UGA Spring Preview

Signing Day was a huge step in the right direction for Mark Richt and the Georgia Bulldogs, but aside from Chris Conley and Christian LeMay, the Dream Team won't get on campus until June. This makes spring practice an even bigger deal for the forgotten upperclassmen. Today marks the beginning of spring practice, the first unveiling of the results of Joe T's new Strength and Conditioning program, and the first team practices in what many pessimistic fans will call the post-AJ era.

If this is your first time reading this blog, I warn you that I tend to see things from an optimistic point of view. Honestly, I think Aaron Murray and Grantham's defense adding a year of experience will affect the team much more than the loss of AJ Green will. On a less tangible note, all accounts point to a shift in attitude around the football program. Before you groan and say "We hear this every off-season," consider the facts. Since Greg McGarity took office in Athens, it's been nothing but positive news coming out of Butts-Mehre. The new S&C program seems to be weeding out the men from the boys, the new hires look great (on paper, at least), and the players are all buying into the attitude of change. McGarity made schedule changes (adding Boise State, dropping Louisville, adding Tasty Cake home games) that will increase exposure as well as minimize team fatigue.

Although we don't know how everything going on within the program will turn out, the players and coaches seem excited about this season and the positivity is contagious. The fans are excited, the administration is excited, the students are excited. You should be too. Here are a few players/units I'm paying attention to over spring practice:

• Kwame Geathers - Johnathan Jenkins is as close to a sure starter as you can get, but Bean Anderson moving back to the O-line gives Kwame Geathers a full spring to get first-team reps at nose. Kwame has a lot of weight on his shoulders should Jenkins be unable to play for any reason come fall. Fortunately, by all accounts Kwame has made great strides under the new S&C program, two years after showing up to fall camp overweight.

• The DEs - This unit might be the most talented on this side of the ball. DeAngelo Tyson and Abry Jones are already all-SEC caliber players that, in my opinion, will benefit the most from the change in defensive scheme. Garrison Smith and Derrick Lott should definitely push for first-team reps during the spring as well.

• Jarvis Jones & Richard Samuel - These two guys might've been the biggest recruits of the 2010 class. Their redshirt year made it possible for get healthy and gain experience, respectively. Even though there's no substitute for game experience, these guys have played the game before, and they're no slouches. Can't wait to see these guys between the hedges.

• Rantavious Wooten, Marlon Brown, Chris Conley - Even though the Dawgs' WR corps lost most of its productivity this year, the absence of AJ Green will make for opportunities to get more options on the field. Green helped set up the running game when he was on the field, hopefully these guys become big enough threats for Mike Bobo to spread these guys out. If Wooten is healthy and put in enough work in the weight room, his route running and after-the-catch ability could be a great asset. Marlon Brown is the best blocking receiver on the team, but didn't get many balls thrown to him with Green and Durham around. This spring is the time for these guys to establish themselves as legitimate threats in the passing game.

• The secondary - I'm not as down on this unit as most seem to be. Keep a proper perspective here, these guys were young, in a new scheme and still found a way to make more plays than the secondary did than in the 08 and 09 seasons. One thing to remember: The bigger, stronger front seven will pay dividends for the DBs. Brandon Boykin coming back was huge and Sanders Commings is a baller. If Branden Smith proves to be as good in run support as he is in coverage the unit will be solid, even though I think Jakar Hamilton would be a better all-around corner at his spot. The coaches moving Ogletree to ILB rubbed a few people the wrong way, but I don't really understand why. During the recruiting process it was a consensus opinion that Tree would eventually move to LB. People forget that Bacarri Rambo and Shawn Williams were first-year starters last year. I'd be even more confident about the back four if Corey Moore would've enrolled early, he could end up being the best coverage safety we've seen between the hedges in quite a while, and that's more important to me than a headhunter.

My (extremely late by Internet standards) National Signing Day recap.

