Friday update/shooting preview

It sounds like Georgia's skill guys had a big day running the one-minute drill at today's practice. Sean Bailey and Kenneth Harris scored long TDs and redshirt freshman safety Reshad Jones returned a pick for a score. I'll be writing about the safeties early next week. It's amazing how loaded Georgia is at that position, which is why I think they've moved Donavon Baldwin back to CB. They'll scrimmage a bit Monday and then practice Wednesday and Friday before G-Day. I don't think I'll be back until G-Day, so you UGA folks might have to get your fix elsewhere. Sorry bout that.

The reason for that is that the ISSF Rifle/Pistol World Cup begins Sunday at Fort Benning and I'll be writing some about it. Despite knowing next to nothing about shooting -- or maybe because of that -- I think it's going to be fun to cover. It's a pretty important event because if you shoot especially well, you can assure your country of a slot shooting in the 2008 Olympics. The U.S. has secured 17 of a possible 28 quota slots for the Beijing Games.

I went out there today and met some of the people who are putting it on, including a guy who coaches the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, Michael Moore (off the top of my head, I forget what he said his rank is and I apologize for that), who showed me and our photographer Mike Haskey how to shoot a couple of the weapons on the shooting ranges. Tagged the bull's eye on my first shot in the 25m air rifle, which I believe is the definition of beginner's luck.

So here are a couple of pictures Mike took from my debut as a sniper. Tom Berenger had better watch out. By the way, for the people in the Columbus area, if you're interested in attending, they'd love to have you. The world's best shooters -- really, like almost all of them in rifle and pistol -- will be competing. Admission is free.

I call this one "Fat man and his gun"



This one, from my first-ever air rifle shot, we'll call "Needle in a haystack"

Richt's Wednesday comments

I cut out some chit-chatty stuff, but here's nearly all of it:

On whether Stafford's touch has improved:
He’s always had all the throws, really, but to put it together in a scrimmage situation or in a ballgame, it just takes time. He’s got a pretty good feel. He’s never been a guy who’s just a hard-ball thrower, but he can throw some flames. The only time I’ve really seen him throw it too hard is in a couple ballgames when things weren’t going well and guys had dropped a few here – like the Colorado game. The longer that game went on, the harder he threw the ball. He threw a slant that hit Mohamed right there that I can’t imagine how fast it was going. The ball was zooming. But he really doesn’t overthrow that often. That’s probably the only time I’ve really seen him do it.

On Stafford's opinion that knowing what he's doing better probably helps the touch factor:
Confidence, comfort, just knowing what you’re doing and what’s expected on every play, being able to anticipate where a receiver’s gonna be – all those things.

On what kind of shape they're in at sam linebacker:
Really in great shape to be honest with you. They’re two guys who can really play the position – very athletic, very strong. Of course they’re young and they’ll probably get fooled a little bit here and there as they learn what to do. But you probably couldn’t draw ‘em up much better than those two guys right there, and they’re great kids, great competitors.

So is Akeem Dent really in the running to start at Sam LB?
Oh yeah. Dewberry’s got a good bit of experience from last year. But very few positions are nailed down on either side of the ball and that’s certainly not one that’s nailed down.

Who ran with the ones today?
I think today, Dent, when we lined up for flex, Dent was lined up in the front line, so that’s how it goes. But sometimes a coach may make a change and a guy just refuses to move off the front line sometimes, so you can’t always go by that. But they’re both getting a lot of work.

On how Fernando Velasco initially responded to redshirting in 2005:
I think he at first didn’t like it. He maybe didn’t understand it, but I think even towards the end of the year that he was being redshirted that he realized the value of it. Now, I think he’s probably really excited about it. And I think Ken Shackleford would tell you today he wished he’d a gotten redshirted that year too. It’d be nice to have Shack right now.

On whether it surprised him how Velasco has developed into a vocal leader:
A little bit. I knew he was a great kid and I knew he could communicate, but I’d never seen that from him until this year, and it’s really fantastic. Plus, he knows…Sometimes if you’ve got a group of seniors and a bunch of fourth-year juniors on that line, you may not see yourself as leaders. You’re, ‘Hey these are my peers.’ But he’s looking around and he’s seeing a bunch of puppies around him, so he knows if we’re gonna have any success, he’s gonna have to do a good job of leading.

Was that a conversation you had with him?
Not really. It was pretty obvious. He’s the guy.

On how it was important to have that kind of leadership from a center:
Coach Searels in the beginning didn’t have Fernando at center, he had him at guard. He was just looking at body types and all that type thing. And I said, ‘Coach, my prediction is Fernando’s gonna have to be in there’ because I know any line coach is gonna have to have some stability at that center position. The other guys weren’t gonna provide that. They’re talented guys, but they weren’t gonna provide the leadership and the stability that Fernando can. And I call him Fernando now, by the way. He’s not Bubba anymore.

That's something he earned?
Yeah. He’s Fernando now. ‘Fernando, sir.'

On Trinton Sturdivant's emergence at OT:
He’s very athletic, he’s a quick learner, he competes and quite frankly right now, if we started today, he’d without question be the starting left tackle. Coach Searels had him at right tackle to begin with. Now that we’ve flipped, we don’t flip anymore, but you’ve got a right-handed QB and you want your best pass protector on the left side, on his blind side, like the NFL does. And he’s the guy that we feel has got the best chance of protecting him right now.

On whether Josh Davis' and Vince Vance's size advantage will help them earn the nod over true freshman Sturdivant:
It won’t make a big difference because Trinton’s not too far off. He’s not too far off. I asked coach Searels the other day in the meeting, I said, ‘If we started the game tomorrow and everybody was healthy and everybody was eligible, how would you line them up?’ He said Trinton would be the left tackle right now. But there’s a whole lot of time and he’s got a whole lot of competition.

On whether he's worried about starting a true freshman:
The value of midyear is gonna be huge in this thing.

On whether it's Owens and Weston at DT and then everybody else:
Yeah, but I’ll tell you what, Geno is gonna play a bunch right now. Right now those three are gonna play a bunch and then we’ll see after that. We’ve got Corvey Irvin is throwing his hat in there and Ricardo Crawford is throwing his hat in there, and Tripp Taylor, he’s probably gonna play. He’s really doing a great job in there. I think the first three I mentioned would be pretty certain to play a buncha football for us.

Wednesday wrapup

When I live in Athens, it's a lot easier to go home from practice and throw together a blog post right after I get back. But considering it takes me three hours to get home from practice now, the blog post isn't quite as high on my priority list. But I'll put some stuff together real quick before I go to bed.

I wrote a story about the guys who'll likely figure into the D-tackle rotation this year and a notebook that led with how quickly Trinton Sturdivant has developed into an important figure on the OL. He's looking like the starting left tackle and may well be the best pass blocker they've got -- an important skill since the left tackle is the guy who protects Stafford's blind side.

For the D-tackle story, I talked to several of the relevant guys who will probably figure in the rotation -- Jeff Owens, Corvey Irvin, Geno Atkins, Tripp Taylor. Owens and Kade Weston are pretty clearly the starters right now, but something interesting I found from talking to those guys and coach Richt is how impressed they've been with Geno Atkins. Everyone says he's going to play a lot this year. He and Tripp Taylor are running with the twos. Taylor said the two of them rotate in for Owens and Weston every four plays.

You have to figure Corvey Irvin's going to work in pretty significantly before it's all said and done. He talked today about how much he needs to refine his technique (specifically he talked about hand placement, getting in the correct stance and learning the plays better as areas he needed to work on). Coach Garner's apparently going pretty rough on him these days, but he talked about how it's helping him get better every day. And several of his linemates I talked to today mentioned that same thing -- Jeff Owens particularly comes to mind. Here's what Jeff said, since I mentioned it: "He’s pushing. He’s getting better every day he’s out here. Every day’s he’s improving and just making strides. That’s what you have to do at this level to get better."

