TeenDawg

Here are some changes made to the Georgia football depth chart over the last several days.

-Branden Smith is the front-runner to return punts this fall for the Dawgs, according to wide receiver A.J. Green. Green himself was rumored to be in the discussion for punt returns, but he now says that Smith looks like the most explosive punt returner. Brandon Boykin is also in the running to return punts, and Logan Gray may make a few fair catches.

-Caleb King will now certainly be the starting running back against Louisiana-Lafayette this Saturday. This is due to the arrest and suspension of #2 RB Washaun Ealey. When Ealey returns against South Carolina, he’ll trade off with King at the RB spot. Until then, look for Carlton Thomas to be King’s main backup.

-Fred Munzenmaier will be spending some time at fullback this year along with Shaun Chapas. Both are exceptional blockers, and they should be valuable to the running game. Look for the fullbacks to get some carries as well, as Chapas and Munzenmaier dominated the Texas A&M defense in last year’s Independence Bowl.

-Darryl Gamble appears to be the new starter at right outside linebacker, replacing Cornelius Washington. Todd Grantham said that Washington was doing fine in fall practice, but Gamble was performing exceptionally well and is the better option at ROLB. However, look for Washington to get playing time as well – he had a pretty good season last year.

-Now on to the injury front. Akeem Dent, Ben Jones, and Cordy Glenn are all fully recovered and practicing, while Demarcus Dobbs is expected to begin practicing Monday. Rontavious Wooten is expected to return soon and is probable for the game this Saturday, while Logan Gray remains questionable for Georgia’s season opener.

-And one sad piece of news: backup offensive lineman Jonathan Owens’ career is over. He was granted a medical disqualification due to chronic patella instability in his knee. Doctors determined that Owens could not continue his career due to the condition.

This post is in response to an article published by Bill King of the Junkyard Blawg at the AJC. (Richt faces decision on Hutson Mason: Play him or redshirt him?)

First, the QB depth chart at UGA currently reads:
1. Aaron Murray
2. Logan Gray

UGA only has two quarterbacks who are even on the depth chart. The starter has no game experience. The backup is no longer a full-time quarterback; instead, he’s playing some wide receiver, as well.

The obvious decision would be to redshirt Hutson Mason because he has barely practiced with Georgia and needs a year to master the style of offense.

However, if Mark Richt did redshirt Hutson Mason, and Aaron Murray got injured during the year, Georgia would be left with a part-time quarterback who has struggled when he has seen the field. (Remember the Florida game last year?) I don’t want Georgia to be stuck with Gray at QB for longer than one game.

So, Mark Richt should hold off on redshirting Mason – at least for now. He needs to make sure Georgia has a good second choice at quarterback in case Aaron Murray is injured or struggles. If one of those things happens, give Mason a chance at playing and see how it goes. If not, and Murray stays healthy and performs well, leave Mason out of the games, redshirting him by default.

That way, Georgia will not be stuck with Logan Gray for any prolonged period of time during the season, and Richt won’t have to worry about losing his only full-time quarterback.

1. The defensive scheme isn’t fully established yet.

2. The team still needs and has a lot more practice time before the start of the season.

3. The coaches are still trying to figure out who the starters should be at certain positions (quarterback, safety, punt returner, etc.).

4. The team is basically playing itself (therefore, the offense mostly knows the tendencies of the defense, etc.).

5. Mark Richt, Mike Bobo, and Todd Grantham can’t work with both teams during the same game.

6. The Dawgs are still waiting for some players’ injuries to heal.

7. The players may not try as hard in the G-Day game as they do in regular games because it’s just a practice game.

8. The stadium was not full and extremley loud as it would be in a regular season game.

9. (basically a continuation of #8) The atmosphere at the G-Day game is not like it is during the regular season.

10. The G-Day game is not played under the normal rules (you can’t hit the quarterback, etc.).

Here are some updates from Georgia’s spring practice:

The one UGA football player involved in the taxi incident has been cleared of any wrongdoing. The other three men involved were residents of Heard County. Arrest warrants against those other three men are pending.

Backup linebacker Montez Robinson has been dismissed from the team by Mark Richt following battery and family violence charges. Robinson was suspended from the first two games of the 2009 season on similar charges.

The quarterback battle is still going on between Aaron Murray, Zach Mettenberger, and Logan Gray. All three were impressive at the first two spring scrimmages, and Mark Richt says he will release a QB depth chart at the end of spring practice. In my opinion, that depth chart will be:
1. Aaron Murray OR Zach Mettenberger
2. Logan Gray

Washaun Ealey and Caleb King did not fully participate in the scrimmages because of minor knee injuries. Both injuries are expected to heal in time for the G-Day Game.

Georgia’s kickoff philosphy has officially changed. The Dawgs are ditching the controversial directional-kicking strategy. Instead, Blair Walsh will now just kick the ball as far as he possibly can. Walsh was happy about the change and felt like a restraint on him had been lifted. (I was ready for this change too).

Secondary coach Scott Lakatos is still trying to figure out who his starters will be in safety. Surprisingly, Jakar Hamilton (who I’ve never heard of) has been working with the first-team secondary.

According to Tim Tucker of the UGA Sports Blog (AJC), Todd Grantham is enthusiastic about the Dawgs’ new defense.

Mark Richt is now attending every quarterback meeting and every offensive team meeting. Richt made the move partly because of the major quarterback battle, but also wanted to help Mike Bobo and see how the offense was doing.

Richard Samuel is apparently becoming a great linebacker on the Dawgs’ defense. Richt, however, has not ruled out a redshirt season for Samuel if he’s not quite ready yet. I think moving him to linebacker was a great move, as he appears to be good at that position and was not great at linebacker.

Marlon Brown appears to be breaking out as a pretty good wide receiver. He will be playing behind A.J. Green, Kris Durham, and probably Tavarres King, though.

The highlight of the second scrimmage was a leaping one-armed interception by Vance Cuff in the back of the end zone. That’s pretty encouraging.

Coming next week: Kris Durham – The Key to Georgia’s Passing Game