This class feels different. It’s not Mark Richt’s first Top 10 class, and I believe it won’t be his last, either. But let’s look closer, shall we? John Jenkins’ signing to UGA and Cyrus Kuandijo’s to ‘Bama means that UGA will pass Texas for the 3^rd ranked class in the nation next time Rivals updates their rankings. More importantly, this class is the second highest-ranked class in the SEC, only trailing Alabama. This haul also comes at the same time as a relatively disappointing class for Florida; while the Gators signed a quality class including RB Mike Blakely, QB Jeff Driskel, TE A.C. Leonard and FB Hunter Joyer, they missed out on early near-locks like Tim Jernigan, James Wilder Jr, Mike Bellamy, and Nick Waisome as well as high-priority guys like Curt Maggitt, Brandon Fulse, Kelvin Benjamin and Sammy Watkins. Kinda reminiscent of UGA’s 2007 and 2010 classes, right? Well these are the recruiting missteps and triumphs that make for talent gaps and roster mismatches in the future.

Dean Legge of Dawgpost wrote an excellent article a little more than a year ago listing the prospects the Dawgs had to get. Let’s see how the staff did:

1. Jay Rome – “should be recruited by Georgia three times harder than Clemson recruits him.”—signed with Georgia.

2. Ray Drew – “is a must sign.”—signed with Georgia.

3. Isaiah Crowell – “the most important sign for the Dawgs in 2011”—signed with Georgia.

4. Gabe Wright—signed with Auburn, but adding John Jenkins and Chris Mayes more than makes up for that loss.

5. James Vaughters – signed with Stanford, and honestly that’s a helluva lot better than meeting him the SEC later, plus some kids just want to go out of state. He was one of them.

6. Damian Swann – “needs to be shown tapes of Branden Smith’s 2009 season.”—signed with Georgia.

7. C.J. Uzomah – signed with Auburn. I’m not extremely impressed with the kid, he’ll play tight end at Auburn, and we’ve got better prospects at both of his potential positions.

8. Stephon Tuitt – “too close to Athens not to be signed.”—signed with Notre Dame, or was it Georgia Tech?

9. Nick Marshall – signed with Georgia.

10. Xzavier Dickson – signed with Bama. Most of us know the story behind this one, though.

11. A.J. Johnson – signed with Tennessee. Apparently both coaching staffs thought he was too much of a tweener. *Willie Martinez Shrug*

12. Watts Dantzler – signed with Georgia.

We got half of the guys from the list, and the only one I’m slightly concerned about losing is Dickson, and our LB corps is going to be just fine without him.

The 2011 class showcased the recruiting strengths of the Georgia coaching staff in almost all aspects. There were the sleeper prospects that UGA jumped on early and signed, like Ramik Wilson, Sterling Bailey, Chris Conley, Chris Mayes and Zach Debell. There were the lifelong fans that held the class down for the coaches during the tough season, like Corey Moore, Chris Sanders, Watts Dantzler, Amarlo Herrera and Boss Andrews. A few sleeper prospects put in the work to get their academics in order before they got their offers, like Sanford Seay and Quintavious Harrow. Fans were complaining about the staff losing prospects from South Georgia? Boom, the staff gets Xzavier Ward from Moultrie, Justin Scott-Wesley from Camilla, Ray Drew from Thomasville, along with Jay Rome and Malcolm Mitchell out of Valdosta.

Mike Bobo caught a lot of flack during the season, but he definitely earned his keep on the recruiting trail, landing ten prospects: Drew, Mitchell, Conley, Dantzler, LeMay, Marshall, Rome, Scott-Wesley, Seay, and Xzavier Ward. Todd Grantham sold every defensive prospect on the 3-4 defense, and they responded in a major way. Bryan McClendon worked his tail off recruiting Crowell, and it paid off in the end. John Lilly had a hand in recruiting Rome and Crowell as well. Scott Lakatos has a lot to work with in the secondary for the next few years, with Swann, Marshall, Bowman (a sleeper if you ask me), Moore, Sanders, and Mitchell.