I also find it interesting that Tripp Taylor's running with the twos right now. He really came out of nowhere last year. When he got in as the blocking (wham) back in the opener last year, I don't think he was even on the roster. So this is his first spring, and incidentally he spent his 20th birthday Wednesday at practice. I think he's impressed folks around there with his toughness. I haven't seen much of him, but he seems like kind of a throwback type -- a blocking back in short yardage situations, a defensive tackle, whatever else they tell him to do. I think there'd be a pretty good story somebody'll have to write about him during the preseason. He said he doesn't really care what role they put him in, he just wants to be on the field:
"I want to be on the field as much as possible – D-tackle, wham back, special teams, whatever I can do – to make a name for myself."

Coach Richt also talked some about where things stand at sam linebacker with Akeem Dent and Darius Dewberry. I don't know that I could handicap that race, as I haven't seen enough of Dent. But I know he did a lot to help his cause as a redshirt and in the offseason. And I've heard he's been impressive in preseason camp, so Dewberry's experience advantage from playing last year doesn't necessarily mean he'll be a for-sure starter. It sounds like it's going to be win-win, whichever one of the two starts from the way coach Richt talked about them. I'll post most of what he had to say after practice in a separate post. This one's running a bit long.

Strickland surrenders

ATHENS, Ga. -- As expected, Georgia offensive lineman Tanner Strickland turned himself over at the Clarke County Jail on Tuesday.
The UGA Police Department issued warrants for Strickland and 12 other university students last Friday in a fake identification bust. A U.S. postal inspector in Arizona first alerted the department in late February of fake IDs being created by UGA
students and shipped around the country.
Strickland, 17, faces misdemeanor charges of possession of false identification. He was booked at 4:32 p.m. Tuesday and released at 5:08 on $2,500 bond.
Georgia coach Mark Richt said Monday that Strickland will not miss game time because of his arrest, as long as the charges he faces remain a misdemeanor.
Strickland will face "in-house" discipline, Richt said, which typically involves running and community service.

Richt comments on Strickland

Tanner Strickland won't miss any games because of his impending arrest for misdemeanor possession of false ID. Coach Richt said today after practice that his punishment will be handled in-house, which means he'd better get used to running gassers and/or stairs. In-house punishment typically involves community service as well.

As far as I know, he hasn't turned himself in. Coach Richt said he expected Strickland to do so either tonight or tomorrow, but as of 10:18 p.m., his name wasn't showing up on the jail booking report.

Here's a quote from Richt, given to Macon's Josh Kendall, in the story we're running tomorrow:
"We’ll wear him out pretty good, and I know having to tell daddy, that wasn’t any fun either. We'll get him straightened out."

Interesting nugget: A U.S. postal service investigator in Arizona alerted the UGA PD on Feb. 26 that fake IDs were being manufactured at the school and sent out across the country. Warrants for UGA students Juan Sebastian Calle and Eric David Spett were among the 13 issued on Friday along with Strickland.

Calle and Spett face more serious charges of possession of fraudulent ID documents with intent to distribute in addition to possession of false ID charges. Calle will also be charged with three counts of distribution of fraudulent ID documents. Not sure if the UGA PD will let them run stairs.

More on fake ID issue

I spoke with a PIO from the UGA PD and she said Tanner Strickland's case is part of a larger case they've been working on. They started investigating after getting a call from U.S. postal inspectors at the end of February concerning fake IDs being sent through the mail.

As of now, it doesn't sound as if he's been arrested, but he will be. She said with the warrant only being signed late Friday afternoon, it's not uncommon for an arrest to not have been made yet.

When he is booked, he'll be charged with misdemeanor possession of fake identification. There are several of the 13 students listed in the booking log with him in the same case who will face more severe charges.

http://www.police.uga.edu/dailylog/DailyLog.htm

Again, I'm not sure what kind of punishment his arrest will bring. It's a very minor crime, but an arrest is an arrest.

EDIT: Strickland is at practice today, but I doubt he'll be made available afterwards. Even if he is, I'm in Columbus and won't be back until Wednesday. I talked to Josh Kendall from our sister paper in Macon and he's on it. I'll report later what they tell him after practice.

Fake ID issue

Freshman offensive guard Tanner Strickland's name is among 13 students listed in a fake ID case on the UGA PD's site, with the incident dated March 23. It says a warrant has been issued for each of the 13 students.

The early enrollee, 17, is listed as Georgia's current backup right guard. There are few details on the UGA PD site, so I'm not sure right now what the circumstances of this case are, nor do I know if possession of a fake ID is a serious enough offense to warrant game punishment. I'm sure we'll find out about all that soon.

http://www.police.uga.edu/dailylog/DailyLog.htm

Willie Martinez Q/A

All of the assistant coaches were supposed to be off-limits today, but coach Martinez was nice enough to talk since I can't be here every day and won't be back until Wednesday. So I appreciated that. We talked for a couple minutes about today's scrimmage, how the young players are progressing and specifically what he's seeing from redshirt freshman safeties Reshad Jones and Quintin Banks.

Coach Richt was saying the defense had the edge today. Is that the way you see it as well?
Coaches, we’re so critical. We’ve got a long way to go. I wish we would’ve played with a lot more energy. From my standpoint we’ve got to get a lot better. We’re young, we’re inexperienced and it shows. Either a guy makes a good play or a bad play, there’s got to be more energy than they showed out there today. Even when we made some good plays, guys are not … that’s because they’re feeling their way through it and trying to learn. There’s some of that going on, but it’s hard to tell. It’s too early to tell how well you’re doing and how poor you’re doing. It’s a Catch 22 because a lot of these kids are learning for the first time, especially the freshmen that were redshirted. Now we’re putting them into that arena where they’re asked to be counted on now – and they’re making a lot of mistakes. We’ve just got to eliminate those.

Do you think the inexperience of the offensive line might make it a little bit more difficult to gauge what the defense is able to do?
At times I would say yes. But they’ve had their share of good things happen to them. I know they’re struggling with some depth, but that could be some of it too.

Coach Richt was saying the defense went 4-for-4 on goalline. I know that had to be a confidence builder.
We actually lost one, we were 3-for-4.

Still that ain’t bad.
Yeah. It’s a mentality when you’re down there.

How do you feel like Reshad and Quintin are coming along?
Like freshmen. They’ve got a lot of mistakes. You get mad at them because they make mistakes, but they’re going through it for the first time. A lot of times when you’re redshirted or you’re a young player and you don’t play, they’ll come out here and they’ll make some really great plays because they do it unconsciously. It’s, ‘I don’t have a responsibility, I’m just running around making plays,’ and you think, ‘Man, these guys are gonna be really good.’ Now you put them in situations where you’ve gotta make calls, you’ve gotta get lined up right, you’re not deep enough, you’re too shallow, you stepped with the wrong foot, you open up the wrong way, I don’t like where you put your hands. And all of a sudden, ‘You want me to play coverage? You want me to play this defense?’ They’ve got a ways to go and that’s understandable. What I like about them, the young guys, is they’ll work. They keep working and I think we’ve got a good group of young guys. But we’ve got a ways to go.

Are they about where you would say CJ was a year ago?
Yeah. That’s a pretty good analogy. Maybe CJ was a little ahead because he played a little bit. At least he was in those games – and experience is huge. Experience doesn’t help you make plays, but it sure as heck eliminates a lot of mistakes. When you’ve been in that arena and that game day, it’s huge to have. That’s what they lack right now.

scrimmage news

I'll post some post-scrimmage quote stuff later after I transcribe. Sounds like both offense and defense had their moments in the scrimmage, but the defense had the better day. Coach Richt thought the defense went 4-for-4 stopping the offense on goal-line drill, but Willie Martinez said the offense got in once.

