2012 back could cost Dawgs in 2013

We are approaching the 11-month mark of Derrick Henry’s commitment to the University of Georgia, but whispers are now circulating that the commitment won’t make it to 12 months. Alabama is putting on the proverbial ritz to sway the pledge of the 6-foot-3, 240-pound Florida product that 247sports has listed as the No. 1 athlete prospect in the country. Alabama already has the commitment of Walton (Ga.) High School running Tyren Jones for the 2013 class, but Nick Saban is always looking for stud backs. 

But if Georgia does lose Henry, it won’t be Saban’s fault; instead it will be Todd Gurley’s fault. The incoming freshman chose to come to Athens and join fellow freshman Keith Marshall to compete with Isaiah Crowell for carries this season. While Gurley was viewed by some to be an athlete coming out of high school, one recruiting service had him as a top 15 running back. After a tremendous senior season, Gurley will certainly get plenty of looks in the backfield at Georgia. Marshall has raved about Gurley’s skills, and the Bulldog Nation should be thrilled to have him.

When Henry committed last July, the field was wide open after Isaiah Crowell. Even if just Marshall had come along, Henry probably would have stuck to his commitment. Now that Gurley is in the fold, though, Henry has every right to look around and no one should blame him. He is rated as the top back in the 2013 class and the depth chart looks to be full in Georgia. He could certainly help the Bulldog running game, but if he doesn’t step foot on the Athens campus, it is likely because Todd Gurley decided he wanted to come to play between the hedges. It will be interesting to see how it plays out and whether the second running back from Georgia’s 2012 class cost the Dawgs the No. 1 back from the 2013 class. 

Damian Swann can cover anybody

With several projected starters in the defensive secondary suspended for at least the first two games, the University of Georgia will be plugging in a pair of players with little to no college experience on the defensive side of the ball into the starting lineup against Buffalo and Missouri. Malcolm Mitchell was quite the offensive surprise one year ago for Georgia, racking up 665 receiving yards and four touchdowns as a wide receiver. His reward for a dynamic freshman season was a move to defense. This spring he has been trotted out as a cornerback, a position he played in high school at Valdosta. Mitchell’s speed and 6-foot-1 frame should help him when matching up against some of the Mizzou receivers.

Damian Swann, meanwhile, is a player that started one game last year for Georgia that should slide out to cornerback from safety to make a real impact. Swann was a two-sport star at Grady (Ga.) High School that decided to move from safety to cornerback before his senior season.

Before he made the switch, Swann said “I feel I can cover anybody on the field and that’s going to be an advantage to the team.” Swann made the transition with ease and earned many accolades including a spot in the Army All-American Bowl, where he declared he would be going to Georgia. Now Swann will need to take his swagger and get ready for the likes of Dorial Green-Beckham, one of the top recruits from this past signing class. DGB and Missouri will be amped up for the Tigers’ first SEC conference game and the pressure will be on Swann and company to pull the Bulldogs through. Many people are writing Georgia off in this game due to the suspensions and the road atmosphere, but Georgia should be considered the favorite in that game. Swann was a highly-prized member of the 2011 Dream Team. His confidence and ability earned him playing time one year ago. He believes he can cover anybody on the field.

He’ll need the confidence but don’t be surprised if Georgia’s defensive secondary doesn’t skip a beat without Bacarri Rambo, Brandon Boykin, Sanders Commings and Branden Smith. Mitchell and Swann are simply the next wave of standout athletes that the Georgia coaching staff is working to turn into standout corners. Expect big things from Swann because he expects them from himself.

Richt Helped by Petrino's Ousting

As weird as it sounds, Bobby Petrino’s accident was the best thing to happen to Mark Richt this offseason. True Richt came off of the hotseat with a new contract, but it wasn’t until the Head Hog was let go by Arkansas that Richt’s life got easier in the SEC.

