Free agent deals

I'm trying to get out of town on vacation, but before I go, I figured I'd give props to Marc Weiszer from the Athens paper for getting some free agent information in his story today:

He reported that several former Georgia guys appear to have deals lined up as undrafted free agents, including:
Tony Taylor, Atlanta
Tra Battle, San Diego
Danny Ware, Tennessee
Danny Verdun Wheeler, Chicago
Jarvis Jackson, Tennessee
Gordon Ely-Kelso, Atlanta (probably, he said)

I'd expect several other guys to sign with somebody in the near future, including but not limited to Dan Inman, Nick Jones, Ray Gant, Mario Raley. But I probably won't be around to report them. Going to the beach for a week. If anything big happens, I'm sure I'll pop in, but I'm hoping it'll be a nice, quiet week.

Shack to the Rams

Ken Shackleford just came off the board to the St. Louis Rams at 190, the 16th pick of the sixth round. That's four UGA guys so far.
Quentin Moses, third round
Charles Johnson, third round
Martrez Milner, fourth round
Ken Shackleford, sixth round

Five rounds down

Martrez Milner is the only Georgia player to have been selected today through five rounds.

Perhaps my posting has been a bit Falcons-centric, but that's the team I follow -- it being the in-state team and all. The Falcons traded their fifth-round pick for the following three sixth-round slots:
Selection Choice - Round 6, 2007 - Overall #194
Selection Choice - Round 6, 2007 - Overall #198
Selection Choice - Round 6, 2007 - Overall #203

I'll be interested to see what happens in those spots.

So far, Atlanta has made six picks:
Jamaal Anderson, DE, Arkansas
Justin Blalock, OG, Texas
Chris Houston, CB, Arkansas
Laurent Robinson, WR, Illinois State
Stephen Nicholas, LB, South Florida
Martrez Milner, TE, Georgia

Full Sunday draft story

My draft story that ran in the paper was chopped in half from the version I turned in, which is the risk you run when you're working with a deadline and limited space and wait till the last minute to turn in your story (not that I had much of a choice). I don't have to like it, though, which is why having this blog is nice. So if you're interested, here's the full thing.

Hours and hours of waiting finally ended for Georgia defensive ends Quentin Moses and Charles Johnson on Saturday, with the two players being selected 65th and 83rd in the third round of the NFL draft.

The players waited through the longest first round in the history of the NFL draft – 6 hours, 8 minutes in all – leaving the former Bulldogs feeling as much exhaustion as excitement after finally being picked more than nine hours after the draft’s noon start.

“It was just a long, long wait,” said Johnson, who went to the Carolina Panthers late in the third round. “I was starting to get my hopes down, but just when I did, I looked up and saw my name (on ESPN’s draft broadcast).”

If you believed pre-draft projections, Moses was a surprise as the first Georgia player selected. Most draft analysts expected Johnson to be the first Bulldog picked – possibly even in the first round – but Moses went to the Oakland Raiders with the first pick of the third round, 65^th overall and 18 picks ahead of Johnson, who went to Carolina nearly an hour later.

The wait seemed even lengthier as the Bulldogs watched while player after player at their position was selected. Although most scouting services ranked the two Georgia players among the draft’s top 10 defensive ends, they slipped out of that group on Saturday, prompting ESPN analysts to question whether Johnson had made a good decision by leaving Georgia a year early.

“You start thinking about things like that once you get into the third round, but I had my parents around me and they kept me up,” Johnson said.

Moses and Johnson were the 11th and 12th defensive ends selected, following lesser-known ends like Central Michigan’s Dan Bazuin and Hawaii’s Ikaika Alama-Francis, both of whom went in the second round.

“I can’t lie. That was (frustrating) because I know I’m a better player,” Johnson said. “But everything happens for a reason. I feel like everything that happened is a blessing.”

The 6-foot-2, 272-pound Johnson vaulted into draft consideration with an all-SEC junior season where he was second in the league in tackles for loss (19) and third in sacks (9.5).

He solidified his status as a promising prospect with a dominant performance against Virginia Tech in the Chick-fil-A Bowl, recording two sacks, three tackles for a loss, a forced fumble and a pass breakup.

The Hawkinsville, Ga., native was often projected to go to the Atlanta Falcons with one of their four picks in the first three rounds, but Johnson’s home-state team passed on him after selecting Arkansas defensive end Jamaal Anderson with the eighth overall pick.

That left Johnson available for the Panthers, who had the No. 7 overall defense in the NFL last season.

Moses’ lackluster senior year caused his stock to slip from certain first-round pick after his 11.5-sack junior season to the spot in the third round where he was snatched up by the Raiders.

The 6-foot-5, 250-pound Athens native faced frequent double-teams as a senior and saw his sack total slide to 4.5, mirroring his slide down NFL draft boards. He was often criticized for subpar performances in Senior Bowl practices and at the NFL combine.

But he could be a good fit for new Oakland coach Lane Kiffin’s defense, which alternates between 4-3 and 3-4 looks. Moses’ capability to line up at either defensive end or outside linebacker made him an attractive candidate for the Raiders.

“It’s a great fit for him because of his versatility,” Moses’ agent Sean Kiernan said. “He can rush the passer or drop back in coverage, so if coach Kiffin wanted him, he must have seen something he liked.”

The long wait to be picked continued for most of Georgia’s draft prospects, with several Bulldogs hoping their names will be called after Moses’ and Johnson’s. Only three rounds of the draft were complete at presstime and several notable Georgia players were still available.

Prior to the draft, analysts widely projected linebacker Tony Taylor and tight end Martrez Milner as the next most likely Bulldogs to be selected. Several others, including early entry running back Danny Ware, linebacker Jarvis Jackson and offensive tackles Ken Shackleford and Dan Inman, could work their way onto a team’s draft board this afternoon.

Milner to the Falcons

The Falcons might have passed on a Georgia player yesterday when they skipped on Charles Johnson and let him go to Carolina, but Atlanta nabbed a Bulldog today.

Martrez Milner just came off the board late in the fourth round, going to the Falcons with the 133rd pick. I'm betting we'll see Tony Taylor go in the next round.

Three rounds down

My gosh this is going slowly. Charles Johnson went 83rd to the Carolina Panthers. His advisor Richard Kopelman (huge thanks to him if for some reason he reads this) was able to help me speak with Charles for a minute, at the last possible second before I had to have my story in. He said it had been a really long day and his hopes had been getting down, but that all went away when he finally saw his name on the TV screen. I think he felt fortunate that he wound up where he did.

He also said it was frustrating to see some of the lesser-known DEs go ahead of him because he knows he's a better player, and that he started second-guessing his decision to come out early when it made it to the third round and he hadn't been picked, but that his parents helped him stay up while he waited.

I think he's going to be a great asset to Carolina. The Falcons had better hope he's not because it's pretty clear he wanted to go to Atlanta and they passed on him with several picks. Now they'll have to see him twice a season.

I didn't get to speak to Quentin, but I spoke a couple times with his agent, Sean Kiernan. He said the Raiders like Quentin's versatility, because their new coach plans to use 4-3 and 3-4 defensive looks, so Quentin's ability to rush the passer and drop back in coverage will be valuable skills.

So that's it for tonight. Charles was right, this has been a long, long wait.

I'm betting we'll see Tony Taylor and Martrez Milner go in either rounds 4 or 5 tomorrow and we may even see another couple guys pop up near the end. My guess is that we'll see most of the remaining UGA guys go the free-agent route, but we'll see what happens tomorrow.

Moses to Oakland

In another surprise, Quentin Moses went to the Oakland Raiders with the first pick of the third round, 65th overall. Charles Johnson is currently Mel Kiper's second-highest-rated available prospect. I'm betting he goes any minute too.