Richt said there were no injuries, although he said Brandon Miller took a good hit in the back right at the end of the scrimmage that knocked out his breath. He said he'll be sore tomorrow, but he was walking around after practice and seemed like he'll be all right.

Along with the 40 or so juniors, former defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder was at practice today, as was linebacker signee Rennie Curran.

More later...

Boykin commitment

I just got to Butts-Mehre and waded through the big group of junior players and their families to get up to the writers' room on the main floor. Rode up the elevator with Brandon Boykin and his family and people were congratulating him on his commitment to Georgia.

Boykin is a 5-11, 175-pound cornerback and kick returner from Fayette County. He's Georgia's 10th commitment for the 2008 signing class. Dean Legge says there could be more commitments to come this weekend.

Here's the list:
S Bacarri Rambo, Seminole County
DT Deangelo Tyson, Statesboro
K Blair Walsh, Cardinal Gibbons, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
RB Richard Samuel, Cass
OL B.J. Brand, Coffee County
TE Dwayne Allen, Terry Sanford, Fayetteville, NC
RB Martin Ward, Mt. Zion
WR A.J. Green, Summerville, Summerville, SC
DE Cornelius Washington, Burke County
CB Brandon Boykin, Fayette County

Scrimmage revision

Saturday's scrimmage has been moved from the stadium to the Woodruff Practice Fields at Butts-Mehre. Tomorrow is also junior day, where they expect 30-40 juniors to show up, and coach Richt said today that the change of venue is to show off the practice facilities, since they've shown off the stadium to the kids at other visit times.

In other news from today:
* Prince Miller's making a move at the wide corner spot opposite Paul Oliver. Sounds like he may challenge Bryan Evans for the starting job.
* Josh Davis' injury is not as severe as first thought. They were concerned it was a torn MCL, but it was just a knee strain and he should be back Monday. Vince Vance should be back by mid-week.
* Thomas Brown is not going to compete this spring, but he's a near certainty for the fall. In fact, they're pretty certain every injured player will be available to begin the fall with the possible exception of linebacker Marcus Washington.

Scrimmage info

Saturday's scrimmage is tentatively scheduled for 11 a.m. at the stadium. This will be a big practice, as it's the only full scrimmage scheduled other than G-Day.

They've also got half-scrimmages scheduled for March 28 and 30, but keep in mind that's always subject to change.

NFL Pro Day numbers

Draft scout Gil Brandt has the more official Pro Day workout numbers on the NFL.com page.

Here's what they're going by:
* Quentin Moses: 4.75 and 4.77 in the 40
* Charles Johnson: 4.75 and 4.81 in the 40 (the 4.81 was when he hurt his hamstring)
* Martrez Milner: 4.67 and 4.75 in the 40. 34.5-inch vertical, 9-7 broad jump and 19 bench reps.
* Tony Taylor: 4.88 and 4.88 in the 40. 34-inch vertical.
* Tra Battle: 4.5 and 4.62 in the 40. 36-inch vertical. 10-foot broad jump. 4.11 short shuttle, 6.87 three-cone drill and 9 bench reps.
* Ray Gant: 4.9 and 4.91 in the 40. 30-inch vertical, 8-8 broad jump, 4.59 short shuttle and 7.77 three-cone drill.
* Dan Inman: 5.8 and 5.85 in the 40. 25-inch vertical, 7-8 broad jump, 5.08 short shuttle, 7.84 three-cone drill, 13 bench reps.
* Nick Jones: 5.22 and 5.25 in the 40. 23.5-inch vertical, 7-11 broad jump, 4.78 short shuttle, 7.66 three-cone drill and 22 bench reps (they took five away because the scouts said he was short-arming them, meaning Danny Ware officially put up the most bench reps of the day).
* Danny Ware: 4.61 and 4.63 in the 40. 35-inch vertical, 10-1 long jump, 6.96 three-cone drill and 25 bench reps.

Speaking of Pro Day, my buddy Dean Legge from the Scout site got a great shot of Charles just after he injured the hammy while running the 40. He e-mailed it to me Tuesday afternoon, but I didn't want to post it on here until he said it was OK. Dean also got some great shots of Mike Bobo showing off his vertical pretending to be a defender while the QBs were practicing throwing screen passes yesterday. Here's one of them. I watched them with Dean for a while. Bobo almost got himself a couple picks.

Richt postpractice comments

Opening comments:

We had a really competitive, physical, physical practice. Guys did a really good job. I was excited about the amount of energy and signs of physical toughness – just a bunch of guys who looked like they really love to play football. This time of year, you’re not playing a game for a while, but they love to compete against each other. The offense wants to beat the defense and vice versa. It’s been extremely competitive, really every day that we’ve been in shells or pads. There’s certain drills that we can keep track of and it’s been very, very close, very competitive. I don’t know if that’s good or not, but I think it’s a good sign. I think both sides of the ball are getting after it pretty good. We’re still making some foolish mistakes some, jumping offsides and going the wrong way some and the defense can’t line up without getting in the neutral zone some – a few things like that that can get you beat. But those things can be corrected, so it was just a very good day.

On the offensive line:
You know what, considering there’s only two guys who know what the heck they’re doing and even those guys have got new terminology, I think they’re doing pretty good at this point. I think it’s a lot more competitive than I thought it would be at this point. I really didn’t think we’d be able to create some space. We had some long runs today. We had a couple times where they provided the QB some time to make a play throwing the ball. There’s times it broke down, but the percentage of the time it looked right was pretty darn good. I was happy with that. We’re nowhere near to being there, but what I imagined it might be to this point, it’s better than I thought it’d be at this point.

About Vince Vance’s injury:
It’s a PCL, whatever that means. That’s the type of injury that doesn’t require surgery. It’s kind of a get the swelling down and get ready to play again. So he’s seven to 10 days from Monday.

Any other injury updates:
Josh Davis, I’m not sure, something happened to him. I don’t know for sure, but we think it’s a cartilage.

On four tight ends wearing green jerseys at practice today:
The defensive ends are just kicking their tail.

Is he seeing progress from the defensive ends?
There’s not enough competitive…There aren’t many guys competing at tight end to really say if they’re doing great or not. They get some matchups with some tackles that are a little bit more fair. They’ve got a long way to go, but they’re doing well. I saw a really nice play by Jarius Wynn today. He was coming full speed, got cut, got up and got what I believe would have been a sack. We blow the whistle early with the green jersey. But it was just a great effort play from a guy that hadn’t been here. These are things you want to teach a guy to do and he’s doing it already. I think that’s a tribute to him and Georgia Military College.

What is NaDerris Ward able to do in practice?
He does everything he can non-contact. We do pass skeleton and if you’re not in a green jersey, they’ll thud whoever catches the ball and then if it’s a green jersey, they try not to thud. He’s taken a few shots here and there, but nothing to set him back, which is good.

So nothing sure on Josh Davis?
Ron isn’t sure, but he thinks it might be a cartilage issue.

More from coach Fabris

I talked to coach Fabris for a minute again after practice today. It started about defensive ends, but it evolved into his thoughts on leadership. Again, I found what he had to say interesting.

The most notable thing about post-practice was that Josh Davis got hurt. Coach Richt said he hurt his knee and he believes there is cartilige damage, but they're not sure about the severity. I'm sure there'll be more on that after Friday's practice. Davis lined up as the backup right tackle behind Chester Adams earlier today -- and that's already a position that's a little thin right now with Vince Vance out for the next week or so. So Ian Smith (he's lining up there right now to help out), Trinton Sturdivant and Cheese will have to hold down the fort for a bit.

