Coach Bobo got some air time yesterday, and a few statements struck me from what he shared, one of optimism in leadership, and one of “oh shit”.
First, on Carson Beck:
Carson made a great statement in our first meeting. We tried to set the tone. He said, ‘I want to say something to you guys. I want you, you need to take this camp like you’re getting ready to play Clemson the first game. I didn’t do that when I was young. I wasn’t taking advantage of every opportunity, you know, to get ready to be the starter.’ And that’s an easy thing to say, rather than do. And I’ve been saying it for 27 years, coaching quarterbacks, you’re getting ready to play. Your opportunity’s every practice. But then for Carson to step up and say that in a meeting and stop me mid-meeting and say that to those young quarterbacks. He said, ‘Hey, guys, you’re getting ready to play Clemson in that first game. That’s how you should approach it.’ And those guys have done a great job of that this camp.
I wonder if that explains some of the hesitation to start Beck over Bennett back in 2021? Either way, sounds like Beck is the old coach in the room and is going to be the quiet field general we know he can be.
Now, for the thing that gave me some hesitation:
Jared (Wilson) has missed some things, but he’s got to do as much as possible. It’s always – that’s a very important position in the offensive unit. They communicate really to everybody what goes on up front. Jared is still being able to do that in the large majority of what we’re doing. We’re just being careful with Jared, but it also gives guys more opportunities to work at center and make those calls. We lost a four-year starter in Sed Van Pran, that has made the calls 100 times and was confident making those calls and communicating. So, everything we do from walkthrough to practice is an opportunity for those centers if Jared is not getting work to make those calls and communicate with those other guys. It’s probably more important this year because we’ve got so many young linemen that might not be able to hear the call and know what they got. And a lot of times, that center has got to pass everything down the line and make the call frontside and backside for those guys. It’s a little bit uncomfortable for guys like Drew (Bobo).
Drew Bobo is the second team center, but Wilson was supposed to plug in for a significant loss after Van Pran-Grainger left for the NFL. Let’s hope it’s just cautious conditioning, but center is the wild card on an otherwise dominant offensive line for this season.
If Drew is the starting center one of 2 things is happening in Athens
man. Dont even joke about that 2 statement .
I had Kolton Houston flashbacks
I’ve been saying since the spring, this is my number 1 concern about the team entering the season. The center is soooooo important to the effective operation of the offense. We saw what poor snapping will do a team in the shotgun (Bama in the Rose Bowl). SVP-G made everything look so easy … consistent, athletic, smart. I hope this is a case of Mike (and Stacy) giving Wilson a kick in the pants.
Hard to believe that Kirby wouldn’t have plugged that spot. Are we certain that we wouldn’t go with a guard there if needed? Did we bring in a new one this spring? I remember when we had to plug in that Long kid from Memphis when we had an injury there. It got ugly real fast….
My concern here isn’t the communication or the snapping, I would assume that Bobo’s mental game is on. I just wonder if he can hold his own vs a SEC caliber NG/DT. Those guys have a tendency to be formidable…
Good question. I would assume there would be a lot of giving help if Bobo has to play significant minutes, but I generally think you have to do that for many centers.
That’s what made SVP-G special is that he could hold up 1 on 1 with most SEC DTs and do the mental tasks practically flawlessly and the reason he won the SEC blocking trophy last year.
If you put a Jalen Carter in “0” over the center, and the center is not legit, “help” ain’t gonna do it. Its a lot easier to help out a OT who is getting his ass whipped than an interior guy. Can’t help with a series of options: TE, RB, OG, play goes the other way, directly at him or force him into coverage. Lots of ways to slow down an edge mismatch and move the chains. If the center is coming into the qb’s lap on every snap, you’ve got serious problems.
Your short yardage game is nearly gone. Qb sneak to get a foot is out. Its shotgun and quick release and/or outside runs. Zone reads are out.
Their DB’s move up. Everyone on D is with 7 yards of the line of scrimmage and Brett the Hammer of (Thor)son gets a tired leg…
I’d rather play with a scrub at any other position on offense, save qb, than at center.
We’re saying the same thing … you have to have it all at center. You can’t take a talented guard who has never been trained to snap or call protections and shifts and put them at center just because there’s a Jalen Carter/Jordan Davis type of game wrecker at NT/DT. You also can’t take a guy who is only smart and put them at center and consistently cover for their talent deficiency with double teams because that frees up a linebacker or an edge player to cause havoc.
It seems Wilson has the talent and the question is whether he is handling the soft stuff.
UGA football has shown, longevity works at that position…GO DAWGS!!
Read a number of times that Tate is getting snaps at center. Also, Brooks seems to think whatever is ailing Wilson is minor
are there and details regarding Wilson? What I’m reading all seems pretty vague and cloaked in mystery. Injury? Personal stuff?
I thought I read somewhere (maybe it was on one of the reports from the practice the donors got to watch) that Ratledge was getting work as center
Sounds like a real concern. The kid’s one of the best athletes on the team and sounds like a smart, hard-working player. We’re early in practice, so I’ll wait and see how the scrimmages go before going full blown Munson.
Take a deep breath guys. I went and read the linked article and this is the meat of it:
“We’re just being careful with Jared, but it also gives guys more opportunities to work at center…”
To me that means 2 things. 1) Jared has this as long as he stays healthy, and 2) we are working to develop a legit #2 because the laws of football are such that we will need one. I don’t think he said Drew was the starter, maybe not even #2, just responding to a question about his son.
Do ya’ll think the new rule allowing two players to have earbuds in their helmet to receive the play call affects this? I guess I assumed it would be the QB and Center.