Everyone knows that Nick Saban and Alabama and Les Miles and LSU rule the SEC roost, but there was much debate last year about who the third best team in the conference was. Was it Arkansas, who lost to both LSU and Alabama but who climbed as high as No. 3 during the year? Or was it Georgia, winners of ten straight during the year en route to the SEC East championship.

The debate was raging on over the offseason until the Razorbacks’ year hit a bump in the road, perhaps the same bump that derailed Petrino’s motorcycle. Richt was recently voted by The Sporting News as the fourth-best coach in the SEC, No. 14 in the nation, but you’d think that Georgia would have the nod over Arkansas this year, based on everything that gone on in Fayetteville and with John L. Smith at the helm.

South Carolina also lost a boatload of talent despite having TSN’s best coach in the SEC East, Steve Spurrier on the sidelines. Mark Richt is clearly in control of the best team in the SEC East and now can say the third-best team in the SEC overall. The two top teams will once again battle it out with Georgia awaiting the winner in Atlanta in early December. Petrino’s accident helped Georgia float a little higher in the pecking order. Now the fourteenth-best coach in the game needs to help keep the Dawgs climbing.

Bring it ON

Some people throughout the Bulldog Nation are concerned about early prognostications that have Mark Richt’s team ranked in the top ten. Some polls have the Dawgs ranked as high as No. 6. Georgia has not received this much preseason hype since the Sports Illustrated cover in 2008. Joe Cox’s lone squad was ranked in the middle teens while Aaron Murray’s teams have never received this much preseason love. Many Georgia fans groan when high expectations are placed upon them as they prefer to start somewhere in the 14-20 range and move up, ala 2002, 2005 and 2007. Fly under the radar and move up after the teams ahead of you fall. It happens every year, a team seemingly “comes out of nowhere” to challenge for a BCS bowl. Why couldn’t Georgia be the team that comes out of the shadows to challenge for a big bowl? Many Georgia fans would be happy for this to take place this year. Not me. I like the expectations. I want the Dawgs to be ranked No. 6 preseason, the favorite to take the SEC East and face Alabama or LSU for the SEC title. I want Murray to be up for the Heisman. I want Jarvis Jones to sweep all of the defensive player of the year awards. I want Richt to be up for coach of the year honors. Why bring it on? Because if Georgia is going to be elite like the program strives to be, then Georgia needs to live up to high expectations. When the media puts Alabama near the top of the rankings, Nick Saban doesn’t bat an eye, he goes to work. When USC was preseason No. 1 in the mid-2000s, Pete Carroll ended up hoisting trophies. Bobby Bowden led FSU to championship game after championship game in the late 1990s and early 2000s. And they did it by living up to expectations. If Georgia is to break into Auburn/LSU/Ohio State territory, Georgia must do it by embracing a high ranking and shining in the spotlight. With the team Georgia has this year and the recruiting class Richt is putting together, it could be the start of a golden age for the Bulldogs. Expectations will be high for the next few years. Georgia had better get used to lofty preseason rankings. What better time to start living up to them than this year? Bring it on I say. I am not scared of the bullseye. Let’s hope Richt’s squad isn’t either.