Here's the interview with Fabris:
I guess y'all are six practices or so in now. Is that enough time to start to seeing the progress you want from your guys at defensive end?
Six practices would be a good bit, but when you consider that we were gone for nine days, we really re-started. The biggest thing is most of them have stayed healthy, so the evaluation can at least take place. The most frustrating thing is when you have guys who aren’t practicing. It’d be one thing if the guy, he’s played, no big deal, but the young guys who were out last fall and are still out with whatever, you can’t get an accurate (evaluation) or determine. But we’re not even at the halfway point yet, so I think we have Friday, and of course Saturday (scrimmage) will be a big day. That’ll be like the midterm. We’ll know more after that, probably. The other thing is to not be a flash in the pan. Can you do good work day after day or are you just a one-hit wonder a week? You see what I’m saying? Some kids are that way – they’ll have a good practice, but then the next two are off. Or they’ll have a good part of a drill and then they’ll get an ow (?) in and then they shut down. That’s part of toughness. That’s what I look for is consistency. I haven’t always played necessarily the best athlete. It’s the guy who’s the most consistent and has toughness and is gonna fight you in the fourth quarter. That’s another thing I look for.

Are the returning veterans -- Marcus Howard, Rod Battle and Jeremy Lomax -- taking the leadership role among the guys at the position?
I look at leadership a little more severely than most people do. I don’t give the leadership laurel out as easily as a lot of coaches do. Leadership is something that is – I just won’t say a guy’s a great leader unless I really think he is. To me, just taking care of yourself, that’s the starting point to being a leader. You’ve got to take care of yourself first and then bring others along and not tolerate certain things. It’s a lonely position. Nobody wants to pick up the staff. Moses didn’t want to pick up the staff. I’ll put it this way, you’ll never win big without great leadership within your ranks. I’m not talking about coaches, although that’s important. The 2005 team, up until that point that was our fifth team here, but that was our least-talented team, physically, that we’ve ever had here. It wasn’t like it was one or two guys, it was kind of spread out evenly. We had a senior group that spread it evenly amongst themselves. We had good chemistry, we liked each other and we had good leadership. That’s why we won. We had some other teams that had more talent, but they won because they had that, you know? I think they also got tired of basically being told what they couldn’t do, too, you see my point? We’re all kind of like that.

Early practice notes

Practice started late today (4:30) and they're going a long while. Enjoyed watching coach Searels work with the offensive linemen for a little while. Was up in Chris Davis' and Haverkamp's business in the little bit I was watching.

Anyway, here are the first-team flex lines when they started practice today.
Mikey Henderson, Sean Bailey, Tripp Chandler, Chester Adams, Scott Haverkamp, Fernando Velasco, Chris Davis, Trinton Sturdivant, Brannan Southerland, Kregg Lumpkin, Matthew Stafford

Rod Battle, Marcus Howard, Kade Weston, Jeff Owens, Akeem Dent, Brandon Miller, Dannell Ellerbe, CJ Byrd, Kelin Johnson, Bryan Evans, Paul Oliver

There are 13 guys in green jerseys today, including pretty much every tight end except Tripp Chandler (which might be by design): Coleman Watson, NaDerris Ward, Brandon Wood, Marcus Washington, Antavious Coates, Jeff Henson, Andrew Williams, Jeff Potterbaum, Mitchell Lane, Akeem Hebron, Andrew Johnson, Chris Gaunder and Will Sullivan.

Also, for those in Athens who might be interested, I saw a flyer today advertising a draft party that Quentin Moses and Jarvis Jackson are throwing this Saturday. It's 18-and-up, starts at 10 p.m. and is at Insomnia on Broad Street in Athens...so there you go.

Coach Fabris gets candid

Here's a verbatim portion of the interview I was doing with defensive ends coach Jon Fabris this afternoon. The first portion is probably a bit too 'inside baseball,' but I thought his answers to my last two questions were very interesting. Speaking of baseball, he's a big baseball fan. In fact, he gave me some grief about how my new baseball cap is a crime against the sport. It's one of those new flexfit spring training fitted hats that all the teams switched to this season. I was against it too until I tried one on, but it's the most comfortable fitted hat I've ever owned...don't guess I get anything for that plug, but I'm sure the good folks at New Era will appreciate the endorsement from such a powerful media member. But coach Fab's against it -- old school through and through.

Anyway, I caught him near the end of Pro Day today to ask about the transition Charles Johnson and Quentin Moses are having to make. This conversation went on for longer than what I'm posting here, but I stopped recording after I asked my last question. Kelly Quinlan from the Rivals site walked up while we were talking and asked him some more on the subject, but I didn't record that part. I think he's transcribed his portion on their site, so you can probably read more there.

We started off talking about the difficulties of the adjustment Charles and Quentin have to make in working out as both defensive ends for a 4-3 defense and outside linebackers for a 3-4:
When people hear the word ‘linebacker’ they immediately assume it’s the people backing up the line – people basically playing 3-4 yards off the line of scrimmage, reading keys – an inside linebacker or in some cases outside ‘backers. In the case of a quote-unquote 3-4 defense with two outside linebackers, one of them’s typically gonna rush the passer every down and the other one’s gonna drop. That’s what you’re talking about, but there are a lot of similarities between playing outside ‘backer. If you’re on the line of scrimmage and playing defensive end, the only difference is an outside ‘backer plays in a two-point stance and a defensive end puts his hand on the ground. Oftentimes, a lot of the things you do with the run game are all similar and rushing the passer’s rushing the passer. Really the only change there is knowing when do I rush, when do I drop, which outside ‘backer am I? Pass rush is pass rush and then just learn how to drop into coverage. Of course some of these guys have already had some experience in zone blitzes dropping, so it’s not like it’s…I’m not saying it’s not different – it IS different – but it’s not like it’s drastically different. Now if you had to play inside, it gets a little more complicated in there, OK? So in this day and time, probably half the teams are running the 4-3 and half are running the 3-4. Everybody’s trying to see these in-between guys, who can play, who’s only a defensive end and who can do either way. That’s kind of where it’s at.

Y’all drop guys, not necessarily all the time, but I know I’ve seen the ends dropping in pass coverage at times.
It is something we do. I’m not one for wanting to drop my best pass rusher too many times because he can’t rush the passer if he’s dropping.

It seems like Marcus Howard does that a lot. Is he a good person to do that?
The quote-unquote rush end will probably drop more than the buck end probably, but that’s not always the case. Like, Quentin Moses dropped more than Charles did during his career, but that doesn’t mean Charles can’t drop.

What do you feel like these guys needed to show to these scouts – Charles and Quentin?
I have no idea. To me, of all the evaluation stuff, you’ve got the Combine, you’ve got these Pro Day workouts, you’ve got individual workouts where the people work out individually and they go to that. All these things, 80 percent of it, if not more, has to be film. How do they look on the football field? This stuff is important. I think this stuff is kind of a tiebreaker sometimes. I think they know who they like as football players. If it’s toss-a-coin time, we take the guy who’s a little bit quicker on the shuttle, we take a guy who’s a little bit whatever. See my point? But you’re crazy if you take the less-productive football player because he runs a better 40-yard dash time or whatever out here over a guy who’s much more productive on the football field. That’s my opinion. It’s kind of like recruiting. You don’t want to take a bunch of potentially good players. I want the majority of my guys, I want to know what they are in high school. Does that make sense? Not because he looked good on the basketball court or because he’s got a good upside or all that other stuff. He looks like Tarzan and plays like Jane, see my point?

Do you think people get too caught up in all the measurable tests?
Oh yes, there’s no doubt in my mind about that. I could care less what kind of 40-yard times my ends run because they’re not going to run 40 yards. I care about their first two or three steps. I care how hard they want to chase the football.

