After reading Quinton's
post about King's departure, my first thought was there is no way Carlton Thomas has 86 career carries. Lo and behold, Carlton had 64 rushes for 272 yards last season, averaging 4.2 yards per carry, and 22 rushes for 92 yards in 09, averaging....4.2 yards per carry. There isn't a line in the world that would make Carlton a successful feature back in Georgia's current offensive scheme, but if he improves a little bit on that 4.2ypc while getting 20-25% of the rushing touches (7-9 rushes per game), I think I'd take that. I don't want to see him carry it more, especially if we continue to view him as a magical being that can run untouched through a line of players that outweigh him by 130 pounds, but thinking about him as a change of pace deal, I'm trending towards ok with him.
One other thing that popped up that I hadn't thought about until I looked at the stats: Murray had 60+ non-sack rushes, averaging over 5.5ypc on those rushes. I
wouldn't be surprised would love to see Aaron be a part of the change of pace, as well. He is pretty quick and ran a bunch in high school. We have a couple of QB keeper plays that work well, especially considering teams have to respect Murray's passing ability and the strong TE group that linebackers will have to cover.
I am not saying all is well, but factoring in what Branden Smith adds, I don't think the picture is as dire as I had feared, and it offers opportunity, through necessity, to open up the offense.
TD
8 comments:
I agree, Tyler. I think we have enough athletes to make it work. Branden Smith, Malcolm Mitchell, even Nick Marshall or Brandon Boykin in the Wild Dawg. They were both QBs in high school. It's just going to take some extra creativity on Bobo's part and I'd be lying if I didn't say that concerned me a little.
This will be the year that shows whether or not Bobo can scheme to his players abilities or is just a game manager that picks plays out of playbook.
Crowell will not be a "blocking specialist" ... Thomas is not an everydown back ... Boo might be a Verron Haynes or he could be a Scout Teamer
Each of those guys has a different skill set and add in Smith & Marshall and we certainly have weapons to use - but how does Bobo deploy them?
I hope I'm surprised.
While I personally hate the Wild Dawg concept on a team that has Aaron Murray as QB (on the theory that anytime AM isn't taking the snap, you are taking a step back), I am hopeful that we'll realize what we have this year, which is a group that will require some creative playcalling.
The past two seasons, I feel like we've seen our coaches get surprised early at how ineffective certain aspects of our offense were. I honestly think the coaches were as shocked as the rest of us to learn that the OL couldn't bust a grape last year.
I am less confident considering the question mark along the offensive line and how easy it is for a RB to get an injury.
I anticipate a lot more throwing based offense which I do not think is a winning formula. Check that, a championship formula.
Crowell and Smith are both No. 1.
This needs to be fixed; no reason to not be able to have them on the field at the same time, or am I missing some rule that allows Smith to change jerseys when he's on offense?
We've done very well with less.
Don't think for a minute it's all going to be Bobo this year. Remember GM took a lot of administrative stuff off CMR that Evans had put on him. I think Richt will put his 2 cents worth in the offense this year. Will probably help game plan also. Just my opinion.
Love the idea. Only flaw in the thinking is that Bobo has yet to show any innovation or creativity whatsoever in his tenure. My guess is that the entire stadium will still be able to call the next play as will the opposing team.
Post a Comment