Green at the top of Richt's List

With the NFL draft just hours away, three Georgia Bulldogs Cordy Glenn, Brandon Boykin and Orson Charles must be nervously tapping their toes, wondering if/when they will be taken in Round One. Glenn is nearly a lock to go Thursday while Charles and/or Boykin could sneak into the first round or go early on Day Two. How will these three stack up on the list of Georgia players recruited by Mark Richt, developed by Mark Richt and sent to the NFL by Mark Richt? That is likely a question that won’t be answered until several years from now. One can look back at Richt’s tenure and see a host of first round picks, but who are Richt’s crown jewels when it comes to the NFL Draft? I am glad you asked. It would be hard to make this list without mentioning the player that went No. 1 overall in 2009 Matthew Stafford. The gunslinger from Highland Park, TX, was selected as the top player by the Detroit Lions in 2009 after three years in Athens. His explosive teammate Knowshon Moreno was taken 11 picks later by the Denver Broncos. While Moreno has been a disappointment in the NFL, Stafford stayed healthy last year and is being looked at as one of the top young guns in the league. Before those two, you’d need to go back to Thomas Davis in 2005 for another first round selection brought in by Richt and company to Athens. David Pollack was ushered in to Athens by Jim Donnan whose NFL career was cut short by injury. Davis, however, has been a key player on recent Panthers defenses. The team brought him back, just as it brought back Charles Johnson, a third rounder in 2007. Johnson’s big contract before last season raised eyebrows nationally even though many from the southeast knew of his potential. Mohamed Massaquoi was selected by Cleveland in 2009 with a second round pick, and the wide receiver has been serviceable for the Browns, just as Asher Allen has been during his NFL days. But the player that Richt should be most proud of is last year’s No. 4 overall selection A.J. Green. The Bengals wide receiver likely would have been the rookie of the year had a gentleman named Cam Newton not torn up the NFL rookie QB record books in Carolina last year. Green has a chance to be a Pro Bowler for years to come and will go down as Richt’s No. 1 NFL draft choice of all time. Stafford could eventually come around, but for now, Green has to receive the nod as best ever under Richt.

For twenty seasons the Atlanta Braves seemingly could always turn to John Smoltz for a crucial playoff start or to close out an elimination game. “I always wanted to be clutch,” said Smoltz in a conference call earlier this week. On Monday Braves president John Schuerholz announced that the team will retire Smoltz’s No. 29 in a ceremony on June 8, when he will also be inducted into the team’s Hall of Fame. Smoltz addressed the media after Schuerholz’s announcement, taking time to give plenty of credit to his former teammates and managers. “I’m truly honored to be with the likes of some of those numbers on the wall (out in left field).” Smoltz spent 21 years with Atlanta, going 210-147 over 20 seasons while also racking up 154 saves with the team. The 1996 Cy Young award winner represented the Braves in eight trips to the All-Star game. He rang up 3011 strikeouts with Atlanta while posting a 3.26 ERA. After returning from an injury during the latter part of the 2001 season, Smoltz would go on to become of the game’s most dominant closers, a position he would hold for three more seasons. He recorded a league-high 55 saves in 2002. For his career he twice led the NL in wins (1996, 2006), strikeouts (1992, 1996), innings pitched (1996, 1997) and three times led the league in starts made (1992, 1997, 2006). “John has contributed so much to Atlanta Braves history. Inducting him into our Hall of Fame and making sure no one else will ever wear his No. 29 are the most meaningful and significant ways we can honor John,” Schuerholz said in a release of the second-winningest pitcher in postseason history. HISTORY OF 29 After June 8, no one will ever wear No. 29 again for the Braves, but originally Smoltz wasn’t even donning that number himself. When he first came to the Braves, he sported No. 57 under Chuck Tanner. Later it was switched out to the iconic 29. “I was just given No. 29. It wasn’t a superstitious thing.” Smoltz admitted that he tried to switch several times, trying to get a number that he could achieve in number of wins. “I had (29) forever, and it stuck.” Early on in 29’s career he struggled some, especially the first half of 1991. “Struggle is not new to me. I used it as a stepping stool to the next level.” After a 2-11 start to the year, Smoltz caught fire, as did the Braves. Smoltz won 12 of his next 14 decisions as Atlanta eventually made the World Series. “The poor start was one of the few times in life where I lost focus on what to do.” Smoltz credited Bobby Cox for sticking with him in the rotation and leaning on him, just a 24-year-old at the time. “Bobby was the reason I made the choice to stay with Atlanta every time.” The right-hander said that every time his contract came up, he thought about playing for Cox and with the Braves, and he tried to work out a way to stay with the team. FULL CIRCLE “So many things happened to me and for the best,” said Smoltz when looking back over his career. Smoltz is the only pitcher in Major League history that can boast 200-plus wins and 150-plus saves. He accomplished nearly all of those numbers with Atlanta, many of the wins coming along side friends Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux. “I’ve had some of the greatest teammates and the greatest manager in the game. I can’t think of what life would have been like without those guys.” From 1991-1998 either Glavine, Smoltz or Maddux captured all of the Cy Young awards save for 1997. Those three helped Atlanta to five World Series appearances and the 1995 title. With all of those memories, how will Smoltz approach June 8? “I won’t know if it will be emotional until that day,” said Smoltz. “I never really thought about big games until on the mound. Probably (it will be emotional), but it will be a lot of fun too.” The ceremony will take place in June as the Braves wanted as many alumni as possible to attend and Smoltz had to find a weekend he could make it when he didn’t have a TBS game to call. Since his retirement, Smoltz has become one of the best color commentators and analysts in the business, working with Peachtree TV, TBS and MLB Network. He is also writing a book entitled “Starting and Closing: Perseverance, Faith and One More Year,” which is due out this spring. Recently Smoltz was inducted into the Georgia Hall of Fame, a real honor he said as he knows he will spend his life in the state of Georgia. Smoltz said that throughout his career he never took time to ponder the Hall of Fame, leaving that for teammates and fans. He will join several of those teammates in Glavine and Maddux on the number wall and in the Braves Hall of Fame. Perhaps another former teammate, Chipper Jones, too, will have his number up there in the near future. For the time being, Smoltz will be the ninth Brave to have his number retired, joining Glavine (47), Maddux (31), Cox (6), Hank Aaron (44), Eddie Mathews (41), Dale Murphy (3) Phil Niekro (35) and Warren Spahn (21). The team also retired Jackie Robinson (42) as did all of Major League Baseball. Perhaps another party will be in order for Smoltz in 2014. Braves fans are keenly aware that in two years, he will be eligible for Major League Baseball’s prestigious Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. For now, though, Braves fans will have the chance to head out to Turner Field June 8 to honor a man who took the ball anytime it was handed to him, regardless of the situation, and gave it his all. “That is what this is all about,” said Smoltz of the chance for a proper sendoff. “I had such respect for all of (the Braves employees and fans). I have so many friends.”