Pro day thoughts

I wrote a story and an ENORMOUS notebook from Georgia's Pro Day, so I'll refer you to that stuff on ledger-enquirer.com, but I figured I'd post some of the results I caught from the workouts today. It's far from complete, as NFL scouts are just the most pleasant folks to be around, let me tell you...and for some reason it's particularly annoying trying to get 40 times from them, as if their ability to click the little button on their watch is some kind of extra special skill. I'm bringing my own watch next year.

Anyway, the following guys took part today from Georgia: Tra Battle, Jarvis Jackson, Danny Verdun Wheeler, Tony Taylor, Nick Jones, Michael Turner, Dan Inman, Ken Shackleford, Martrez Milner, Ray Gant, Tyson Browning, Danny Ware, Gordon Ely-Kelso, Mario Raley, Quentin Moses, Charles Johnson. There were others from smaller schools, but the only name I got was Eric Turner from South Carolina State, who did OK in what I saw.

Here's the stuff I got from the Georgia guys:
I think I was the only reporter there for bench press (reps with 225 pounds). These are the only guys who participated:
Nick Jones 27 reps
Danny Ware 25
Martrez Milner 19
Jarvis Jackson 19
Michael Turner 17
Danny Verdun Wheeler 16
Dan Inman 16
Mario Raley 12
Tra Battle 9
Ray Gant DNF (strained right pectoral after four reps and didn't continue)

Broad jump (Also the only guys who participated)
Danny Ware 9-8, 10-0-1/2
Tra Battle 9-9-1/2, 10-0
Martrez Milner 9-4-1/2, 9-7-1/2
Jarvis Jackson 8-11, 9-1-1/2
Ray Gant 8-8
Michael Turner 7-11, 8-3, 7-11
Danny Verdun Wheeler 8-11, 9-4
Nick Jones 7-8-1/2, 7-11-1/2
Dan Inman 7-7, 7-7-1/2, 7-8
Mario Raley 8-7, 8-11, 8-5
Tyson Browning 8-9-1/2, 8-11-1/2, 9-0

Vertical jump (I couldn't really see what was going on with this one very well, so I didn't try to watch much of it)
Danny Ware 35 inches
Tyson Browning 31

40-yard dash (keep in mind these are quite unofficial. I didn't get times for many participants)
Danny Ware 4.62
Quentin Moses 4.75
Charles Johnson 4.67
Tony Taylor 4.85
Martrez Milner 4.7

Quick impressions:
* Charles shaved a hair off his 40 time from the combine (4.8), although he injured his left hamstring running the 40 for the second time and was done for the day. He's easily the first Georgia player selected and might pop into the first round.
* Honestly, other than possibly Martrez Milner or Quentin Moses, I don't know that many Bulldogs will be picked on the first day. I'm thinking Danny Ware and Tony Taylor go on the second day and the rest are still up in the air.
* Quentin Moses is struggling. He's a tweener -- either a defensive end in a 4-3 defense or an outside linebacker in a 3-4, but it doesn't sound like he's distinguished himself at either option. I'm certainly no expert on the matter, but lots of draft analysis says his stock is falling.
* Danny Ware looks like he was carved out of stone. My buddies who've been around here longer than I have say he's always had a great physique and he showed it off today when he ran the 40 shirtless. A writer there who covers the NFL said he almost looked too big for a running back. A 4.62 40 isn't phenomenal, and he wasn't especially excited about that, but he represented himself very well in some of the other measurables. He posted the best broad jump of the day and lifted the second-most reps on the bench press. So you're not getting the full picture when you hear he didn't do well based only on how he didn't fare especially well in the pass-catching drills. I think he showed himself to be quite a physical specimen with some upside, which I think is going to get him drafted despite the whopping 326 yards he ran for last year.
* I didn't get times from the shuttle run, but Danny Verdun Wheeler looked good doing it. I heard he posted the best result in that.
* Also, I had two separate conversations with coach Jon Fabris today. One with a couple other media guys where we just chit-chatted and later I caught him walking off near the end of Pro Day to talk about Moses and Johnson and later Kelly Quinlan from the Rivals site walked up and joined in. If you know anything at all about coach Fabris, it won't surprise you that he thinks people put too much stock in 40 times and these measurable drills. He's truly an interesting dude. Very old-school. I didn't record the entire conversation, but maybe about four or five minutes. I'll transcribe here in a bit and post what I recorded.
* I met agent Brett Mankey (and in a moment of shameless self-promotion I'll note he said he reads the trusty old blog) who's representing Ray Gant, Mario Raley, Gordon Ely-Kelso and Tyson Browning. He said Browning is drawing some pretty serious interest from Canadian Football League teams as a kick returner and multi-purpose back...basically like a third-down back, except that it's a second-down back there. He's still hoping to catch on with an NFL team as a kick returner, though.

Back to it

Georgia returns to the spring practice fields tonight at 8. I believe the late hour has something to do with a scheduling conflict related to some kind of exams or tests? Not sure. Coach Richt is scheduled to talk to the reporters prior to practice.

At any rate, I won't be there until tomorrow morning. The former players are having their pro day tomorrow around 11ish, so I'll be there to see what happens with that and will try to have something to post late tomorrow afternoon.

I'll be staying for practice on Wednesday and will return for the tentative scrimmage on Saturday. Things should start getting a little more interesting over the next two weeks. I imagine the vast majority of the drama will be put off until preseason practice, though.

Athens RV park opening in 2008

We got this press release today at the paper. I figured somebody might find it of interest, although I won't be doing a story on it or anything.
dc

Now is the time for University of Georgia sports fans to mark their territory in BullDog Park, a brand new RV facility with an ownership team that includes Kevin Butler, David Greene and David Pollack. The City of Athens has approved the zoning, and work will soon begin on the park, which will encompass more than 18 acres.

Greene and Pollack, who became good friends during their playing days at Georgia, are excited to partner on a project that directly impacts so many UGA fans. “BullDog Park is going to be a great addition to UGA game day,” says Greene. “I can’t think of a better way for an RV owner to enjoy a football game in Athens.”

Each space in BullDog Park will be individually owned and available for use throughout the year. Come and go as early or late as you like, enjoy the day with fellow Bulldog fans, and never again worry about finding a suitable space. For added convenience, property owners may keep their RV in Bull Dog Park for 30 days per visit.

BullDog Park owners will enjoy access to a wealth of amenities not currently available to the RV owner in Athens:

· Oversized pad with room for an RV and guest parking
· Full hookups for electrical, sewer, cable and water
· Climate-controlled pavilion with attended restrooms and shower facilities
· Game day entertainment
· BBQ and picnic areas
· Playground for little Bulldog fans
· Onsite security and keyed entry to the facility
· Professional landscaping

Located on Hancock Road, which is adjacent to Olympic Drive, the park offers easy access to the loop and a 10 to 15 minute shuttle ride to the stadium on game day. Every game day BullDog Park will provide continuous shuttle service for space owners and their guests.

“Ownership in BullDog Park represents a unique opportunity for Georgia fans,” says Kevin Butler, former place kicker for the University of Georgia, Chicago Bears and Arizona Cardinals, and one of the partners developing Bull Dog Park. “Not only will owners enjoy a prime, secure location for their pre-game activities, but they will never have to worry again about where to park their RV on game day.

A limited number of pull thrus will be made available, so Georgia football fans will want to act quickly to take advantage of the introductory price of $30,000. This price cannot be guaranteed once the pre-sell goal has been reached, and could go up as much as 15 percent.

The project is slated for a June 2008 opening, just in time for football season.

For more information on BullDog Park please contact:
Kim and Chris Shupe, Real Estate/Property Manager, (706) 207-0823

Coaching alum news

I'm home sick today, so I'm reading way too much random stuff and came across a small nugget that may be of interest.

Bubba Walker, who was a graduate assistant coaching linebackers last year at Georgia, was hired to Chris Hatcher's new Georgia Southern staff today. He'll coach defensive ends.