Overall, this was a class we had to have, and the coaches put their noses to the grindstone and got it done. The negative recruiting was at an all-time high; Kirby Smart and other coaches were in recruits’ ears all year. We were supposed to see Georgia get raided by Alabama, Auburn, and Tennessee, but in the end, UGA went head-to-head with SEC foes for the top GA prospects and got 7 out of the top 10 to stay home. By all accounts, the football program has turned a complete 180 under new athletic director McGarity, and Mark Richt has commented that he feels “like a brand new coach.” It’s easy to see that McGarity is leading us toward success down the road, even if it comes without Mark Richt, but with the current changes in place, its hard for me to fathom that UGA will be going through a coaching carousel as soon as our rival fanbases would have us believe.

Who's comin' up?

All-Star games are the last evaluation period for Rivals, Scout, and ESPN. These are the guys I expect to move up in the rankings after their respective games.

UGA Commits

• Christian Conley - from all reports, he's tearing it up at the Offense-Defense Bowl. Standing at 6'3 and about 190 pounds, All season, Conley has shown great hands and awareness after the catch, and his route-running was also noteworthy at practices this week. He racked up huge numbers against mediocre high school competition, but has drawn rave reviews from top prospects in Myrtle Beach, including Ohio State safety commit Jeremy Cash and consensus top-ten wideout Kelvin Benjamin. Enrolling at UGA in January should give him enough of a head start to get on the field as soon as possible. Conley enrolling early could pay huge dividends for the North Paulding graduate, the Dawgs' receiving corps will be low on numbers next year, so he'll have a great shot of getting playing time. We'll see how far along he's progressed at the G-Day Game.

• Amarlo Herrera - The kid's a tackling machine, and a flat-out gamer. He racked up about 150 tackles during the season, and is a helluva blitzing linebacker. I wouldn't be shocked if he had a similar performance at the O-D game tomorrow.

• Corey Moore - With a good week of practice in San Antonio and a solid showing in the game, Corey Moore could vault into the Top 5 at the safety position. He has a high football IQ, and is an extremely tough, competitive player. Moore is also one of the hardest hitters in the country. He plans to enroll early, and could be one of those guys you see de-cleating guys on kickoff coverage come next year.

"When a blind man leads a blind man"

Strangely, that’s not a quote from coach Richt’s post-practice press conference.

I usually try to avoid wasting clicks on bad articles, lol, but I couldn’t help myself today. Buck Belue kinda ticked me off just now. When it comes to recruiting, I only trust these national journalists and analysts so much, I mean, at the end of the day, it is a business. But for someone with the status he has, Buck Belue could use a subscription. I’m sure he’s got enough money for it. I’m a college student, I could probably make enough to buy myself one in a month or so, realistically speaking. But man, Buck…Some quotes from the person you’re talking about would be

nice...maybe a link? Not calling you a liar, maybe suspecting it a little, though. Because from just about every recruiting outlet, the MAIN person involved with Carradine's recruitment besides himself was his uncle.

FSU had been recruiting Tank for much longer than UGA had...Tank and his uncle made it clear he wanted to play in Florida to begin with. UGA made a strong push at the end, but FSU was around longer, since UGA waited for academic clearing to officially offer the guy. UGA definitely had a shot at the end, but you can't win em all, unlike some employed 'journalists' tend to think. Click the picture below to see an article from a legit recruiting source....note the last line.

You obviously haven't been reading these websites, Buck. You probably just read the AJC when it comes to recruiting, right? Maybe it’s just me. It's not like they could've verbally offered him (oh wait, they already did.), it's not like the coaches couldn’t get him to visit during the season, right? You know, when he played his junior college games? On Saturdays? In KANSAS, right? Weren't you the one saying Richt had to get the best guys in the state to save his job? Kansas is way further than Griffin or Thomasville though, right? Why recruit a JUCO guy in Kansas, hell, why leave the state of Georgia if Alabama is raiding Georgia like ya'll say they are? (Oh, right...they only have two guys from GA committed, and you know how those high school kids like to change their minds J)