Two rounds complete, nobody picked

Interestingly, 10 defensive ends have been picked through the first two rounds. None of them are Charles Johnson or Quentin Moses.

ESPN's Scouts Inc. rated Johnson and Moses as the No. 9 and 10 DEs available in the draft, and The Sporting News had Johnson as No. 3 and Moses as No. 14. But several DEs were selected in the second round over the two Bulldogs, including Notre Dame's Victor Abiamiri, Hawaii's Ikaika Alama-Francis, Central Michigan's Dan Bazuin, Texas' Tim Crowder and Michigan's LaMarr Woodley. I think the first three were surprises to go over Johnson.

Middle second round

We're getting toward the middle of the second round -- currently at pick 48. Charles Johnson is currently the eighth-highest rated player remaining on Mel Kiper's board. All the teams that I'd heard were big Charles Johnson fans (most frequently: Pittsburgh, Dallas, St. Louis and Atlanta) have already taken a DE, so we'll have to see what happens. I expect he'll still be picked in the next 10 selections.

Shows what I know

I was saying the other day that there was no way the Falcons would take Arkansas DE Jamaal Anderson, which of course was absolutely incorrect. I figured there was such depth at DE in this draft that they'd address another need and go after a quality DE in the second round -- because there are sure to be several still available at 39 and 44. Of course I was wrong, which is unfortunately not uncommon.

So how does this relate to our purposes on this blog? Well, you have to figure that the Birds will not be selecting Charles Johnson at 44 as was predicted in several mock drafts. You never know, as Atlanta's still rather thin at the position -- considering that John Abraham is hardly reliable to remain healthy for a full season -- but I expect to see them look in other directions when the second round begins in a couple hours.

Draft preview

We ran preview capsules for the three schools we cover (Auburn, Alabama and Georgia) in Saturday's paper, detailing the players from each who have a shot of being drafted Saturday or Sunday. Here are the ones I did for Georgia. Several of these guys (and add Danny Verdun Wheeler to that list) are longshots to be picked, but I imagine they'll all make it into a camp somewhere at the very least:

TRA BATTLE
School: Georgia
Position: Safety/Cornerback
Ht./Wt.: 5-11/196
Career stats (2006): 160 tackles (58), eight interceptions (six), 14 pass breakups (seven), 6.5 tackles for loss (4.5), three sacks (two)
Projected round: Late rounds/free agent
What they’re saying: “Intelligent and competitive, Battle’s lack of size is a limiting factor. Could find a place on a roster as a dime back/special teams player.” (Scout.com)

GORDON ELY-KELSO
School: Georgia
Position: Punter
Ht./Wt.: 6-0/220
Career stats (2006): 227 punts (51), 9,140 yards (2,007), 40.3 average (39.4)
Projected round: Late rounds/free agent
What they’re saying: “Ely-Kelso doesn't have great upside because he doesn't have great power but he is consistent, efficient and accurate. He projects as a rookie free agent.” (Scouts Inc.)

RAY GANT
School: Georgia
Position: Defensive tackle
Ht./Wt.: 6-2/291
Career stats (2006): 84 tackles (18), six sacks (three), 8.5 tackles for loss (3.5), 48 quarterback pressures (12)
Projected round: Late rounds/free agent
What they’re saying: “A fiery competitor who gets the most of his abilities, Gant has limited potential at the next level. His hustle and attitude could gain him a spot on a roster.” (Scout.com)

DAN INMAN
School: Georgia
Position: Offensive tackle
Ht./Wt.: 6-7/316
Career stats (2006): 48 career starts (11)
Projected round: Late rounds/free agent
What they’re saying: “The negatives seem to far outweigh the positives with Inman, as he lacks ideal athleticism, plays too high and has short arms. Furthermore, he has off-the-field character baggage and he's notorious for getting penalized entirely too much. In our opinion, Inman is a mid-round talent that might not be worth the risk of a draft pick.” (Scouts Inc.)

JARVIS JACKSON
School: Georgia
Position: Linebacker
Ht./Wt.: 6-0/225
Career stats (2006): 211 tackles (71), 11 tackles for loss (2.5), three sacks (one), one interception (one), 23 quarterback pressures (seven)
Projected round: Late rounds/free agent
What they’re saying: “Jackson projects best as a weakside linebacker in the NFL, but it's unlikely he'll be more than a reserve. He should come off the board in the final couple rounds of the 2007 draft.” (Scouts Inc.)

CHARLES JOHNSON
School: Georgia
Position: Defensive end
Ht./Wt.: 6-2/270
Career stats (2006): 73 tackles (44), 14.5 sacks (9.5), 27.5 tackles for loss (19), five forced fumbles (three), three fumble recoveries (one), 12 pass breakups (10), 62 quarterback pressures (30)
Projected round: First-third
What they’re saying: “Johnson's potential is somewhat limited by his below-average height and pedestrian top-end speed. However, he is a high-motor player with good initial burst and a powerful upper body. He shows good toughness versus the run and a relentless approach as a pass rusher. Johnson should come off the board early in the second round.” (Scouts Inc.)

NICK JONES
School: Georgia
Position: Center/guard
Ht./Wt.: 6-1/284
Career stats (2006): 42 career starts (13)
Projected round: Late rounds/free agent
What they’re saying: “Jones is a blue-collar player with some versatility. He is technically sound and does a good job of getting into position. However, he isn't an overpowering drive blocker or a great pass blocker, which is why we believe his NFL potential is extremely low. Jones projects as a late-round pick or free agent in the 2007 class.” (Scouts Inc.)

MARTREZ MILNER
School: Georgia
Position: Tight end
Ht./Wt.: 6-4/252
Career stats (2006): 49 catches (30), 808 yards (425), five touchdowns (three), 16.5 yards per catch (14.2)
Projected round: Third-fifth
What they’re saying: “Milner is far too inconsistent as a route runner and blocker, and he lets too many balls get into his pads as a receiver. While his upside is intriguing, we think Milner is too much of a risk to draft on Day 1.” (Scouts Inc.)

QUENTIN MOSES
School: Georgia
Position: Defensive end/outside linebacker
Ht./Wt.: 6-5/261
Career stats (2006): 137 tackles (33), 25 sacks (4.5), 44.5 tackles for loss (12), four fumble recoveries (one), three pass breakups (one), 95 quarterback pressures (32)
Projected round: Second-fourth
What they’re saying: “Moses’ stock has been on the steady decline since the end of his junior year. He didn't respond well to double-team attention as a senior, he failed to impress at the Senior Bowl and he showed up overweight at the combine and ran poorly. Once considered a high first-round prospect, Moses' draft stock has slipped all the way to the second-or-third round range.” (Scouts Inc.)

KEN SHACKLEFORD
School: Georgia
Position: Offensive tackle
Ht./Wt.: 6-5/322
Career stats (2006): 14 career starts (13)
Projected round: Late rounds/free agent
What they’re saying: “There's a lot to like about Shackleford's size and ability to wear a defender down in the phone booth. However, he doesn't have the quickness or athletic ability to hold up on an island in pass protection and he isn't a fundamentally sound drive blocker at this point. Shackleford projects a late-round pick or a rookie free agent.” (Scouts Inc.)

TONY TAYLOR
School: Georgia
Position: Linebacker
Ht./Wt.: 6-0/236
Career stats (2006): 272 tackles (96), 10 interceptions (seven), five sacks (three), 18 tackles for loss (7.5), seven pass breakups (two), three caused fumbles (two), four recovered fumbles (two)
Projected round: Fourth-sixth
What they’re saying: “He has the athletic ability, nose for the ball and tenacity to develop into an adequate starter or excellent backup in the NFL. He has some versatility due to experience playing inside and outside in college, but he clearly is a better fit at "Will" linebacker. Taylor should come off the board early on the draft's second day.” (Scouts Inc.)