What's left to work on?

With one week to go before the annual G-Day game which wraps up Georgia’s spring practice, what do the Bulldogs need to figure out for the upcoming season? One important issue that must be resolved is the defensive secondary. Brandon Boykin has graduated while Bacarri Rambo, Sanders Commings and Branden Smith are all not available for at least the season opener. Georgia’s best bet for a pair of starting corners are Malcolm Mitchell, who played wide receiver one year ago and Damian Swann, an incredible athlete that just made the switch to corner before his senior year of high school. The return of Shawn Williams at safety should help but he will be the lone returning starter from one year ago early on in the season. Corey Moore will be needed to make a play or two this season. The next week could also be telling as perhaps Devin Bowman gets some time out there as a player in the secondary. He could earn some playing time with a strong spring game as he certainly has the bloodlines to be successful.

While the running back situation and offensive line question will likely get resolved after the summer, backup quarterback is an issue that could be addressed in the next few days. The coaching staff and Hutson Mason would like to give the sophomore a redshirt season in 2012 to put one year in between Mason and starter Aaron Murray, but would the coaches really feel comfortable if Murray were to go down? Faton Bauta has been impressive during his short time on campus, impressing coaches and those familiar with the program with his work ethic. Christian LeMay will wrap up his second spring practice next Saturday after enrolling early in 2011 and taking a redshirt last year. Coaches are likely hoping that they can get by this year with Murray taking 99% of the snaps and LeMay, Parker Welch and Michael Tamburo taking the other 1% with Mason and Bauta redshirting. Bauta does have some potential as a Tebow-like wildcard which could lead to his finding some playing time.

There are plenty of other areas that need addressing, but those issues likely won’t be solved in the next week. The backup quarterback position and the defensive secondary are two problems that can be fixed.