There is probably no more of a criminal act that I can recall in Bulldawg sports history than the failed experiment of hiring Coach Tom Crean. Especially when you consider he had this guy, and totally wasted the opportunity to do something special with him:
But, that’s basketball, and we could probably count up several others who hit the Stegeman hardwood who had tremendous upside but we did little with them.
That being said, who would you say is the Georgia football player that would fall under the category of “wasted talent”? A guy with high caliber talent who we never quite maximized to their potential?
My first thought:
Aside from the 10-3 2008 campaign, I feel that the team should’ve had more talent surrounding him and could’ve achieved more. But I could also be shortsighted and short memoried but I also think of Hines Ward and Eric Zeier and think “what could’ve been” if the circumstances were a little different.
Thoughts?
If Zeier had a defense, Georgia has a chance to win the SEC in 1992. I believe that team was in the top 2 in every main team offensive category. What happened to the program in 1993 and 1994 is criminal. Zeier is a DGD for staying plugged into the program while it fell apart around him.
It’s easy to put AJ on this list. I’ll say it a little differently. The way Georgia (in particular, Greg McGarity) threw him under the bus in 2010 when he had nothing to do with Agentgate. Anyone who thinks Georgia starts 2010 1-4 with him the full season (he was getting into game shape at Colorado) doesn’t know what they’re talking about.
We gave up something like 15 tds all season in 1992. For whatever reason, Zeier’s worst year was 1992 and we were still two plays away from being undefeated and playing in the first sec championship. After 1992, it did all fall apart. No defense, no running game. And we became chuck and duck for Eric last two seasons.
I was in Boulder for that game. Nice town. The game sucked.
Try being in the corner of the upper deck in Columbia, seating your *** off (damn it was hot that day, as it always is there) right before kickoff when they finally announced AJ was suspended and not going to play, and watching the offense struggle to two measly field goals…. AJ was held out of the opener as a precaution, and then they didn’t really announce anything definitive until the morning of the SCar game – Greg Mediocrity at his finest, surpassed only by the mismanagement of the Gurley situation in ’14 where we totally kneecapped ourselves for the Florida game….
Terrell Davis?
How do you hold Davis under 100 yards a game? Ask Coach Goof. One of the NFL’s most prolific rushers for a time in the late 90s never eclipsed 900 yards in a college season.
In 1992 you did have the guy who finished 3rd in the Heisman balloting and was one of the best backs ever to come from RBU.
He may have been limited by his migraines in college too.
Lining up Robert Edwards on defense has to count, too.
Zeier was an average QB. He had plenty of talent around him in 92 and a good OC. By 1993 Goof had lost it.
Zeier was average? He held almost 20 SEC records when he graduated. He was the career passing yards record holder until Peyton Manning and then a few others surpassed him. I think he is still Top 5 in that category in the SEC.
Zeier was certainly better than I remember. But my opinion of him was unfortunately skewed back then. One of the guys in our dorm graduated HS with Zeier and had a huge man crush on him. He was really irritating and wouldn’t ever STFU about him. So the rest of us kinda hated on Zeier because of that. Was it petty and immature? Absolutely. But we were immature kids so it kinda fit. Looking back now, I wish I had better enjoyed having him as our QB all those years.
Charles Johnson and Chris Clemons would be high on my list. Hardly a blip on the radar at UGA, but long and lucrative careers in the league. But there are a lot of Dawgs who excelled once they got to the pros.
Agree, Danny Ware and Patrick Pass must have been saving it for the NFL or we messed up using them.
Who is the defensive genius putting Luka on Ant?
Probably Lebron. Anyone who believes that team is “coached” has the intellectual capacity of a Volunteer fan.
Nice Vol dig. Never miss an opportunity to belittle any fans of orange.
Stafford? His college accomplishments did not match his NFL career except for the keg stands.
sleep number spokesman and joe cox cuddle buddy…Mr Matthew Stafford.
Arik Gilbert
Greg Talley…just kidding
Calvin Johnson, because he should have been a dawg…would love to know the full recruiting story on that bidding war.
He told the story a while back. Sounds like the difference was in who was his chaperone and the locations he visited in Athens versus Atlanta. https://www.si.com/college/georgia/news/calvin-johnson-reveals-why-he-chose-georgia-tech-over-georgia-football
Todd Gurley and another mcgoofy fuck up…he should have never sat for any of those gsmes and we win em all
Mecole Hardman. Chronically underused in our offense.
Thanks for that Ant Man clip. He’s fun to watch, having a great time out there. And he gives shouts out to the Dawgs.
Knowshon Moreno redshirted left after jr yr
Bobo and Richt tried to sign Deshaun Watson as a D back.
That isn’t the case. Were Richt and Bobo too late to offer? Yes, but they wanted him as a QB when they did offer.
If you have other information, feel free to cite it, but this isn’t $Cam as a tight end.
I had to jump over to my home pc to post on this one. I’m putting forth Richard Samuel. One of the few 5 stars (LB) we signed during the Richt era. Just as he started seeing the field as a LB, they asked him to switch to RB and (other than that Florida game) was really ineffective. I feel like we wasted one there.
He was my first thought. If only we had left him alone at LB…
This is true, but I did love watching him grind the Gators down when we beat them.
HInes Ward under Goof. The Swiss Army knife of Georgia football.