DANNY WARE
School: Georgia
Position: Running back
Ht./Wt.: 6-0/225
Career stats (2006): 320 carries (81), 1,542 yards (326), eight touchdowns (three); 21 receptions (14), 372 yards (184), two touchdowns (zero)
Projected round: Late rounds/free agent
What they’re saying: “Ware runs hard and catches the ball fairly well, but he is a one-dimensional between-the-tackles runner who isn't going to make a lot of big plays. He also needs to work on running lower to the ground. Ware projects as a late-round pick or an undrafted free agent.” (Scouts Inc.)

Richt Q/A from Thomasville Times

I read an interview with Mark Richt from yesterday's Thomasville Times-Enterprise (coincidentally, the first place that ever paid me to write a sports story. Not sure I've improved much since then, when I was writing about Mike Bobo's alma mater, the mighty Thomasville Bulldogs, among other schools) that was linked off the Georgia Sports Blog. It's very interesting.

Coach Richt has said before that he felt compelled to turn the reins of the offense over to Bobo before the Tech game last year, but I don't know that I ever heard him describe the decision quite so candidly. Particularly where the religious portion is concerned. He can be an interesting dude when he wants to be, I'll give him that.

Hebron arrested

Redshirt freshman linebacker Akeem Hebron, 18, has been arrested again for underage possession of alcohol. It appears as though he was arrested by Athens-Clarke County police at 12:30 a.m. and released at 1:18 a.m. on $500 bond.

He has already been suspended for the first two games of the 2007 season after a February arrest for underage possession from an incident at the Butts-Mehre athletics building. Here's what Mark Richt said after the first incident:
"We regard this as a serious matter. There are team rules as well as civil laws that have to be adhered to. Akeem will have to pay a price and hopefully he has learned a lesson that will serve him not only during his college career but also for the rest of his life.”

As it's the middle of the night, I don't have any details on the arrest, so it's hard to tell what will happen. However, offensive lineman Ian Smith was arrested twice in a year's time on underage alcohol offenses and was given a six-game suspension after the most recent arrest.

CFA Bowl Alma Mater Golf Tournament

Just got a press release about this "Alma Mater" golf tournament that the Chick-fil-A Bowl is putting on. It's a made-for-TV event featuring a coach and a famous alum that will be broadcast on CBS on Christmas Day. It's being held April 30-May 1 on the Oconee Course at Reynolds Plantation, which is located on Lake Oconee. It's free and open to the public. Go here for all the relevant information.

Here's the peg as far as you guys are concerned, the team from Georgia will be Mark Richt and Herschel Walker. There are 11 other teams that will compete for $275,000 in scholarship money to be distributed to the winning school.

Other teams will be:
Frank Beamer and Dell Curry, Virginia Tech
Matt Doherty and Eric Dickerson, SMU
Ralph Friedgen and Scott Van Pelt, Maryland
Chan Gailey and Jon Barry, Georgia Tech
Jim Grobe and Billy Packer, Wake Forest
Chuck Long and Marshall Faulk, San Diego State
Tom Penders and Clyde Drexler, Houston
Nick Saban and Cornelius Bennett, Alabama
Steve Spurrier and Darius Rucker, South Carolina
Ted Tollner and Marcus Allen, USC
Tommy Tuberville and Pat Sullivan, Auburn

The competitive round begins Tuesday, May 1 at 8:30 a.m. for anyone interested in attending.

Here are the directions they gave in the press release:
Fans can park in the Christ our King and Savior Church parking lot (across from Publix) at the corner of Lake Oconee Parkway and Linger Longer Road and ride a free shuttle to the course entrance. Take I-20 east to exit 130 then go right for seven miles to the church parking lot.

Draft day's coming

I've spent quite a while today reading up on this weekend's NFL draft -- and how Georgia's players look like they'll fare. Of course, there's a pretty wide variance on who'll end up where, depending on who you ask. Of the sites/publications I read today, I found NFLdraftscout.com and the Scouts Inc. analysis to be the most useful. Although I'll probably use it in a story I'm doing for Wednesday's paper, the draft stuff from the issue of The Sporting News that arrived in my mailbox today was probably the least useful of the three. Although if you're Charles Johnson, you're hoping TSN was correct because they have him going No. 19 to the Tennessee Titans. Most everything else I've read has him going to the Falcons at No. 44.

Here's some of the stuff I came across today:

* The Sporting News had five UGA guys going in its seven-round mock draft in that issue:
19. Johnson, Tennessee (first round); 100. Milner, Oakland (fourth); 113. Moses, Jacksonville (fourth); 212. Taylor, Dallas (seventh); 221. Ware, Chicago (seventh).

* Of the 327 players TSN ranked, eight of them were from Georgia:
19. Johnson; 84. Moses; 138. Milner; 193. Taylor; 200. Ware; 302. Jackson; 313. Battle; 321. Ely-Kelso

* Scouts Inc's Todd McShay posted the first three rounds of a mock draft today and had Johnson going No. 44 to Atlanta and Moses going 72nd (third round) to Minnesota.

* Scouts Inc. has five Georgia guys ranked in its top 300 prospects:
52. Johnson, 61. Moses, 91. Milner, 147. Taylor, 264. Shackleford

* Position ranks: Ely-Kelso (No. 12 punter); Battle (32 safety); Taylor (13 OLB); Jackson (24 OLB); Johnson (9 DE); Moses (10 DE); Gant (42 DT); Jones (17 center); Tereshinski (45 QB); Ware (26 RB); Milner (5 TE); Shackleford (23 OT); Inman (29 OT)

* I'm not saying this is correct, but here's what it looks like you can generally expect from the draft Saturday and Sunday. This is just from the stuff I've read. I'm certainly not Mel Kiper and I don't have any clue who'll end up where:
First-second round: Charles Johnson
Second-fourth round: Quentin Moses
Third-fifth round: Martrez Milner
Fourth-sixth round: Tony Taylor
Fifth-seventh round: Danny Ware
Later rounds or free agency: Ken Shackleford, Jarvis Jackson, Tra Battle, Ray Gant, Nick Jones, Dan Inman, Gordon Ely-Kelso, Danny Verdun Wheeler, Mario Raley, Michael Turner

If you want to keep up with where everybody goes this weekend, the official Georgia site has a headquarters for you to check out here. If I'm able and am around the computer, I'm going to try to put them up here when they come off the board.

Dawg Days 2007

The school has released the schedule for the Dawg Days appearances around the region this summer. All events are free and open to Georgia fans and alumni and all have a 6 p.m. social hour and 7 p.m. program emceed by Georgia radio announcer Neil "Hondo" Williamson. Here's the schedule or you can go here to see all the relevant details on the official school site:

April 23: Dalton -- Northwest Georgia Trade and Convention Center (Mark Richt and Dennis Felton). Contact Brian Cooksey 706-275-2655.

April 24: Marietta -- Cobb Galleria Centre, John A. Williams Ballroom (Richt and Felton). Contact Jim Sommerville 404-421-8310

May 3: Jacksonville -- Morocco Shrine Center and Auditorium (Richt and Felton). Contact Jon McGinnis 904-730-DAWG (www.JaxBulldogs.com)

May 9: Albany -- Hilton Garden Inn (Richt and Felton). Contact Dee Matthews 229-436-7390

May 15: Savannah -- Savannah Marriott Riverfront (Richt and Felton). Contact Greg Ewaldsen 912-660-1314

May 16: Golden Isles -- Jekyll Island Convention Center (Richt and Felton). Contact Tye Pipkin 912-291-1100 (tye_pipkin@ml.com)

May 22: Columbus -- Columbus Trade Center (Richt and Felton). Contact Mike Stone 706-649-5014

July 30: Greater Atlanta -- TBA (Richt).

