After losing the hosses ya'll had on the O-line last year, what returns in 2003 ?

The 2002 starters were probably the best O-line in the country. Did anyone else get any PT last year ? Is there enough left on the shelf to power a solid running game ? Will David Greene be able to sit back in the pocket smoking a cigarette and reading a newspaper till a reciever gets open ?

I'd preview a pre-season mag, but they ain't out yet. Help me out, if you would.

:rolleyes:

Yeah, Athlons is easily the best pre-season mag. It is due out on June 6th.

What is the opposite of hitting the nail on the head?

Georgia's O line as the best in the country last year? Miami's second team was better than Georgia's starters. Except for probably the Alabama game and Ga Tech game, they underachieved all year.

This next group is stacked with more talent and depth that we had last year. What we are lacking is experience and leadership....but the talent is definitely there. Georgia has seen this coming and has loaded up with 8 blue Fresh and Soph 4 and 5 star blue chip prospects. And the Soph were getting a lot of playing time last year. By the middle of season, they'll be performing at least as well as the group that just left. The biggest question mark will be the replacement LBs (Thurman is looking great so far at the Mike LB), and at RB (we need Milton just to improve slightly from last year.). Other than the RB question, the skill positions are solid (WR, TE, QB). RB may not be a problem after all.

I should add the O Line played pretty good in the SEC Championship game too.

I'm afraid I'm not quite as optimistic about our offensive line. The number I last heard was seven scholarship offensive linemen. One of those is already out for the Clemson game (Swoopes). This sure doesn't leave much room for injuries. We do have some highly recruited guys moving up and did recruit well this year but theres not a lot of experience. As an offensive line coach myself (high school)l I can tell you the most important ingredients in making an O-line are reps and experience. These guys are going to require time to grow into a great O-line. They'll get the reps in practice but the experience can only come on Saturdays in the fall. We were caught short handed at O-line due to some reasons beyond our control (injuries, etc.) Mark Richt has admitted to that several times.
All that being said, I do think our line will get the job done. I'm a little quezy about going up to Clemson with five new starters on the line. Then add to that our new linebackers and the loss of Tim Jennings in the secondary and I think we have all the makings of another nail-biter in Death Valley. The line will improve with each series and will in my opinion gell into a great one by mid to late season. This year, like last, we might have to dodge some bullets early. The only thing that worries me is depth. One freshman playing up front you can live with, two maybe, anymore than that and you're playing with fire. I think we may see a little more of D.J. Shockley this year because of his mobility. That can be a big asset with a young 0-line because he can scramble out of trouble. Of course it can also sometimes be a problem because the o-linemen don't know where the QB is going to be.
There is some experience returning and some great talent moving up so I think we'll be alright up front. We just have to keep our fingers crossed that the injury bug stays away.
The good part about all of this is that a lot of other SEC teams are in pretty much the same boat. USC, I think, lost four or five O-line starters too.
All in all don't be too surprised if you see us back in New Orleans for the holidays! GO DAWGS!!



<!--EDIT|Swamp Fox|May 7 2003, 09:25 AM-->

Our offensive line will be just fine guys. We have Jean-Gilles and Brock (two future all americans) and Hewitt and Jackson give us a couple of veterans. I have to agree with Dawg Quixote that our O-Line heavily underachieved last year. With the guys we had David should have had much more time to throw the ball than he did. That was one thing that killed us against Florida.

By the way DQ, I know I'll be in the bookstore June 6th.

Dawg Quixote Wrote:What is the opposite of hitting the nail on the head?

Nail <- Head

Swamp Fox Wrote:I think we may see a little more of D.J. Shockley this year because of his mobility. That can be a big asset with a young 0-line because he can scramble out of trouble. Of course it can also sometimes be a problem because the o-linemen don't know where the QB is going to be.

I hadn't thought of that, Swamp Fox, but your assessment makes sense to me. Frankly, I bit my nails when Shockley came into the game last year. He seems to be a better passer than your typical "mobile" QB. They also inserted him into the backfield when our pressure guys were already winded.

D.J. Shockley so far has been boom or bust. It seems like when he gets in the game he either does something incredibly good for the Dawgs or something incredibly bad. There doesn't seem to be much middle ground! A lot of that has to do with the situations he is in when he enters the game. D.J. is an awesome talent and I think he is going to be invaluable to us this year. I know every time he runs on the field I'm out of my seat eager to see what's going to happen.
David Greene is still our best QB but D.J. is not very far behind. It's sure comforting knowing he's on our side!

Swamp Fox Wrote:D.J. Shockley so far has been boom or bust.

That's excactly right. Against Climpson and Kentucky he looked all-world, but against Florida and Carolina he looked just plain bad. If he can get consistent he'll be awesome.

GDawgs88 Wrote:

Dawg Quixote Wrote:What is the opposite of hitting the nail on the head? &nbsp;

Nail <- Head

GDawgs88 Wrote:

Swamp Fox Wrote:D.J. Shockley so far has been boom or bust.

That's excactly right. Against Climpson and Kentucky he looked all-world, but against Florida and Carolina he looked just plain bad. If he can get consistent he'll be awesome.

My question is why even play him? David Greene is a fantastic QB. If it wasn't for Shockley's INT returned for a TD against the Gators, UGA would have gone undefeated last year.