Walker is one of four hires including former Florida State and NFL receiver Ron Dugans (receivers), Mitch Stewart (tight ends) and Dave Jenkerson Jr. (strength and conditioning).

Gamble injured

Coach Richt announced at today's practice that redshirt freshman linebacker Darryl Gamble has a broken foot and that creates a problem for the rest of spring, as today was only Georgia's first practice in full pads this spring.

Gamble was Brandon Miller's backup at middle linebacker, so I don't know what they're going to do for the rest of spring. Gamble is out for the next six weeks and the other middle linebacker on the depth chart, Marcus Washington, is still recovering from a knee injury he suffered toward the end of last season. Someone will rotate in behind Miller at mike for the rest of spring, but I'm sure the coaches would have liked more competition at that position this spring. Interestingly, they'll have more than enough capable MLBs in the fall, with both Gamble and Washington returning from injury and Rennie Curran reporting with the freshmen. You'd have to expect Curran to redshirt because of the depth there, but he looks great on film and he's one of those guys I've heard people say is capable of playing right away, given the opportunity.

But for right now, it's Miller and whoever they decide to put in there with him.

Georgia's taking the next week off for spring break and will return to the practice field on Monday, March 19. The next times I'll be there will be March 20, which is Georgia's pro day where the draft prospects work out for NFL scouts, and March 24 for the team's scrimmage.

Commitment No. 9

Georgia added its ninth verbal commitment for the class of 2008 Wednesday when Statesboro defensive tackle Deangelo Tyson committed.

Here's the Scout.com story on the subject. In Dean's story, he says Tyson should be one of the top DTs in the state in the upcoming season.

More on satellite radio

I never heard back on the message I left yesterday for Alan Thomas, Georgia's assistant AD for external affairs, who handles things such as the satellite radio deal. But Marc Weiszer was able to catch up with him (one of the advantages of actually being in Athens, eh Weiszer) and he was able to ask most of the questions I had...I have no idea where he came up with such a great story idea, though...

After reading Weiszer's story, I'd like this deal even less if I were a Georgia fan. (And by the way, the games will remain on free radio, so this doesn't affect you at all if you listen to the games on one of the Georgia Bulldog Radio Network affiliates like 1420-AM here in Columbus. But for an out-of-state fan who wants to listen to Larry Munson's call on the radio, this is your chance to do so...most of the time).

Which leads me to what would bug me about it:
1. There's no guarantee EVERY game will be carried, which should have been a minimum requirement when a league can band together and use its group (or in this case, everyone but LSU) negotiating power to arrange a deal. Thomas said they're looking for a minimum of 75 percent of the games carrying each team's call, but in the others, you'd just have to listen to one team's call or the other's. And as anyone who has ever listened to the opposing team's radio call can tell you, that almost always irritates the stew out of you unless your team is beating the crap out of their team.
2. They don't know what will happen if the proposed XM-Sirius merger happens. Say you're a Georgia fan who has Sirius right now, but you're considering buying the XM stuff and switching to that service so you can listen to Munson's call starting in the fall. You might not have to do that, but they won't know until the logistics of the merger are worked out...and that could take months. That also seems like it leaves fans twisting in the wind. It just seems to me like a league as powerful as the SEC could have gotten more bang for its buck than what it's getting in this deal. I'm sure there are benefits for the league that we don't see on the surface and maybe some SEC-specific programming, but satellite carrier aside, I don't see how this does much more for SEC listeners than when the schools were negotiating their own individual deals.

For what it's worth, I was at Circuit City yesterday and talked to a car stereo guy about how a merger would work and he said it wouldn't require you to buy new components -- that they'd figure out a way to make components from both services jibe. This was just a Circuit City car stereo guy -- not a rep from one of the companies -- so take that for whatever you think it's worth. But I've found those guys usually know what they're talking about.

Seth Watts leaves team

The writing was on the wall about this yesterday, but I started feeling uncomfortable posting or writing about it when I didn't have anything concrete. So Seth Watts has left the team, leaving a vacancy on the offensive line. Truthfully, he was unlikely to play much this season, but he was one of the few returning veterans the group had. They could use all the linemen who are familiar with the program that they can have these days.

Here's Georgia's release from today:
ATHENS, Ga. -- University of Georgia junior offensive lineman Seth Watts has decided to forego his remaining two years of football eligibility, according to an announcement Tuesday by Bulldog head coach Mark Richt.

Richt said Watts, who served as a backup offensive guard during the 2006 season, plans to remain in school and concentrate on his academic work.

“We appreciate the contributions that Seth has made to our football team,” said Richt. “And at the same time we are certainly supportive of what he feels is in his best interest.”

SEC signs with XM Radio

The SEC announced its long awaited deal with a satellite radio provider today. It signed a five-year deal with XM Radio, which starts pretty much immediately. Not sure how I feel about this. For completely selfish reasons, I have Sirius, I'm not a huge fan of the move. But I'm also wondering why it works out the way it does -- the deal doesn't include LSU at all; Auburn, Alabama and Vanderbilt are still contracted to Sirius through the end of the upcoming school year; and this doesn't address what would happen if the proposed Sirius/XM merger goes through.

But...on the bright side for you Georgia fans, the Bulldogs now have a satellite provider. And if that's something that matters to you when picking a provider, now you know who to choose.

Here's the full text of the SEC release:
BIRMINGHAM and WASHINGTON, DC — March 6, 2007 — The Southeastern Conference (SEC) and XM, the leader in college sports on radio, today announced a five-year broadcast and marketing agreement under which XM will become the official satellite radio provider of the SEC, broadcasting football, basketball and other sports to XM subscribers nationwide. XM will provide complete coverage of SEC championships, starting with the SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament live from the Georgia Dome in Atlanta March 8 through 11 on XM channel 201.

XM will have the most SEC games on the radio with coast-to-coast live broadcasts of the University of Arkansas, University of Georgia, University of Kentucky, Mississippi State University, University of Mississippi and University of Tennessee football, basketball, and other sports starting in fall 2007. The University of South Carolina will join XM in fall 2008, followed by the University of Florida in fall 2009. For each school, XM plans to air every regular-season football game, the vast majority of basketball games, and other sports, plus comprehensive coverage of the SEC football and basketball championships.

"The Southeastern Conference is pleased to enter into this agreement with XM,” said SEC Commissioner Mike Slive. “XM's commitment to the SEC gives our league a tremendous boost in our national radio coverage. Our fans will be able to listen to their favorite schools on a branded SEC channel that will feature programming from our schools and the conference."

“The SEC has one of the greatest traditions of competition in college sports,” said Eric Logan, XM’s executive vice president for programming. “This agreement means SEC fans can tune into games on the radio, even if they live thousands of miles away from their favorite school. XM will have a group of channels dedicated to the SEC, making it easy for fans to find games and special SEC programs. As the official satellite radio provider for the SEC, XM is extending its position as the leader in college sports on radio.”

In addition to live play-by-play, XM will carry the SEC Football Championship, the SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament, the SEC Women’s Basketball Championship and other SEC sports. XM will also produce programs throughout the week covering the SEC.

SEC fans can go to http://xmradio.com/sec for a special offer on XM radios. SEC fans can also get special deals on XM radios this week at the SEC men’s basketball tournament and the SEC FanFare in Atlanta. This will be the first in a series of joint marketing efforts by XM and the SEC.

About the SEC

The Southeastern Conference was formed in 1933 and consists of 12 member institutions: Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, South Carolina, Tennessee and Vanderbilt. The league currently sponsors championship play in nine men's sports and 11 women's sports. Its headquarters has been located in Birmingham, Ala., since 1948. For more on the conference, visit www.secsports.com.