I understand you have a job and your own personal life, and probably don't have too much free time on your hands...but if you wanna talk about recruiting, you might need to get a subscription, or find a way to hear these things from the horse's mouth on what's really going on in recruiting. You just can’t claim a poor start to the recruiting class when so many of the top guys haven't even started to make their choices. We understand it, you want to see the Dawgs’ doing well. We all do, but most of us know enough to know that we don’t know everything going on inside the program. Maybe you should hang around the AD’s office and see what he’s up to. Myself and the rest of the recruitniks would much rather hear about that, and I’m sure they wouldn’t mind you hanging around the office. Why not interview McGarity next week, instead of throwing this same tired Coach Richt meme we hear from the AJC every morning?

‘he-said, she-said’ is fine when there’s verification, you know, some kind of record of what was said. Without verification, no one knows who to believe; And in this case, some fan who’s doesn’t spend time reading actual recruiting sites is eating this up, and in turn, keeping bad blog writers’ like the ones in Atlanta employed. Not to mention the recruits of the Dawgs use the Internet too, right?

I heard this quote thanks to EbenGregory, a blogger from the DMV area. Not sure where it came from, but I think it serves as the moral to this story:

He who knows not, and knows not he knows not, is a fool, shun him.

He who knows not, and knows he knows not, is simple, teach him.

He who knows, and knows not he knows, is asleep, wake him.

He who knows, and knows he knows, is wise. Follow him.

Finally, a first-hand look at the future

The most exciting football I’ll watch over Winter Break probably won’t be the Liberty Bowl. In no way does that mean I’m more excited about recruiting than I am about an actual UGA game. I mean no disrespect to Jeffrey Godfrey and UCF; I’ve heard from 2 Live Crew frontman Uncle Luke all year about how good he is, and how he should be starting for Miami right now. I actually think the Liberty Bowl will be closer than it seems, simply because I’ve never been impressed with our defense against mobile QBs in the past. But I’ll most likely feel the most excited about UGA football in the week after New Year’s.

All eyes are gonna be on San Antonio and Tampa for the Army and Under Armour All-American games, and with good reason. The fallout from coaching shakeups will have the vultures of the coaching ranks out in full force for these next two months, we’ll hear plenty about whether or not Will Muschamp can switch some recruits from Texas to Florida, and if Kirby Smart indeed goes to Gainesville with him, we’ll hear the same about Alabama’s commits. Finishing the recruiting year off with a bang is big for the perception of a program, and even bigger for recruits sitting at home watching, and if all goes like it’s rumored to be going, the UGA coaching staff has done a phenomenal job planning for the future. A few things to watch for:

Army All-American Game:

You know how everyone says our defense will be fine when Grantham gets “his players” in the system? Well you’ll get a first-hand look at those players in this game.

Sterling Bailey and Ray Drew vs. Garrett Greenlea, Matthew Hegarty, Tyler Johnstone, Ryker Mathews, Greg Robinson:

This matchup will showcase two highly-ranked Georgia defensive linemen going against a solid corps of offensive linemen. The OL vs. DL drills should be fun to watch.

Safety Corey Moore and CB Damian Swann vs. WRs DeAnthony Arnett, Victor Blackwell, George Farmer, Trey Metoyer, Jaxon Shipley, Kasen Williams:

The Army game took more kids from the state of Georgia than I’ve noticed in recent years. The game always picks national playmakers though, and this year is no different; the lowest-ranked receiver on the West squad is ranked thirteenth by Rivals. Corey Moore is a competitive ballhawk who’s an impressive safety and coverage and one of the hardest-hitting safeties in the country. Swann showed his skills this past summer, when he shut down Charone Peake, who Rivals compares to Braylon Edwards, at the Mark Richt camp. He’s an exceptional athlete who could excel on both sides of the ball.

