As an add-on to JP’s MBG post this morning, I came up with a question. In the NIL era, what player do you wish we had done more to retain? That eliminates a certain QB in 2019. As an addendum to that, what player who transferred would regret his decision if subject to this?
For me, the answer is one and the same although I think the decision at the time was deeper than money.
Bear Alexander would have probably been the next Georgia DT first round selection in 2024 if he stayed and got with the program.
This is a tough question. I figure if someone leaves, they’re not cut out for Kirby/Athens. I definitely think that was the case with Bear. He didn’t want to put in the work, and I think it showed by his lack of performance at his other stops. He wasn’t the wrecker we thought he could have been.
Who was the DE/LB edge that left and went to Mizzou? We could have used him and he had stuck around Athens long enough that I think he could’ve handled tough coaching. Same with the guy that left and went to FSU. Although I will say in both cases, I think those players made the best of their moves.
I wish we could’ve kept AD Mitchell.
AD is a good choice, but I don’t think the team’s record in 2023 is any different with Mitchell. Said differently, I don’t think we beat Alabama with Mitchell.
I said Alexander because I do think a light coming on Bear Alexander is a Jalen Carter/Devonte Wyatt kind of player.
I agree with both your points. AD wasn’t going to be the difference in beating Bama.
If (a big “IF”) Bear stayed and dedicated himself, he could’ve been the next wrecker in the middle, which is very important for our defense.
AD didn’t play much in 22. His attitude was not where it needed to be.
In defense of AD, he was hurt most of the year with the high ankle.
I still wonder why he went back to Texas when he just as easily could have brought the family to Athens. Georgia took a chance on him in the 2021 class.
Agreed, with the caveat that I don’t think it was Georgia not doing enough so much as it was Bear’s attitude and outlook at the time. Maybe we could have done a little more to keep him happy and maybe we got blindsided by the transfer early in the NIL era, but he showed in his subsequent stops that those things did not lead to productivity.
If he had his mind right, though, Bear was the last piece of the puzzle to threepeat in 2023. He probably goes top 5 overall, to boot. The physical part was all there.
He was Nuke Laloosh who wouldn’t listen to his Georgia Crash Davis. Million dollar talent with a 5¢ head.
Simply put and with homage to the Ranger; FTMF. If you ain’t all Georgia you ain’t shit.
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Damon Wilson II? Bear Alexander, though, seems like call.
Anybody that portals out is dead to me. I have basically stopped following off-season roster moves and NIL bullshit. Just let me know the time for the first kick-off and who is on the roster.
https://georgiadogs.com/sports/football/roster
Kickoff TBD, September 5th, vs. Tennessee State
Brenton Cox
Justin Fields
Cox (I think) and Fields are both transfers that happened pre-NIL.
I was being very, very, very sarcastic.
I think Fields could have been wildly successful if he had stuck around. I really do believe he thought Fromm was going to stay for 4 years, so the earliest he was going to start was 2021.
From what I’ve seen of Bear Alexander his work ethic doesn’t fit the culture that Kirby has created. I see someone like that as a team cancer better off somewhere else.
Like others AD Mitchell was the guy. He’s a big play in big games guy I hated to lose. All it would have taken was one big play to change the Bama game. With Bowers and Ladd hobbled he could have changed the seasons outcome.
That’s my point … if Alexander had fully bought in after the ‘22 season in which there’s no doubt he showed promise like Carter in 2020, he becomes a likely 1st rounder.
Bear Alexander was a cancer in the locker room. Bad attitude, causing fights with teammates, etc. Good riddance.
Kirby didn’t run him off after the ‘22 season. Something happened between the end of that season and the end of spring practice … we’ll never really know what that was.
I agree with AD Mitchell and feel he could have made the difference against Bama. Like mentioned above, Brock and Ladd were hobbled. AD as a big play threat could have changed that game. Plus, if Georgia does win that one AD was a lock to catch game winning TD passes in the Semi-final and the Championship games.
I think you have too many ifs regarding Bear. He was a cancer in the locker room and never got any better at his multiple stops after UGA. Hell, he only stayed more than 1 year at USC because he couldn’t find a landing spot when he initially wanted to leave L.A. I don’t feel he would have changed of he had stayed at Georgia. He moved around in HS and changed his commitment several times before college. Now he is an afterthought at Oregon with Lanning.
That is fair although I don’t believe Mitchell changes the outcome in 2023 because the real issue was the failure to control Jalen Milroe.
I specifically said a bought-in Alexander is the X factor we missed in both 2023 and 2024.
Most of the transfers were attitude issues. The rest were playing time, kids weren’t good enough to play as much as they wanted.
If Alexander was really a first round talent I don’t think he’d be heading into his 5th year of college football. He did show a great deal of promise as a pass rusher though.