Other Bulldog Club events/locations:
May 2: Macon
May 10: Augusta
May 23: Roswell

Text message controversy, alumni news

Over the last day or so, there's been a lot of talk about the NCAA's Division I Management Council and its vote to disallow coaches text messaging to recruits. I don't know that an outright ban is the correct move for the NCAA, but I absolutely agree with creating limits on this type of communication. It has completely gotten out of control.

I remember earlier this year during recruiting, my buddy Robert Spruck (our preps writer) did a story on text messaging as a recruiting tool. He talked with local offensive lineman Antwane Greenlee, who I'm sure many of you remember switched his commitment from Florida State to Georgia back to Florida State. Greenlee told him he received about 500 text messages in the first month coaches could begin contacting him. It drove his cell phone bill up $34 that first month before he could switch to a plan where he received unlimited text messages.

I guess the question is, if you don't initiate a ban, how do you monitor/enforce whether coaches are following the text message rules? It seems like it would be easy to get around.

Also, I corresponded this afternoon over e-mail with Brett Mankey, the agent for Tyson Browning, Ray Gant, Gordon Ely-Kelso and Mario Raley. He said Tyson signed a two-year deal with an option for a third with the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League. They're looking at him as a slot receiver, second-down back (like a third-down back in American football) and kick returner -- all of which would be roles suited to his abilities, particularly on the wider CFL field. I also asked him about his draft prospects and he said they've all gotten a fair amount of attention, but it's hard to tell what's going to happen. He said Gant and Ely-Kelso appear to have a shot as late second-day selections or as priority free agents and that Raley will likely end up as a free agent. None of that is especially surprising news. That's about what I would have expected for those three guys. I can say this much, if quotability was an important factor in being drafted, Gant and Ely-Kelso would be first-round picks.

How bout some input?

I mentioned this in a response to a previous question, but I figured I'd raise this subject in a new post. I think we'll probably move the blog onto the Ledger-Enquirer's Web space prior to the season, so I'm sure we can make it look however we want/incorporate whatever features we want/all that.

So I figured I'd ask the people who read the page, what are you looking for? Is there something I don't do enough of/do too much of? What should I be adding this year that I didn't do enough of last year? And add any other input you want to offer as well.

The whole idea of this thing is to try to offer readers the things they're interested in. If it's something I can reasonably do, I don't mind doing it. Keep in mind that I'm the only person who's going to be dealing with this thing, most likely. So here's your chance to let me know what you want next season so we can start thinking about logistics.

Another recruiting list

Scout released its top 100 today. Unlike its counterpart at Rivals, Scout goes ahead and assigns a number ranking to the players, rather than just putting out a big unranked group. Not saying one's any better than the other. Just saying it's different.

Georgia has two players on the Scout list, where it had four on the Rivals list.
Here they are:
No. 3: A.J. Green, WR, Summerville, S.C.
No. 24: Deangelo Tyson, DT, Statesboro, Ga.

Thirteen others on the list say Georgia is among the schools they're considering:
1. Arthur Brown, MLB, Wichita, Kan.
9. Patrick Johnson, CB, Pompano Beach, Fla.
11. Matt Patchan, OT, Seffner, Fla.
40. Etienne Sabino, MLB, Miami, Fla.
51. Josh Jarboe, WR, Ellenwood, Ga.
56. Tyler Love, OT, Mountain Brook, Ala.
60. DeAndre Brown, WR, Ocean Springs, Miss.
62. A.J. Harmon, OT, Louisville, Ga.
67. Chris Jordan, MLB, Brentwood, Tenn.
72. Darius Barksdale, S, Batesville, Miss.
73. A.J. Alexander, RB, Altoona, Penn.
80. Melvin Ray, WR, Tallahassee, Fla.
99. Brandon Moore, TE, Trotwood, Ohio

Just for purposes of comparison, Southern Cal has five commitments on the list and 21 uncommitted players considering them.

First recruiting rankings

Rivals.com released its first Rivals 100 (their top 100 players in the country) today for the 2008 recruiting class. And by the looks of it, Georgia fans will be pretty pleased with what they see. Georgia has four players on the list and is getting serious interest from another couple (Jefferson County lineman A.J. Harmon and Habersham Central receiver Tavarres King immediately come to mind).

Georgia's four committed players on the list, in no particular order, are Cass athlete Richard Samuel, Summerville, S.C. receiver A.J. Green, Statesboro defensive lineman DeAngelo Tyson and Burke County defensive end Cornelius Washington. Georgia netted only two players in the 2007 Rivals 100, tight end Aron White and running back Caleb King.

Georgia's four commitments on the list are tied with Texas for the second-most right now behind Oklahoma with five. USC and UCLA both have three. The state of Georgia produced the fourth-most players on the list with six behind Florida (13), Texas (12) and California (11).

Richt postgame presser

This is the entirety of Richt's post-G-Day press conference, where he was joined on the podium by honorary spring game coaches Jon Stinchcomb, Will Witherspoon and Hines Ward. You've probably seen some of these quotes already and will surely see more in stories the various writers will be doing this week. But I figured I transcribed the tape, so I might as well go ahead and post it in case anyone wanted to read it.

Opening comments:

Pollack is so hyper, he couldn’t hold still. I guess he had to take off, but he was supposed to be here with us. We’re just glad to have our new assistant coaches. One of ‘em will probably be a head coach one day. But it’s good to have these guys back, it was a lot of fun. To see them and some other players that had come by just to visit, it’s always so good to have a bunch of guys that feel welcome and that want to come back and enjoy Georgia once again. But I thought today was a great day other than the wind whipping around. I can’t hardly think of anything to complain about. A lot of exciting play out there. The guys got after it pretty good, just like they did all spring. Great competition throughout the spring. And very few injuries, praise the Lord on that. I think we mighta had one guy, Bryan Evans, banged up his wrist some. Don’t know how serious that is, but it doesn’t look too serious. Just the entire spring, we’ve been very fortunate not to have a lot of injuries. Saw a lot of leadership starting to grow on both sides of the ball and really was proud of our coaching staff. Just every day, being out there and kinda being backed away from it a little bit now that I’m not as involved in the scheming of things and playcalling and all that, I was able just to walk around every day and observe a little more closely, and every single play somebody’s getting coached and getting taught. I really want to commend the staff for the job that they did. I want to thank the fans for showing up even on a cold day. It was fun to see a sea of red there. The field looked awesome. It was just a great day. So if anyone has a question for me or one of my assistant coaches, have at it.

Mark, that many points, was that a case of the offense playing so well or the defense? 50-something points, I know that may be exciting for the fans, but…
Well, part of that too is that we extended the time of the game. You know we’ve been doing eight-minute quarters in the spring and now we went to 10, so we added eight more minutes of play, so that was part of the reason why. The other one is just pretty good execution from what I saw it. There were some times when the quarterbacks really put it on the money, really had enough time to step up in the pocket, hit a guy on the run. We ran the ball decently well today, especially the Red team, I thought. But yeah, more big plays than you’d like to see on defense, that’s for sure. But every once in a while, that’ll happen. Even when I was coaching at Florida State, every fifth or sixth year the offense would score a couple points in the game and this happened to be that spring.

On Vince Vance returning from the knee injury and playing:
Well, Vince is already back. He played the game and practiced on Wednesday and Friday and today. He did miss a lot of work, which is unfortunate because the only way he’s gonna get better and really learn what to do is to experience it. But you see he’s a great-looking guy, he’s got the type of body that you need at tackle and the athletic ability. He’s gonna do very well for us.