About XM

XM (NASDAQ: XMSR) is America's number one satellite radio company with more than 7.6 million subscribers. Broadcasting live daily from studios in Washington, DC, New York City, Chicago, the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Toronto and Montreal, XM's 2007 lineup includes more than 170 digital channels of choice from coast to coast: commercial-free music, premier sports, news, talk radio, comedy, children's and entertainment programming; and the most advanced traffic and weather information.

XM, the leader in satellite-delivered entertainment and data services for the automobile market through partnerships with General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, Porsche, Subaru, Suzuki and Toyota is available in 140 different vehicle models for 2007. XM's industry-leading products are available at consumer electronics retailers nationwide. For more information about XM hardware, programming and partnerships, please visit http://www.xmradio.com.

Richt postpractice comments

So the leaving Velasco and Adams at guard experiment didn't even make it to the first practice. They lined up today with Josh Davis and Chester Adams at tackle, Chris Davis and Scott Haverkamp at guard and Fernando Velasco at center. Again, everybody involved pointed out that this was the first day and there's lots of time to figure out who belongs where and in what order. But this is how they started.

Also, I don't know for sure whether it's permanent or not but Seth Watts did not practice with the team today.

(EDIT: I'm not sure if the reason for him not being out there that I originally posted here is why he was actually not out there today, so I'm taking that down. Also, the Rivals site is running that Watts is off the team permanently, but all I'm confident saying right now is that he was not out there today because of personal reasons).

Anyway, I won't be back in Athens for a while, so I tried to get as many guys as I could after practice to stockpile some interviews for stories. Got Stafford, Rod Battle, Brandon Miller, Sean Bailey, as well as some Bobo and Searels. That stuff'll be coming in the next week or so.

Here's what coach Richt had to say this afternoon:
It was fun. I’m looking forward to putting the pads on to be honest with you. I think everybody’s gonna learn a lot more then. It’s hard to really tell who’s doing what right now, other than just working on fundamentals and learning what to do. There’s not a whole lot you can say about today other than we’re just getting them organized and getting them lined up right. We’re starting to get used to some new terminology and things like that, but until we put some pads on – which will be the first time – Thursday we’ll be in shells and get a little bit of a taste and Friday we’ll put full gear on and block and tackle a little bit.

On Brandon Miller’s body type at MLB
He’s still got very good mobility for a guy his size. But you’d like to have a mike linebacker who can play the inside run. He’s right in the middle of the line of scrimmage, he’s gonna be right where a great majority of the runs go. And hopefully he’ll be in position to knock some people back. But he’s got to learn, he’s got to get used to it. I think it’ll be a good move for him.

On changes on making personnel decisions with Mike Bobo calling plays
That won’t really change. Each position coach…Basically before every game we talk about approximately how much one particular guy might get or a rotation we’re gonna have that game. Usually it’s the position coach that tries to make that determination. He’s the one that’s watching, for example, the running back position to see is the first guy getting tired or if we say we’re gonna go with a three- or four-play rotation, just to keep track of that and make sure we make the substitution. But Mike, as he calls the game, if he has a specific guy he wants for a specific play, he’ll give them a heads-up before the play.

On Knowshon Moreno
Knowshon, he’s a high energy guy. He’s got some tremendous change of direction, very competitive. And he’s gonna bring some energy to the team. Guys like him bring energy.

On JUCO guys for spring
They all have a chance to contribute right away. They’re all first- and second-team, really. So somebody’s gonna end up starting and more than likely those backups will get to play. We have really no idea how they’re gonna line up here. We just got ‘em started and gosh, by the time the Monday after spring break rolls around, that whole thing may change some. Matter of fact, we had a depth chart set when we began our meetings and by the time coach Searels got done with his meetings, he felt some certain guys were suited a little bit better – like Fernando, he moved him to center. We originally had him at guard. And of course Cheese is already out there at tackle and all. All that could change. We’re just excited to have them out here. If he didn’t have them at all until the fall began, it’d really be scary. At least they get a chance to learn what to do.

Haverkamp and Chris Davis are the guards for now?
Yeah, for right now, the very first day, I think Haverkamp was right guard and Chris was left guard. Josh was left tackle, Cheese was right tackle and Fernando was in the middle. Again, we’re right and left now. We’re not flipping, we’re not tight side, split side anymore.

On how much more he’ll watch offensive line this spring
I’ll say this, I’m watching more for curiosity than watching to see if coach Searels is doing a good job or not. I know he’s gonna do a great job. Matter of fact, I enjoyed watching him a little bit today. I’m enjoying watching him as much as I am watching the players.

On how it helps offensive timing to have established QB and be able to roll him out for 15 spring practices
That should help a lot. It should help everybody – the receivers kinda getting used to who the No. 1 guy is and what to expect when the ball’s coming their way. I think just the cadence, how a guy handles the huddle, how he handles the team, how he handles the game. I think it’s gonna be good for everybody – for the coaches to know the strengths and weaknesses of your starter. Being able to plan around him rather than trying to plan around two or three guys.

Bobo Q/A from teleconference

Here's what Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo had to say on Wednesday's pre-spring teleconference. I've been meaning to post some of Wednesday's interviews before now, but transcribing this stuff takes a long time.

What he would like to see from Stafford in the spring in terms of his development.
Well, the No. 1 thing for us at the quarterback position going into the spring is going to be, have a better respect for the football. We’ve got to learn that we’ve got to take care of the football. It’s very evident when you see statistics across the country that when you win the turnover battle, your chances of winning the game go up dramatically. That was one thing we did not do very well at our position. Our interception-to-touchdown ratio was poor. We had too many fumbles at the quarterback position. We’ve got to respect the football. Sometimes you’ve got to punt it and there’s nothing wrong with punting as long as we don’t turn the ball over.

On what he did different to prepare himself for his new role as offensive coordinator entering the spring.
Just being more involved in the daily organization of meetings and planning out practice and what we’re gonna get installed has been the main thing, and trying to get everybody on the same page. It’s just been a little more time-consuming on my part, but the other coaches have been great. We work well together and we know we’ve got a lot to do this spring, but we just want to get back to the basics of blocking and catching the football and execution and work on fundamentals. That’ll be a big thing for us this spring, is working on the fundamentals of playing football.

On the difference in the QB depth chart this year.
I expect those guys still to compete every day. We’re gonna open up the spring practice and Matthew is No. 1 and Cox is No. 2 and Blake is No. 3, but we’re gonna compete every day and expect those guys to compete. All we know is it’s an open competition, but as far as the amount of reps that we get, I think it will work out better that guys get more reps on a consistent basis with the ones and with the twos instead of rolling them and a lot of uncertainty. I think all three of them will be able to relax and play a little better and hopefully they just play football and not worry about where they are in the pecking order, and that will take care of itself.

On the receivers:
I feel good that most every guy we’ve got coming back has experience and feel good about getting Sean Bailey back. It will add us another threat offensively with some speed. The main thing we’re looking for out of those guys is some consistency in their play and blocking and catching, and I think a lot of that has to do with getting more experience. Another year in the weight room, another offseason. With the strength gains they made, I think they’ll become more confident on the field. As they get bigger and stronger and feel more confident, they can go out there and play to their ability. Going through an extra mat drills will make them mentally tougher. All of those things are going to affect when you play two years and go into your third year, I think that’s going to help those guys relax and play football. Putting pressure on yourself and every play’s do-or-die – and it’s not – and they drop a ball, we’ve got to come back and play the next play. I know we’re not gonna catch every ball, but we’re gonna strive for consistency out of that group and hopefully find a couple guys we can count on as playmakers.

On Bailey's abilities:
Sean’s got tremendous potential. You’ve seen flashes of it over the last couple years. He’s a deep-speed threat, able to get behind defenders, he’s got good hands. We’ve got to get him to stay healthy and he’s been relatively consistent catching the football. We think it’s just another added dimension, the speed, to put pressure on a defense with us (being) able to get behind somebody and make some big plays.

