Haven't we seen this before?

by hailtogeorgia on Apr 9, 2009 8:53 AM EDT

So according to the AJC, Kris Durham will undergo shoulder surgery to repair a torn labrum and will (seemingly like every other injured player Georgia has) be out for the year. He'll take a medical redshirt and be back in 2010, but this just makes me wonder who will step up in his place? Barring some major depth chart shakeup, he was going to be our first string split end and he has, hands down, the most experience of any receiver we have. Mikey Moore is more than capable of filling the role, but I still think we will miss some of Durham's size and physicality in that spot, as well as general knowledge of the position. I'm not saying Moore isn't very talented, I just think that split end looked a lot more impressive with Durham and Moore than it does with any combination not including our tall buddy from Calhoun. So basically, who steps up now? Tavarres King is promising, but has little gametime experience. The only real thing I remember about Tony Wilson (and correct me if I'm wrong here) is dropping what would've been a go-ahead touchdown against South Carolina in 2007. Israel Troupe? Marlon Brown? Rantavious Wooten? Orson Charles? Branden Smith? Really, there are only question marks at this point. Certainly Brown will see some playing time, but as far as Wooten or Smith go (and possibly Troupe, as well) I thought they were more geared towards the slot position. Anyway, hopefully this will be the last of our season enders, and atleast he does get a medical redshirt. The only thing that can make me feel any better about our receivers is that Orson Charles DID shatter Florida's National Championship Trophy, so that's got to be some kind of omen, right?

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Back to the "original Plan B"

When Mark Richt first came over to Georgia in 2001, our receiving corps was pretty thin, and he restructured his offense to take advantage of our more talented Tight Ends, with great success. Leonard Pope, Ben Watson, and Randy McMichael (and Martrez Milner, but who’s counting him) were all products of that change in focus… one that better aligned our offense to utilize its more-talented players.

For the last couple of years, we’ve had a dearth of good tight ends, and our WR corps has been impressive, so we’ve been utilizing the WR’s more. As I see it now, though, our WR talent is once again merely average (by SEC standards), and we now have some good talent at TE, most notably Orson Charles coming in.

I acknowledge that Charles is, currently only a high school senior, and we have no idea how well he will hold up once he graduates to SEC-caliber defenses. I just think that he’ll be better than, say, our #3 or #4 option at WR on the passing routes.

Combine that with the fact that our OL is now deeper than it’s been in many years, which means that we shouldn’t need the extra blocker on every single pass play, and it seems natural that a good TE should help relieve the burden from our less-experienced receivers.

Oh, and a piece of friendly advice… try to use a paragraph or two in your next post. It’s very difficult to read when you justtypethewordsalltogetherwithnopauses.

by vineyarddawg on Apr 9, 2009 3:47 PM EDT reply actions

I sort of disagree

I think we have a very talented recieving corp, though it is limited in game experience, i believe there is enough young talent to put together a very good recieving corp that will grow into a great asset. It will take some coaching on Tony Ball’s part and good offensive scheming by Bobo, but i do think our recieving corp can be better than average.

Green and Moore i think are going to be the main targets. They are both experienced and talented enough, and Moore is improving every year. Tony Wilson i have no idea about and is coming off injury so there is one who i’m not confident in, but is supposed to be a good blocker, which is necessary for our run game to flourish. T. King and Troupe i both really like. Troupe from what i’ve seen has very sure hands and catches even difficult passes thrown to him just like we saw MoMass do. He was also our top rated recruit from 2007. T.King was having a good spring and fall last year but i think the ankel injury hurt his progress and he’s reportedly been inconsistent this spring, but great promise.

We need to incorporate the TE more in the passing game, period, And i think we have great talent there to do it. But i do not think it will be the answer to the lack of depth at WR, just a renewed strength that should have been there in the first place. I do think that the TE position is just as full of talent as the WR position and really only a bit more experience. This year i think there will be a more balanced attack using both TE and WR as threats in the passing game. Plus i hope we keep throwing it to our RB’s out of the backfield, i know KRM was a beast at that, and he’s gone, but it would be nice to see someone continue to be that kind of threat.

Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.

I Corinthians 9:24

by Southern Dawg on Apr 10, 2009 3:47 PM EDT up reply actions

Cant believe i hit post before mentioning these two

Marlon Brown and R. Wooten. Both were highly coveted by SEC schools and both show tons of talent. MB will have the most on his shoulders to come in and make an impact immediately, he will also be given more oppertunities, but like all incoming freshman, you don’t really know until you see them play on Saturday. Wooten, is basically what everyone says about Carlton Thomas except he plays WR. Fast but needs to seriously bulk up and play tough. Looks to be a threat in space.

Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.

I Corinthians 9:24

by Southern Dawg on Apr 10, 2009 4:51 PM EDT up reply actions

Watch Marlon Brown

and also, good point to vineyarddawg. Our OL is gonna be brutal next year, so we’ll have no problems letting a TE run a route.

But again, watch my boy Marlon Brown. And we also have the most talented WR we’ve had here since CMR came to Athens in AJ Green. We will definitely miss Durham though, I thought he was a great possession receiver (aka white guy?). Disappointing to hear about him.

by UgaBulldog14 on Apr 9, 2009 4:29 PM EDT reply actions