On Knowshon Moreno and Reshad Jones’ play:
Yeah they did. Reshad made a great pick and broke up another one, looked like he was gonna get another interception there, and made a big tackle, made a big lick. Knowshon made some very nice runs. Didn’t really get a chance to see him pick up any blitzes. I’m always concerned about those kind of things. But he ran about like he’s been running since he’s been here. He’s got great vision, he has the ability to, we call it ‘get skinny.’ It might be a stretch play going to the right and all of a sudden there’s a little crease and he’ll hit that crease. First of all you’ve got to see it and then you’ve gotta get through there. He did a lot of that. He’s done a pretty good job of hanging onto the football. But I think if he keeps progressing that it’s gonna be tough to keep him from getting some totes next year. I think he’ll make a big impression on everybody next year.

On Brandon Coutu getting reps at punter in G-Day:
He probably could win the job. I don’t know if we really want him to win the job. I think we’d rather have someone else be the punter. He’s so valuable and dangerous as a point scorer – extra point/field goals – that if you start overkicking or kicking and punting, if it disrupts what he’s been doing in the extra point/field goal area, we’d be making a mistake. I think he would certainly be an emergency No. 2 guy, but I’m hoping we can find someone else to win that job.

Asking Hines Ward what he thought of the receivers, Will Witherspoon what he thought of the linebackers and Jon Stinchcomb what he thought of the offensive line:
HW: From a receiver standpoint, it was just making plays when an opportunity presented itself. That was something I remember talking to the guys warming up. We as receivers here, we take great pride in being playmakers. We don’t…If you’re expecting to catch 80, 90 balls here, then you need to go to Florida or other schools. But here, we like to be well-rounded, to be an all-around receiver, and I was talking to the younger receivers, to make an impression, you have to do the little things rather than just catch the ball. You have to block down the field, to help guys get extra yardage and whatnot, and I saw that today. And when the play presented itself to make a big play, those guys stepped up and made plays. So overall, from what I’ve seen today, those guys are playmakers. And when given the opportunity for one of them to step up and make a play, I saw that they had the confidence to get the job done.

WW: I guess I’ll talk about the linebackers. I think that group is…really for me, it’s always been the core group of the defense. I think they did a great job today, showing that they were willing to try and step up and do things. A lot of those guys really got after the ball. You saw some emotion out there from them and they’re really trying to pull that leadership role out of that group. Whenever something’s going done, whenever something’s being done no matter where the ball’s at, I think realistically I think there was a linebacker pretty much nearby every one of those plays. That’s what you like to see. That’s what you like to see happen every play, every snap, every down. You want to see one of those guys out there making a move toward the ball. I think what was also a great thing was that they all got to just display their skills, get better at something. There were little things here and there, but all in all I think now they’ve got something they can really put to use and say, ‘Hey, now we can move forward, we can step forward from this point.’

JS: Offensive line, first thing was a bunch of young guys. A lot of guys I didn’t really know. But they were all competing and it looked like they had great athletic ability. I’m sure all they need is experience and time in the weight room with Coach Van. That’s really gonna help them. They’ll learn how to work as a group. It’s just gonna take time for them to learn to mesh into a cohesive unit. But they went out there today and had a great day, so I expect good things.

Coach on that note, that was obviously the thing that everybody was talking about coming into the spring, how that group was gonna fare. Could you talk about where they are now at the end of the spring compared to where they started, the offensive line I mean.
The O-line, that first group has pretty much stayed together just about the entire spring. Didn’t quite start off, I think Trinton Sturdivant actually started off at right tackle and then by the time the spring break came after the first four practices, I think he was already at the left tackle. Since we came back from spring break, I think that same five played every single snap together and I think that really helped ‘em a lot. By no means is that a set-in-stone lineup right now, but they deserve to be in the front line. And now, again, we talked about it’s 108 days between now and the next practice and everybody’s got to continue to get bigger and stronger and quicker and understand their skills better and work on those things. We’ll see what everybody looks like in the fall. But like Jon said, I think they are a very athletic group and a group that has a lot of ability, so once they gain that experience, I think we’ll be OK. To think they’re gonna be a dominating bunch this year would probably be asking a lot, but I think they’re gonna be able to function pretty good from what I saw today.

Coach, can you talk about Kris Durham and the game he had today?
I was happy for Kris. Anytime those guys make plays, I’m happy for ‘em. But Kris, he had a couple times this spring where he had his head down a little bit, you know, and was starting to wonder if he can compete at this level, I think. And he may not agree with that, but at least his body language was saying that to me. So we had a little talk and I just said, ‘You just work as hard as you can and just reach your full potential. If that’s not good enough, fine, but you know, I don’t think we’re seeing the best out of you. And don’t worry about the end result, just worry about the process of getting after it and doing the little things right.’ And he started to do that and then he had a big day today. He made a couple tough catches and then there were some balls that were thrown just beautifully to him and he made some nice runs after the catch. So I would think that’s got to help his confidence.

Defensive line, how would you evaluate that?
D-line, when you do these spring games or even when we scrimmage, you know, we don’t allow the D-line to go sack the quarterback and all that. The officials, we ask them to try to determine would a guy be sacked or not, but I’ll tell the officials if you’re in doubt, let ‘em play. Let’s get the ball thrown and have some action, you know? So it’s very difficult to say whether or not some of those guys would have been sacked or knocked down or balls batted or that kind of thing. They do a good job of respecting the green jersey because we don’t want to get those quarterbacks hurt. So if you really turned ‘em loose, I think there’d have been more pressure and more knockdowns and things of that matter. Overall this spring, I think they’ve done a good job, but we’ve got a lot of young linemen too. Young defensive linemen, defensive ends especially, guys that have not really had much of an opportunity to start in their career, so we’ve got a ways to go, but coach Fabris, coach Garner are two of the finest coaches at their positions, I think, in the country, and we’ve always had great production out of those guys. So I’m expecting the same thing’s gonna happen in the fall.

How different is Stafford handling the role of the established starter versus the guy going in and trying to compete every play to win the job?
Well you know, a year ago he was just trying to learn what to do. He was trying to fit in. He got so much attention coming in, he didn’t necessarily like all the attention he had coming in. He didn’t want his teammates to think he was just some cocky superstar coming in to take over, you know? He wanted to earn the respect of his teammates and not be too brash or bold. But now that he’s in that role of the starter, I think everybody kind of expects him to be the leader, expects him to step out and make plays and he’s beginning to do that. He understands everything extremely well, I think, as far as scheme is concerned and I think he learned a great lesson on how valuable that ball is and you’ve got to make sure you don’t turn it over. Once he quit turning the ball over, we began to win again, and if he remembers that in the fall, we’ll be in good shape.

Mark, is that depth chart after this game re-evaluated soon or come out…
I don’t know how long it’ll be before we actually try to set something. I’m sure Claude’ll be getting on us about all the preseason stuff. But we’ll definitely look at the film and readjust the depth chart at that point.

How would you evaluate the performances of Blake Barnes and Joe Cox in the backup role?
Very good, very good. I think each quarterback, when he had the time to make the throws, I thought he put it on the money for the most part, some very, very fine throws and some receivers making some plays for them. Gosh, there were a lot of very precise shots out there, hitting guys on the run, and even when guys were covered, they would put it in a place where they at least had a chance of making a play – and a couple guys did. So I thought they played very well. I don’t know what they were statistically, but when you watched them, with the opportunities that they had to make plays, they did it. And it was a good day for the quarterbacks. Even Jon DeLaureal went out there and threw a nice fade pass, you know, first opportunity to play between the hedges, and I’m real happy for him.

What do you think you learned this spring, as far as coming in. Any big surprises that you weren’t expecting at the beginning of the spring that you were able to see?
I do think the offensive line played better than I thought they were gonna be able to do. I thought it might could be an ugly situation with the brand-new people. But I’m just so thankful that we were allowed to get five offensive linemen in at the midyear. If we weren’t able to do that, I don’t even know how this spring…it would’ve been a bad spring because we wouldn’t have had enough offense get better or the defense get better. But to bring in those five plus what we had, we had 12 on scholarship that were getting after it pretty good, and that was a real blessing for us. But right now, Sturdivant and Haverkamp, midyear guys, they’re sitting there in the top five right now. We’ll see if they can hold onto it. But I think just bringing those guys in at midyear was one of the biggest, one of the most important things that happened this year.