Is Bailey 100 percent and what Thomas Brown will be able to do?
Sean is 100 percent. This spring, he’s cleared to go. Thomas Brown looks good right now, but we’re gonna be very cautious with him and probably just do some run polish (?). That’s just quarterbacks and running backs going through the run game. And hopefully maybe by the end of the spring get him in some non-contact 11-on-11 work. But there’s no hurry for him. That’s a very smart kid, a hard worker, a very sound fundamental player. The biggest concern for us is getting him healthy for the season.

Have they been surprised by the speed of Brown’s recovery?
It usually varies between players. Some guys are faster healers than others and Thomas I think is one of those guys. I know, according to Ron Courson, he’s worked extremely hard in the training room and sometimes he wants to push too hard, Ron says, to get back too early. He’s just got to realize that we’re not playing a game this March or April. The game’s not till September 1 and it’s a process. We want him to be healthy this fall.

Concern about line depth as far as being able to put together two teams for spring game?
There’s a concern about lining up the first day at practice to be honest. We’ve got three guys in Chester Adams, Fernando Velasco and Seth (Watts). Really those two have the most experience and Seth has a little experience. And Ian Smith, but Ian Smith’s suspended for the first five games, so you’re not gonna be able to work him as much as you’d like because he’s gonna be out for the first five. We’re gonna have a bunch of young guys, freshmen and junior college guys that are gonna be fighting for starting jobs. It’s gonna be a long spring, it’s gonna test our patience. And again, we’re working our best to line up out there for the G-Day game, but the ultimate goal is to get ‘em ready by September 1. We’re gonna have to take baby steps and take it one day at a time, but we’ll work and fight every day and stay healthy and get out there and don’t miss practice – you’ve got to practice to get better and not be in the training room – I think we’ll be able to put together a line come September 1. We’re searching for five guys right now that we feel confident about. Really we don’t know what direction we’re going with those guys yet. We’ve got to get out there on the grass and find out.

On trying to brace Matthew for line’s growing pains.
You’ve got to protect him with some calls that you might make. More max protection, more screens, more quick game, get rid of the ball. And he’s got to do a better job of putting us in the right play. We’ve got to put more on him to maximize our ability on offense of not wasting plays – running plays into good looks and checking it down and getting rid of it, taking care of the ball. Some times protection’s not good and you’ve gotta eat it, you’ve got to take a sack or you’ve got to throw it away and that’s part of being a quarterback. I don’t want him to change his style because we’ve got young linemen. When we call something, I expect him to go back there every play and assume that we’re gonna have protection and he’s got to stand in there and deliver the football. And if you’ve got a little rush, you’ve got to focus downfield and still deliver the football. We can’t get him worried about (how) we’ve got a young line, worried about this guy. Worrying about that is the coaching staff. Coach Searels will get those guys ready to play and he’s got to realize, and I’ve already talked to the quarterbacks a little about this, is we’re not playing this March or this April or this spring. We’re trying to get ready for September 1 and it’s a process and we’ll continue to work hard and we’re gonna do what we can do well. If we can’t do it, we’re not gonna call it. If they’re not ready for it as an offensive line, we’re not gonna do it. We’re gonna do what we can handle and what we can execute to give us the best chance to win.

On possibility of Adams and/or Velasco changing positions.
Again, we’ve got to get them on the grass and see where they’re best suited to play. I know the way I feel and the way coach Searels feels is that we’ve got to find the best five. Whoever the best five are, we will play them accordingly to where they fit best. If the best five has Chester Adams playing tackle and Fernando playing center, then that’s where they’re gonna be. If we have them both playing guard and we have two tackles step up, that’s the way we’ll go. But we’ve got to find five guys that we feel comfortable with and then work around that.

Is Trinton Sturdivant cleared to practice in the spring?
He got cleared maybe a week or two ago. He’s going in mat drills now, so he’ll be full-go on Monday.

Anybody else out besides Goodman and Gartrell for spring?
Goodman, Gartrell, Thomas Brown, NaDerris Ward will be non-contact, but he’ll get to practice and do some 7-on-7 reps. But other than that, we expect everybody to be out there and hopefully get better this spring.

On Knowshon Moreno’s place on the running back depth chart.
It’s too early to make that call. We know Knowshon has some potential and we are definitely excited about it, but the key word there is potential. He’s still got a long ways to go, he’s still got to learn this offense, he’s got to learn what to do in this offense. We’re gonna play the best guys and if he’s the best guy, he’ll get to play. But we’ve got talented backs in Kregg Lumpkin and Thomas Brown coming back. Hopefully Knowshon will get himself ready to play and get in that mix. Again, we’ve got to find out what we can do best. If running backs are our best personnel, receivers or tight ends, we’ve got to find that personnel that we can be the most successful, with that personnel going into the season. I don’t know if we’re going to answer that in the spring, especially with these young linemen. The main goal this spring, like I said earlier, is to fundamentally get better, learn what to do, learn how to line up. We’ve got a bunch of young linemen and it’s gonna be a slow process. We’re gonna have to take baby steps and get those guys going in the right direction and playing hard and our guys making good decisions at the quarterback position and becoming more consistent at receiver, and just getting overall confidence going into the fall.

On Chris Davis:
We think Chris is very talented. He’s an athletic lineman and you probably know he played tight end in high school. He put on some weight and he looks nice in mat drills. But again, that’s mat drills. We’ve got to get out here on the grass and see how he responds to competition, how he comes off the ball, how hard he plays. We’re excited about him and the opportunity is there for him to take a starting job. Anyway you look at the situation, we’re gonna be playing with some young guys up there. We don’t know how many – two or three might be first-year guys – but hopefully we’ll have some guys step up. Hopefully we’ll have more than five step up. Chris is one we feel has the ability to do it, but he still has to go out there on the field and prove it this spring in two-a-days. We were pleased with what he did last year on the scout team and how he worked and how athletic he was. But he’s gonna be running first-team now, first and second-team some, so it’s a different story.

On Vince Vance:
Vince, he has three years to play three. He’s not a true freshman like Sturdivant and Tanner Strickland. He’s not really like Chris Davis, who is a redshirt freshman. He has some experience playing in ballgames, which he did last year at Georgia Military. We’re excited about him, he has a great body and he has worked extremely hard in mat drills. From the beginning to the end, he has gotten progressively better each day. If you look at his body, you’re like that’s a guy that can play for you right now. He’s got to learn what we do and our system. He’ll be given every opportunity this spring and fall to win a starting job and hopefully he’s up there competing and giving us some depth or maybe win a job.

Another kicker commitment

Both Scout and Rivals' Georgia sites have stories up on their front page about Georgia's newest 2008 commit, Florida kicker Blair Walsh. So it appears that along with the change of philosophy as far as a willingness to recruit JUCO players, the coaching staff is doing an about-face on offering kickers. Drew Butler's coming in in the fall to compete for a punting job and Walsh appears to be ready to place-kick starting next season.

I watched some tape on Walsh maybe a week or two ago and the kid has a huge leg. You never know how that will translate in front of 90,000 people (Andy Bailey's got a big leg too), but you can see on tape that length won't be Walsh's problem.

Walsh's commit makes eight in Georgia's 2008 class, although Bacarri Rambo's didn't exactly sound like a sure thing. So 7-8, whatever you want to call it.

I'm heading to Athens tonight from the Peach Belt Conference basketball tournament in scenic Greenwood, S.C. (home of Antavious Coates). Will stick around for the first spring practice on Monday and then head back to Columbus. I'll be up there intermittently throughout the spring, but it won't be an everyday thing like during the fall.

G-Day on TV

I got an e-mail asking if the G-Day game would be on TV, so I figured I'd share what I was told for the rest of you who might be curious.

It will be televised April 7 at 2 p.m. on CSS.