Under Armour All-American Game:

Quan Bray, Malcolm Mitchell, Justin Scott-Wesley, vs. Ha’Sean Clinton-Dix, Enrique Florence, Nick Waisome:

This should be a great matchup. It’s pretty much Georgia vs. Florida and Alabama. I’m anxious to see the fastest guy in Georgia and arguably the best three skill players in the South on either side of the ball (Quan Bray, Malcolm Mitchell, Nick Waisome) going at it.

If you have ESPNU, you should be able to watch Under Armour practices throughout the week of the game.

The best part of the weekend besides the actual game will be the recruiting announcements, we should expect to see Ray Drew, Jay Rome, Malcolm Mitchell, Damian Swann, and possibly Quan Bray make their choices known, likely committing to the Dawgs that weekend. The buzz around UGA’s recruiting class should be huge.

Significance of the Tech Game

It’s been a long season, I know. But if all goes how it’s supposed to, the Tech game marks the rise of the Georgia program.

I’m a homer. I know. But bear with me.

I’m not saying that UGA will be immediately “back,” like Sports Illustrated deemed Bama in 08, but we’ll get a glimpse of the Dawgs’ full potential by this time next year.

It seemed like every game this year gave us Dawg fans a new reason to be optimistic and three that would suggest that coach Richt has been passed by in the SEC. We lacked consistency, one of the main characteristics of a talented, but young team. UGA always brings in top talent, but the development of said talent is what separates good programs from elite programs. For a while, it seemed that every fanbase would agree that UGA did the least with the most talent in the college football world. I truly believe that things have changed for the better. The Dawgs had Top 10 classes according to Rivals every year, until last year. Maybe the thud we took was enough to shake some life back into the Georgia program. We lost out on nationally ranked prospects like JuWaun James, Mack Brown, and most infuriatingly, Da’Rick Rogers (after being committed to us for about a year) on National Signing Day.

Alabama fans threw it in our faces all off-season. According to them, Tennessee and Auburn fans, the debacle that was the Class of 2010 was just the beginning. Until further notice, they were going to invade Georgia like General Sherman, pillage our second-rate university, steal all of our recruits, and eventually send Coach Richt packing, finally free to do the missionary work he’d been rumored to be eyeing all along. I’d read rival boards and across the SEC it was a forgone conclusion that Coach Richt was a great guy who most parents would love to have their sons play for, but not a championship caliber coach in this day in age.

Allow me to politely disagree.

I wasn’t convinced that UGA was a program on the decline after the Florida loss last year, and I was even less convinced after the Florida loss this year. These Dawgs are different than the 2007/2008 Dawgs. These Dawgs can make plays, and these Dawgs have fight. Maybe it’s the addition of Coach Grantham, Belin, and Lakatos. Maybe it’s Greg McGarity. Maybe Once again, the consistency is lacking, but by the time Aaron Murray is a junior, he’ll have a supporting cast around him that should make the Dawgs elite. Tavarres King has established himself as a deep threat and a reliable receiver. Orson Charles is unlike anything the SEC has seen in a while. In the first year of our new scheme, we’ve already seen playmaking ability in each level of the defense by guys like Sanders Commings, Abry Jones, Cornelius Washington, and Christian Robinson. Aaron Murray is a star. Not much need to expound here, the kid is close to breaking the UGA single-season TD record in his first year. While Greene, Shockley, and Stafford didn’t have AJ Green to throw to, they all had more reliable running games to lean on. Let’s not take anything away from Murray here, the kid has shown an incredible maturity in the pocket (even just by escaping sacks and throwing the ball away) for a redshirt freshman.

All things considered, the Tech game this weekend is the largest recruiting weekend we’ve had in a long time, and in the weeks following the game, we’re due to find out about any changes McGarity sees fit to make. Rodney Garner said that he's received RSVPs from about 90 recruits from the 2011, 2012, and 2013 classes set to be in Athens. The shift in recruiting shows the willingness of coach Richt to change his methods. UGA has recruited nationally for all of Richt’s tenure, but with the talent of the 2011 class (and perhaps the way the 2010 class ended up) Richt shifted his focus to the home front. When Coach Grantham was hired as defensive coordinator, he famously stated that he evaluated players from Georgia for 11 years in the NFL, and that if UGA could get the top talent within a five-hour radius of the school, then the Dawgs could be better than Florida, Texas, and Southern Cal. Richt bought in to that logic, and along with the coaching staff came up with the Dream Team concept. The response has been overwhelmingly positive from the recruits. This class is extremely close, the guys constantly talk on Facebook and have also acted as recruiters themselves, working on the top targets.