Asking the “assistants” what, if any, aspirations they have to be coaches and at what level:
HW: I talk to Bobo all the time and ask him how is it like. And I was talking to coach Richt earlier and he said, ‘Get involved if you’re really passionate about doing that.’ And for me, I was telling him I think I can relate more to the guys because I grew up in a (single-parent) home. I’ve been recruited by all the top colleges. I made it to the next level. I think a lot of guys, because they’re always asking me questions from recruiting, from how is it making it in the NFL. And I just try to revert back to what worked for me, make sure you get your degree. We’re all up here, we’re blessed to be in the NFL and there were some great athletes that played here at Georgia who never got that opportunity, but it’s still a great school. I mean, I want to coach. I don’t want to coach NFL because it’s a rough business up there. But college, I was talking to coach, the recruiting thing, I don’t know. That’s more of the thing, because you’re away from your family, you’re always on the road. But I think for most of us, coaching, it’s easy for us to coach because we’ve played at the top level and we can kinda teach the younger guys because we’ve been there before. I would love one day, maybe possibly to get into coaching, probably at the collegiate level, maybe at the high school level.

WW: I think what Hines said, you can’t put it in any better words. A lot of us do have those aspirations to be coaches because we’ve been at the greatest level of our game, the top tier of our game. We can go back and take that knowledge with us to the kids that watch us or watched us or those that will look at in the future. Make them understand what it took for us to get there. I think that’s really kinda where our coaching strategy will take a different turn. A lot of guys become coaches because they like the game. I think a lot of us become coaches because we want to make every athlete, every kid, everybody out there better. Really, again going back to what Hines said, we’ve been at the top of the game. We’ve been there and we want to do so many other things. For me, I think going back to that high school level would be something that I’d possibly think of doing. I don’t necessarily know for sure, but I think if I do, that’d be where I’d start.

JS: For me, I love to play the game, but I’m gonna leave the coaching to these guys. The hours they put in, I don’t want any part of it. The college level, in the pros, they spend the night in their offices – no thank you. They can have it. I might coach my kids when they come up. But other than that, I’m gonna move on when I get done playing.

Coach, I talked with some of the defensive players and they said one of the main problems is they don’t have enough leadership right now. Is that something that you see and what kind of stuff can the players do to improve the leadership come fall?
Well, you know, there are so many positions that are trying to be won out there. It’s not like you’ve got each starter coming back and everybody understands their role and where they are. So I think once we settle into that starting lineup, I think it’s gonna help them. I think Brandon Miller, when he really settles into that mike linebacker spot, his leadership’s gonna begin to emerge. Kelin Johnson I think is already trying to do a good job of that. You know, Marcus Howard, he’s a senior, but he’s a first-time starter. So you’ve almost got to play your way into that role because if you’re gonna be a leader, you have to be productive. I think there are some guys, very rare guys, that maybe don’t even play much, that are leaders in some form or fashion on the football team. But most of the great leaders are guys that are highly productive, and a lot of these guys are still earning their starting position or getting used to a new position. So I think once they settle in and begin to make those plays, I think their leadership will grow at that point.

So what did you think?

Yesterday's G-Day game was a polar opposite of the one last year, and really, of most spring games you're going to see. I'm almost certain I've never seen one with 55 points scored, although I can't say I've been to a ton of them. I have to say I found that interesting and unexpected.

So to those of you who actually watched the game (and that rules out anyone who thinks blitzing was not allowed yesterday), what did you think? It's kind of ridiculous to assume the defense is going to be bad this year because it was terrible yesterday. (And when I say terrible, I mean TERRIBLE.) It's just a spring game after all. But the players I talked to after the game said the offense has mostly had its way this spring, that yesterday wasn't a one-time deal. And yesterday, there were massive holes all over the place for the receivers to exploit. Does that concern you? Or do you just chalk it up to them having holes to fill and inexperienced players stepping in to fill them?

That's mostly the direction I lean. They have six spots to fill in the front seven, as well as one of the leaders in the secondary missing. It's not going to happen for the new guys automatically -- I guess a lot like how things looked pretty ugly for a regathering offense in last year's spring game. But I'm not going to sugar coat it, either. Those guys getting torched in the secondary yesterday were mostly returning contributors. If you didn't see that, you either weren't watching or are wearing red-and-black-colored glasses.

As for the starting offense, like I mentioned in several posts from the game yesterday, I thought they looked very good. For some reason, Stafford threw some really bad swing passes, but he threw the ball downfield beautifully with the exception of, I think, one pass. He hit Massaquoi with a perfect strike across the middle to set up the first touchdown. He stepped up in the pocket and hit Mikey Henderson with a beautiful ball for a 60-yard touchdown. Of course, Mikey was so open that he would have had to throw pretty poorly to miss him. Cox and Barnes did OK, too. Most of Cox's yards came on a 60-yard touchdown to Kris Durham and a 50-something completion to Tripp Chandler, who again, was wide stinking open in the middle of the field. Cox's throw almost didn't make it to him, but he had plenty of time to wait on it and make something happen after the catch.

Speaking of guys who had good days in the passing game, Durham had a huge day, which coach Richt said he might have needed psychologically. He was wearing a big grin when I saw him after the game, which will be a good vibe to take into the summer. And Tripp Chandler was very good. He had the big catch from Cox, an outstanding catch on a 17-yarder in traffic, where he took a big hit from CJ Byrd and held onto the ball, and he finished the day with a touchdown. I talked to coach Richt on the side about him after the postgame press conference and he said Tripp's play was one of the most pleasant developments of the spring. I talked to Tripp for a few minutes yesterday about his spring and I'll probably turn that around for a story in the next couple days.

I don't know how to read the offensive line's play. That's certainly not my area of expertise and it's hard to tell much within the parameters of the spring game anyway. But the two sides combined to allow only four sacks, two apiece. I'd like to watch the TV broadcast to look at that stuff, so I'll have to get a copy of it from somebody. From the pressbox, it seemed like the quarterbacks mostly had time to throw and the backs had several nice holes to run through. Richt said the line was also one of the pleasant surprises. He said they made a lot of good things happen this spring. And let's face it, the offense wouldn't have been able to dominate the way it did yesterday without them playing well. I talked to Chris Davis about the line's progress for several minutes yesterday and I'll probably write a story from that sometime this week as well.

Lastly, as I mentioned several times yesterday, the running backs looked great. Lumpkin showed a little more shake than I'm used to seeing from him. Moreno had a great game. Even Jason Johnson, G-Day all-star, did some really nice things. Ran well, made a nice run after one catch, threw a TD. He also came up to help Vince Vance by chip blocking Jarius Wynn in pass protection one time and knocked him on his...rear end. Johnson plays with a lot of enthusiasm. He's fun to watch.

Anyway, that's a lot of the stuff I noticed yesterday. What did you see that you liked? That you didn't like?

Well that's all

Not a good day for the Bulldog defense. Black actually made a game of it by scoring on the last play of the third quarter and twice in the fourth quarter -- a TD halfback pass from Jason Johnson to Tony Wilson and a TD pass from Joe Cox to Kris Durham.

Durham, by the way, had an enormous day which was nice to see because he's a nice kid. Although he threw the day's only interception on a reverse pass. He finished with six catches for 137 yards. He had one catch for 15 at halftime.

Perennial G-Day all-star Jason Johnson threw a touchdown and ran 13 times for 48 yards. Also had two catches for 29.

