'10 GA OL Kolton Houston

[justingroves]

Originally Posted by OCIVol

I think Mitchell is playing WR and CB. If he's strictly on defense, Murray will really struggle.

He'll try both, but how successful a WR (or CB) will he be when he's been on the field for 98% of the snaps?

[volroadwarrior]

Originally Posted by justingroves

They were going to do that anyways. Crowell folded like a cheap accordion once he took a hit.

[OCIVol]

Reason No. 3: The offensive line is being completely revamped

Murray's job won't get any easier as a result of the state of the Bulldogs offensive line. Georgia will have to replace both offensive tackles (including first-team All-SEC nominee Cordy Glenn) and none of its five scholarship candidates at that position have started even a single game. The Bulldogs will also have to find a new center to replace longtime starter (and second-team All-SEC nominee) Ben Jones.

In addition, it should not be forgotten that as talented as Georgia was on the offensive line last year, it still ranked next to last in the SEC in sacks allowed (33). Any kind of a drop-off here could make for a very long season for Murray.

Per ESPN's K.C. Joyner on March 21, 2012 ("Why UGA won't win the SEC East")

[volroadwarrior]

Originally Posted by Ron Swanson

Starting OL for UGA ruled ineligible by NCAA....

UPDATED: Georgia OL Kolton Houston still ineligible due to banned substance | UGA sports blog

They will get him clean before the SC game even if they have to drain all of his blood and give him the clean stuff.

[OCIVol]

Originally Posted by justingroves

He'll try both, but how successful a WR (or CB) will he be when he's been on the field for 98% of the snaps?

Not very successful in the 2nd half. That's another reason I think UGA is in trouble.

[OCIVol]

Reason No. 1: Aaron Murray is still too inconsistent

Murray showed tremendous progress last season on his way to setting a school record for touchdown passes in a season, but the blunt truth is that he still displayed some alarming inconsistency.

This showed up primarily in the area of passer rating, as Murray had four games where he tallied a mark lower than 110 in this metric.

That consistency will be tested in 2012 with the loss of first-team All-SEC tight end Orson Charles and the possible reduced role of Malcolm Mitchell (more on him later).

To illustrate just how damaging the loss of those two could be, take a look at Murray's numbers in a 12-game sample of his 2011 season. (Note: The sample includes the Bulldogs' 11 games against BCS-conference opponents and the contest against the Boise State Broncos.)

Route Depth Comp Att Yds TD Int Pen Pen Yds YPA
Short (1-10 yards) 138 195 1152 9 4 5 23 5.9
Medium (11-19 yards) 45 71 736 8 4 3 29 10.3
Deep (20-29 yards) 8 30 273 7 2 1 15 9.3
Bomb (30+ yards) 11 34 558 3 1 2 25 16.2
Other (throwaways, etc.) 1 25 -3 0 3 0 0 -0.1
Total 203 355 2716 27 14 11 92 7.7
Vertical (11+ yards) 64 135 1567 18 7 6 69 11.6
Stretch Vertical (20+ yards) 19 64 831 10 3 3 40 13.0

Those are the types of numbers one would expect from an All-SEC passer.

But now check out his totals when the statistics for Charles and Mitchell are removed:

Route Depth Att Comp Yds TD Int Pen Pen Yds YPA
Short (1-10 yards) 127 86 724 7 2 5 23 5.7
Medium (11-19 yards) 42 25 391 6 0 2 22 9.4
Deep (20-29 yards) 20 6 186 5 1 1 15 9.6
Bomb (30+ yards) 26 7 331 3 1 2 25 12.7
Other (throwaways, etc.) 25 1 -3 0 3 0 0 -0.1
Total 240 125 1629 21 7 10 85 6.9
Vertical (11+ yards) 88 38 908 14 2 5 62 10.4
Stretch Vertical (20+ yards) 46 13 517 8 2 3 40 11.4

Murray lost nearly a yard off of his overall yards-per-attempt (YPA) total and lost even more than that on his vertical YPA and stretch vertical YPA.

For those who might contend that every quarterback would see this type of drop-off when throwing to alternate targets, there are two points to consider.

First, Murray still had Tavarres King, the team's leading receiver in 2011, to throw to. Second, Oklahoma State Cowboys QB Brandon Weeden was able to post Justin Blackmon-caliber numbers on aerials to receivers other than Blackmon.

This means Murray has a way to go to prove he can succeed when throwing to alternate targets.

Per ESPN's K.C. Joyner on March 21, 2012 ("Why UGA won't win the SEC East")

[jave36]

I've said it about Auburn, but I also think UGA will be disappointing as well. They still have one of (if not the) easiest schedules in the East, so they might get lucky and do OK. On paper though, they should do worse than last year.

[PA Vol]

Originally Posted by OCIVol

Yes. UGA and USCe are both extremely overrated this year. SEC East is wide open.

I think UGAs defense will cause some problems for teams this year. Their receivers arent slouches, either. They're not unbeatable, though, and without Charles as a safety net and no clear replacement for Crowell I'd say they're definitely a little over rated.

I don't think Connor Shaw is a good QB. I think SC will take a step back this year.

[OCIVol]

Originally Posted by PA Vol

I think UGAs defense will cause some problems for teams this year. Their receivers arent slouches, either. They're not unbeatable, though, and without Charles as a safety net and no clear replacement for Crowell I'd say they're definitely a little over rated.

I don't think Connor Shaw is a good QB. I think SC will take a step back this year.

UGA's offensive line will be one of the worst units in the SEC.

[CobbVol]

Georgia is the favorite in the SECE. With their schedule and state of the Division, not winning the SECE would be a major under achievement for Richt and his staff.

[tvols75]

Originally Posted by PA Vol

I think UGAs defense will cause some problems for teams this year. Their receivers arent slouches, either. They're not unbeatable, though, and without Charles as a safety net and no clear replacement for Crowell I'd say they're definitely a little over rated.

I don't think Connor Shaw is a good QB. I think SC will take a step back this year.

What WR outside of King?

[PA Vol]

Originally Posted by OCIVol

UGA's offensive line will be one of the worst units in the SEC.

Good. If we can get consistent pressure on Murray I'll be pretty confident that we can win this one.

[PA Vol]

Originally Posted by tvols75

What WR outside of King?

Didn't they move that one guy from defense over? Or am I thinking of someone totally different?

[tvols75]

Originally Posted by PA Vol

Didn't they move that one guy from defense over? Or am I thinking of someone totally different?

Mitchell is adamant that he wants to play DB, and they will use him on offense some. But I don't see that working well. Mitchell is dumb for not wanting to stick at WR, he has a lot of potential.

[PA Vol]

Originally Posted by tvols75

Mitchell is adamant that he wants to play DB, and they will use him on offense some. But I don't see that working well. Mitchell is dumb for not wanting to stick at WR, he has a lot of potential.

Gotchya. My B.

Who is their tight end now? Didn't they pull some highly rated TE two classes ago that we tried hard for? The name escapes me.