gets some time to figure things out. But with this schedule, we had better figure things out soon.
And, please dear Lord, protect our players and their knees for the rest of the season.
Quinton
(PWD Note to Readers: We might not be able to update this story in the morning until lunch due to real-life duties; however, the beat writers will be all over it. If any of you guys see an official update feel free to post a link in the comments. However, if you don't have a link to an official, legit news source, please don't post injury rumors. Thanks.)
(PWD Note to Readers: We might not be able to update this story in the morning until lunch due to real-life duties; however, the beat writers will be all over it. If any of you guys see an official update feel free to post a link in the comments. However, if you don't have a link to an official, legit news source, please don't post injury rumors. Thanks.)