Here's the most glaring statistic of the day. The Red team (first-team offense, which was going against the first-team defense on the Black) caught nine passes for 237 yards. That works out to 26.3 yards per completion. In other words, the secondary had a pretty horrible day.

Knowshon Moreno looked great. Finished with 68 yards on 11 carries. I think Lumpkin might have lost some weight. He looked a little thinner in his pads and definitely more light on his feet. He made some agile moves that I hadn't seen from him in quite some time. He had 13 carries for 53 yards and one touchdown.

Tripp Chandler finished with 74 yards and a touchdown on three catches (he caught a 6-yarder from Stafford with 25 seconds left for the game's final score).

Quarterback stats:
Stafford 6-12 for 155 yards, 2 touchdowns (60, 6)
Cox 7-8 for 156 yards, 1 touchdown (60)
Barnes 9-15 107 yards, 1 touchdown (22)

Receiving:
BLACK
Durham 6-137, 2 touchdowns (22, 60)
Wilson 3-53, 1 touchdown (32)
Johnson 2-29
Munzenmaier 3-12
Moore 1-7
RED
Chandler 3-74, 1 touchdown (6)
Henderson 1-60, 1 touchdown (60)
Southerland 2-48
Bailey 1-25
Massaquoi 1-21
Bryant 1-9

DEFENSIVE LEADERS
BLACK
Brandon Miller 6 tackles, one for a 4-yard loss, one sack for minus-5
Kelin Johnson 5 tackles
Akeem Dent 4 tackles, one for a 4-yard loss
Rod Battle 2 tackles, one sack for minus-7

RED
Michael Lemon (who had a very good game) 5 tackles
Benjamin Boyd (who jacked Vince Vance in the face one time after a play. nice) 4 tackles, one sack for an 8-yard loss
Reshad Jones (who made possibly the day's biggest hit on Jason Johnson) three tackles, one interception, which he returned for 16 yards, and one pass breakup (shoulda been picked)
Dannell Ellerbe three tackles, one sack for minus-7

SCORING SUMMARY
R 1Q 206 Lumpkin 1 run (Coutu PAT)
R 2Q 848 Moreno 1 run (Bailey PAT)
R 2Q 624 Moreno 2 run (Stansell PAT failed)
R 3Q 255 Henderson 60 pass from Stafford (Wilson PAT)
W 3Q 000 Durham 22 pass from Barnes (Coutu PAT)
W 4Q 619 Wilson 32 pass from Johnson (Bailey PAT)
W 4Q 353 Durham 60 pass from Cox (Stansell PAT)
R 4Q 025 Chandler 6 pass from Stafford (Wilson PAT)

I'm going home. I'll try to do some transcribing and post some quotes...probably tomorrow. Hines Ward, Jon Stinchcomb and Will Witherspoon joined coach Richt in the postgame press conference after we talked to the players in the locker room, so there'll be some of them talking mixed in there when I get to it.

End of 3, my fingers are frozen

Red's up 27-7 at the end of three quarters.
Black's Kris Durham just made a beautiful diving catch for a 22-yard touchdown from Blake Barnes to put his team on the board on the last play of the quarter.

Earlier in the quarter, Mikey Henderson caught a 60-yard bomb from Stafford behind CJ Byrd and Asher Allen to put Red up 27-0. Mikey outran Byrd around the corner into the end zone like he was standing still. Mikey makes things happen.

Spring awards

They just sent these out during the first half.

Football Team Announces 2007 Spring Awards

Junkyard Dog Award to Be Presented Saturday

ATHENS, Ga. � The University of Georgia football team announced it spring football awards Saturday in conjunction with the annual spring G-Day football game. The awards are given annually at the conclusion of spring drills to recognize improvement, dedication and performance on the practice field. The �Junkyard Dawg Award� will be presented at halftime of Saturday�s G-Day game. The list of 2007 awards are as follows:

Best All-Around Offensive Player: Mikey Henderson, FLK, Buford

True Grit Award: Tripp Chandler, TE, Woodstock; Marcus Howard, DE, Huger, S.C.

Most Improved Offensive Lineman: Chester Adams, OL, Luverne, Ala.

Most Improved Receiver: Tony Wilson, FLK, Daytona Beach, Fla.

Most Improved Running Back: Shaun Chapas, FB, St. Augustine, Fla.

Biggest Surprise of Spring (Offense): Trinton Sturdivant, OL, Wadesboro, N.C.

Outstanding Walk On (Offense): Mickey White, OL, Loganville; Casey Nickels, TE,

Tignall

Most Consistent Running Back: Jason Johnson, RB, Chicago, Ill.

Most Improved Defensive Tackle: Gino Atkins, DL, Pembroke Pines, Fla.

Most Improved Defensive End: Rod Battle, DE, Atlanta

Most Improved Linebacker: Brandon Miller, LB, Colquitt

Most Improved Defensive Back: Reshad Jones, DB, Atlanta

Outstanding Walk On (Defense): Tripp Taylor, DL, Woodstock

Biggest Surprise of Spring (Defense): Akeem Dent, LB, Atlanta

Coffee County Hustle Award: Fernando Velasco, OL, Wrens; Jason Johnson, RB, Chicago, Ill.; Jeff Owens, DL, Sunrise, Fla.; Darius Dewberry, LB, Ft. Valley; Demarcus Dobbs, DE, Savannah.

20-0 red at the half

Coutu just missed a 55-yarder just before halftime. The first-team offense is taking it to the starting defense. Interpret that however you want. I've been pretty impressed with the O. Moreno looks good. Tripp Chandler's made a couple of very nice grabs. By my count he's got two catches for 70 yards.

Now I'm going inside for a bit.

Fire Pollack

Obviously the black team's captains didn't deliver much of a pregame pep talk. The Red's taking it to them right now. Knowshon Moreno just scored his second touchdown, a 1-yard run he set up with a pretty 20-yard run to the goal line. It's 20-0 Red with 3:18 left in the second quarter and Reshad Jones just intercepted a Kris Durham reverse pass to give the Red the ball again.

Wow is it cold

What is this, January? It's freezing out here. And the pressbox is like a wind tunnel.

Just as I was making fun of Stafford's first two passes, which missed badly, he hit Brannan Southerland for a 43-yard gain on a swing pass and then threaded an absolutely beautiful ball to Massaquoi across the middle for a 21-yard gain. That set up a Lumpkin dive for a 1-yard touchdown.

Red's up 7-0 after one quarter. Starting offense is looking pretty decent. Lumpkin looks spry. Moreno had a nice run. Reshad Jones came up and laid a pretty hit on Jason Johnson. That's G-Day all-star MVP Jason Johnson to you.

Stay tuned.

G-Day depth charts

G-Day Depth Charts
Black Team
(first-team defense, second-team offense)

Defense
Buck end
Roderick Battle
Demarcus Dobbs
DT
Geno Atkins
Justin Lyles
DT
Jeff Owens
Corvey Irvin
Rush end
Marcus Howard
Michael Lemon
SLB
Akeem Dent
Justin Fields
MLB
Brandon Miller
Will Sullivan
WLB
Darius Dewberry
Patrick Williams
SS
Kelin Johnson
FS
CJ Byrd
Andrew Johnson
CB
Asher Allen
Paul Oliver
CB
Bryan Evans
Chad Gloer

Offense
LT
Vince Vance
Josh Davis
LG
Tanner Strickland
C
Kevin Perez
RG
Micky White
Ian Smith
RT
Justin Anderson
QB
Joe Cox
Blake Barnes
RB
Jason Johnson
Corey Parker
FB
Shaun Chapas
Ryan Rearden
TE
Casey Nickels
Jeff Potterbaum
WR
Kenneth Harris
Tony Wilson
Kris Durham
Michael Moore