The 2011 class has been heralded by the best in Georgia in a long time. It’s caused ESPN analysts to (finally) put the state of Georgia in the Top 3 talent-producing states with Texas and Florida. This class stands out to me, not only because of the Dream Team approach and what it means to our in-state recruiting, but if the class fills out how many think it will, it will include:

· Christian LeMay - a Top 3-ranked QB with amazing accuracy and a quick release who’ll enroll in January.

· Isaiah Crowell - Top 3- ranked RB, who has been compared to a bigger, stronger CJ Spiller

· Justin Scott-Wesley, Chris Conley, Zach Witchett - (If his commitment sticks) the fastest receiver in the nation, one of the fastest in GA history, a prospect that has greatly improved in the past 12 months of play.

· Jay Rome - The nation’s best tight end prospect.

· 5 or 6 offensive linemen who should be ready to contribute (if needed) by their sophomore years.

· Ray Drew, Xzavier Dickson, Sterling Bailey - The #1, #3, and #8 ranked defensive end/outside linebackers in the nation

· Corey Moore – 8^th ranked safety in the country.

· Nick Marshall - An athlete who holds the state record for passing touchdowns in a career, and is also a highly-coveted basketball prospect. Marshall will play corner at UGA so he can play both basketball and football.

· Amarlo Herrera – a Top 10 ranked inside linebacker

· Damian Swann - Top 5 cornerback, kick returner, all-around playmaker

Not only is this class full of talent, it’s one of the first full classes that UGA has signed in a while, the Dawgs look to sign anywhere from 25-to 28 players, since Conley, LeMay, and Moore all plan to enroll in January, their scholarships will count towards last year’s class. Barring injury, this class should prove to be one of the best in the SEC in the next few years. Cynical fans will wonder what the difference is between this class and any of the highly coveted classes Richt brought in earlier in the decade. Aside from the large number of the class and the talent and camaraderie the class has developed, UGA seems to finally have a staff in place that is entirely focused on coaching the players to their full potential. It can be frustrating to think how players like Brandon Miller, Kiante Tripp, and Akeem Hebron would’ve turned out with the right staff around them. The new defensive staff and athletic director have re-energized this program. Grantham and the staff on D have shown that they believe at putting the best players on the field in position to make plays, no matter their class.

The willingness to change is what excites me. Rather than embracing the status quo, citing the circumstances that the staff has had no control over, like the injuries in 08, the staff seems set to do whatever it takes to get UGA back on the national scene. The Boise State game next season is evidence of that. Going into the bowl game (provided that we do beat Tech on Saturday), us fans have a lot to look forward to over the next few weeks, and a prime-time game against the Nerds in Athens will be the first domino in what should be a huge off-season for the Dawgs. Fans have been clamoring for a change in strength and conditioning since we got pushed around by Bama in 2008, and many (including me) expect to see an overhaul in the S&C program this offseason. Getting stronger at the point of attack will go a long way for our offensive line’s development; we’ll need it, because our line looks to be very inexperienced after next season.

