Happy Thursday, Dawg Sports reader.
Occasionally as we write this, our daily morning whip around of all the news in Bulldog Nation we have to dive deep into the cracks and crevices of the college sports internet. And then there are days like today when it’s like drinking kool-aid out of a fire hose.
The biggest national story of UGA interest is clearly former Hoop Hound Anthony Edwards going first overall to the Minnesota Timberwolves in last night’s NBA Draft.
The folks over at SB Nation’s Timberwolves site Canis Hoopus seem cautiously optimistic. Several would have preferred to move back in the draft and maybe pick up another puzzle piece to improve the ‘Wolves.
But it’s pretty clear that doing so was a hard sell. There just wasn’t a player in this year’s draft who teams had to move up to get. Edwards at least provides the Timberwolves a pure shooter in the backcourt with NBA athleticism. Edwards certainly needs to become a more efficient shooter and play better away from the ball. But his upside is undeniable.
The other major news of the day began circulating earlier this week but has finally reached the point that no one seems to be denying it: JT Daniels is your likely starter at quarterback this weekend against Mississippi State.
At some point this offseason we will probably get at least part of the full story of why Daniels hasn’t played up to this point. Conflicting reports indicated that while UGA’s medical staff had cleared him as early as late September his own doctors had not given the go-ahead. I remain a little skeptical of those reports. More likely, it seems that D’wan Mathis had more reps as the second teamer and more closely approximates Jamie Newman’s skill set. Stetson Bennett has more healthy reps when Georgia played Arkansas. Then when he played well early Smart and Monken decided not to mess with what was working. Now, with much of a season’s worth of reps, they believe the redshirt sophomore gives them the best shot to win going forward.
Daniels certainly has the arm talent to succeed in Todd Monken’s offense. But you’d probably be safe to expect Georgia to run the dang ball against a Mississippi State unit that’s given up 127 yards a game on the ground this season. While that sounds like a lot, one of the weirdest stats you’ll see today has to be that MSU’s 127 rushing yards surrendered per game makes them the third stingiest run defense in the conference behind only Georgia and Texas A&M. Life here in the Big XII sure is crazy. Until later....
Go ‘Dawgs!!!