Red Team
(first-team offense, second-team defense)
Offense
LT
Trinton Sturdivant
LG
Chris Davis
C
Fernando Velasco
RG
Scott Haverkamp
RT
Chester Adams
QB
Matthew Staffford
Jonathan deLaureal
RB
Kregg Lumpkin
Knowshon Moreno
FB
Brannan Southerland
Fred Munzenmaier
TE
Tripp Chandler
WR
Sean Bailey
Mikey Henderson
A.J. Bryant
Mohamed Massaquoi

Defense
Buck end
Kiante Tripp
Andrew Gully
Jarius Wynn
Rush end
Michael Lemon
Wes Jacobs
DT
Kade Weston
Ricardo Crawford
DT
Tripp Taylor
Ricardo Crawford
SLB
Mitchell Pittman
MLB
Benjamin Boyd
WLB
Dannell Ellerbe
Tommy Watkins
SS
Quintin Banks
Andrew Williams
FS
Reshad Jones
CB
Ramarcus Brown
Donavon Baldwin
CB
Prince Miller
Christian Norton

G-Day captains

As a new addition to the G-Day game, former Bulldogs Hines Ward, David Pollack, Jon Stinchcomb and Will Witherspoon are going to attend Saturday's game as guest coaches. Game kicks off at 2. Tix are $5 and admission is free for UGA students with ID.

Here's UGA's release about the guest coaches.

G-Day release

The school sent out this release concerning G-Day today. It's just a general preview giving all the basic details of the game. By the way, since someone asked on a previous post, the game will be carried live on CSS at 2 p.m. Saturday and will be rebroadcast next Monday and Thursday on CSS at 7 p.m.

Here's the release:
University of Georgia football fans will get their first look at the 2007 edition of the Bulldogs when the annual G-Day game is held in Sanford Stadium on Saturday, April 7, at 2:00 p.m. The game will be televised live by CSS.

The game is annually co-sponsored by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Proceeds from this year's game will go to Hope Haven of Northeast Georgia, a private nonprofit corporation whose primary purpose is to provide services for individuals with developmental disabilities who reside in the Athens-Clarke and surrounding counties. This program continues an Athletic Association tradition begun in 1993 of donating proceeds from the G-Day game to a local charity or non-profit organization.

Georgia returns 44 lettermen and 13 of 26 starters off the 2006 Chick-fil-A Bowl Championship team.

The roller-coaster ride that was the 2006 season for the Bulldogs ended on a positive note with three straight wins against ranked teams, including a victory in the Chick-fil-A Bowl over Virginia Tech.

"We know we were very close to being an 11-2 club last year, but we were also close to having a losing record,” said Georgia coach Mark Richt, whose squad finished 9-4. “When you look back on some of our championship years, maybe two or three or four games were decided by a touchdown or less. If you win those, you're in the championship game. But if you lose, you're at risk of a six- or seven-win season. (The 2006 season) was not a whole lot different from the other years. We just didn't win some of the close ones.

Georgia began 2006 with four straight wins, then dropped four of its next six. However, the Bulldogs righted the ship to top #5 Auburn, #16 Georgia Tech and #14 Virginia Tech in successive games to end the year.

"We'll have an infusion of some outstanding players who redshirted that will play a lot on scrimmage downs and special teams,” Richt said. “There will definitely be a lot of young talented guys rolling into playing time, and that's pretty exciting.

“I think the biggest question for us will be the offensive line. If that comes together, I think we've got a good chance to be good in other positions offensively. Defensively, we have some depth and guys who redshirted along with some junior college trasnsfers who will help us. We'll have a chance."

Cost of tickets is $5.00 for adults and $3.00 for students and children. UGA students will be admitted free with their University ID card.

Richt on TV

Georgia just sent out this release about Mark Richt appearing on a SportSouth TV series called "The Coach" profiling his life on and off the field. Just in case you might want to be looking for it...

UGA Coach Mark Richt Featured in TV Series
“The Coach” Airing in April on SportSouth and Sun Sports
For Immediate Release
April 3, 2997
ATHENS------University of Georgia football coach Mark Richt will be featured in the series “The Coach” which will air on SportSouth and Sun Sports during the month of April with re-runs in May.

The program will air several times on both networks and takes a look at Coach Richt’s life off the field as well as on.

Following are the air dates and times:

SportSouth

Saturday 4/7 at 6:30 PM
Saturday 4/7 at 10:00 PM
Tuesday 4/10 at 2:00 PM
Wednesday 4/11 at 7:00 PM
Friday 4/13 at 11:00 AM
Saturday 4/21 at 9:00 PM

Re-Run Airings
Sunday 5/13 at 9:00 PM
Tuesday 5/15 at 2:00 PM
Wednesday 5/16 at 7:00 PM

Sun Sports (Florida)
Sunday 4/8 at 12:00 PM
Wednesday 4/11 at 11:00 AM
Friday 4/13 at 6:30 PM

Scrimmage note

Sounds like it was a great day for the offense in today's scrimmage at the stadium, beginning with the play of the offensive line.

Check out this quote from coach Richt from the university's release today:
"This was maybe one of the best scrimmages for the offense since I've been here and the protection of the quarterback is where it started."

Just like in the first scrimmage, Mikey Henderson and Kenneth Harris caught touchdown passes. Blake Barnes threw one of them.

I'm not sure how much you can expect what certain guys do in spring practice to be a precursor to fall production. It's probably a bad idea. But Mikey seems to be making some things happen, doesn't he? If they can figure out ways to get him the ball in space (and not get him killed by a linebacker who's five inches taller and 60 pounds heavier), you've all seen that he can make big things happen. It'll be interesting to see if he actually has a role as an offensive playmaker and not just a punt returner in the fall.

Also, I read on the Scout site that a pair of receiver prospects -- Norcross' Brice Butler and South Carolina's A.J. Green -- watched the scrimmage. As I'm sure most of you know, A.J. Green's already committed to UGA. Butler already has several offers, including from Penn State and Virginia Tech. He's the son of former Atlanta Falcon defensive back Bobby Butler.

Kelin Johnson on Lott watch list

Kelin Johnson was named to the Lott Trophy watch list on Monday. The Lott Trophy is given annually to the college defensive player who best combines accomplishment on the field with personal character.

Here's the press release they sent out today:
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. - Safety Kelin Johnson of the University of Georgia football team is among 42 of the top defensive players in the nation to be named to the 2007 Lott Trophy Watch List, announced the Pacific Club IMPACT Foundation Monday afternoon.

Named for NFL Hall of Fame member Ronnie Lott, The Lott Trophy is awarded to college football’s Defensive IMPACT Player of the Year. Now in its fourth year, The Lott Trophy is the first college football award to equally recognize athletic performance and the personal character attributes of the player.

Sponsored by The Pacific Club IMPACT Foundation, the award is given to a player who exhibits the same characteristics Lott embodied during his distinguished career: Integrity, Maturity, Performance, Academics, Community and Tenacity.

Johnson is a 6-1, 190-pound strong safety from Daytona Beach , Florida . His 60 tackles ranked third on the team last year. The recipient of the Robert P. 'Yank' Ludwig Football Scholarship, Johnson is involved in several community service endeavors.

David Pollack of Georgia won the initial Lott Trophy in 2004. DeMeco Ryans of Alabama won the award in 2005 and Daymeion Hughes of Cal was the recipient in 2006. Georgia, Alabama and Cal each received $25,000 for their general scholarship funds. In three years, the Pacific Club IMPACT Foundation has donated nearly $300,000 to various charities, including the three universities.

Voters for the award include selected members of the national media, previous finalists, the Board of Directors of the Pacific Club IMPACT Foundation, The IMPACT Foundation Board of Advisers comprised of many retired NFL players and Master Coaches, a distinguished group of former head college coaches.

The winner will be announced at a gala black-tie banquet at The Pacific Club in Newport Beach, Calif. on December 9th, 2007.