Some people thought Bobo would be gone after the season, but with the production of the offense over the second half of the season, I would expect to see him back in Athens next year. Rumors have began to swirl that Tony Ball will be let go after the season. While our WR play has been solid, we haven’t had truly amazing results from receivers not named Adriel Jeremiah Green. We have viable backup options, but they haven’t shown the ability to repeatedly make great plays that would warrant double teams in AJ’s absence. Now, if these rumors prove to be true, it’ll be another aggressive decision that shows the Dawgs aren’t complacent as they seemed two seasons ago. When teams around us are constantly switching coaches to get the best players, and subsequently get the best out of those players, we have to make the necessary moves to stay afloat. One of the main reasons Rogers was sold on Tennessee late in the process was their addition of Charlie Baggett to their coaching staff. Baggett has an NFL pedigree, he coached Randy Moss and Chris Carter with the Minnesota Vikings. Which top-flight wide receiver wouldn’t want to get coached by a guy like him? Thanks to this hire, the Vols could have the best receiving corps in the SEC for the next few years, with Matt Milton, Justin Hunter (whom they swayed from LSU at the last minute), and Da’Rick Rogers. No disrespect to coach Ball, but if our coaches can’t consistently bring in top talent at each position as well as develop it, then we can’t expect to field the best teams.

It’s not a given that UGA can bring in a guy as coveted as Baggett. However, the Dawgs are showing signs of life in the cut-throat SEC. I’m not saying that all of these speculations will come true, and even if they do it’s not a guarantee that the Dawgs’ll win the SEC in the near future. Hell, if we have another season like this next year I wouldn’t expect Richt to be back. But things are looking good from my point of view. So, fellow Dawg fans, this weekend will be the beginning of what looks to be a whirlwind offseason. Sanford Stadium should be rocking, and there are rumors of a blackout. I can’t make it, but if you’re going to the game, make all the recruits feel at home, and keep the place loud until the clock hits zero.

Since I've been gone..

(No Kelly Clarkson.)

Since the last time you heard from me, not much has happened on the recruiting front. The Dawgs got a commitment from Chris Hayes, a nose guard prospect from Spalding County High School. The main two stories since late July have been the fate of UGA QB commit Christian LeMay, and the commitment of James Wilder, Jr. to FSU, and the resulting fates of UGA RB targets.

First, I’ll profile Chris Mayes. Mayes is a 6’5, 290 pound prospect who’s only been playing high school football for the past year. From all accounts, he’s a project who has great athleticism and speed. He hasn’t had much time to be taught proper technique, but his upside seems to be big. Scout posted a short video of him at spring practice, in the video he looks to be pretty effective in pursuit and has a strong enough powerbase to bull-rush opponents. Once he hits the UGA strength and conditioning program, and works under Rodney Garner he’ll be ready to contribute. The fact that he’s a tweener makes me more optimistic about him playing in the 3-4.

The next plus that comes from this commitment is the fact that Mayes is good friends with Corey Moore and Xzavier Dickson. Many recruiting analysts believe that Dickson isn’t as much of an Alabama lean as he was months ago, even ESPN stated that he wanted to be a Bulldog, but his dad preferred he play for Nick Saban at Alabama, who offered him before UGA.

Next up: The Christian Lemay situation. After his 30-day suspension was handed down, Christian and his family decided to skip his senior season at Butler High School and finish his requirements in a ‘private setting.’ Christian, along with Devin Bowman, Chris Conley, and Corey Moore intends to enroll at UGA in January. According to the AJC, while getting these requirements taken care of, Christian will go through CrossFit training with Andy Hendel of Charlotte, and QB-specific training with Steve Calhoun of Armed and Dangerous, who has worked with two QBs who participated in the 2010 Elite 11 camp, and current Auburn QB Cameron Newton. I’m confident that LeMay will make significant progress in his training before Coach Bobo gets him on campus.

As for James Wilder, many people think that if UGA got Wilder that it’d hurt their chances with Isaiah Crowell. False. There were a few reports of Crowell, Orson Charles, Aaron Murray, and Jarvis Jones all teaming up to recruit Wilder at Dawg Night. While losing Wilder (even though I don’t think his recruitment is over) takes away a great recruiting pitch that would give the Dawgs 2011 class a huge amount of momentum, it gives the staff more time to put the full-court press on Crowell. If Crowell goes to Bama, look for the Dawgs to get Quan Bray. By no means am I selling short the ability of Bray, whom the Dawgs are already recruiting as a slot receiver who will get touches at running back as well.