Names You Need to Know for 2016

This is one of my favorite blogs to write each year. Each year Georgia will sign around 24 players in February, and each August, I try to narrow down that long list of unknown names to a handful of players that I think will contribute during the upcoming season.

Last year, I told you about Mr. Thompson, who would have been an all SEC defensive linemen if he hadn’t gotten hurt in the middle of the season, and Terry Godwin, who quickly became Georgia’s number two receiver last season. Godwin’s versatility even saw him taking snaps in the “Wild Dawg” formation later in the season when it was obvious that Georgia’s quarterbacks were more of a liability than a weapon.

In years past, I gave you names like Nick Chubb and Lorenzo Carter. I’m not always right about the guys who could have a big impact, but there is rarely a player that does make an impact that I didn’t profile, so start committing these names to memory, and you can impress your friends this fall.

This year’s edition of the Names You Need to Know is a little different. First, there are a few more names than in years past. The signing class that Georgia brought in, combined with the fact that there are major depth concerns at some positions, means that more young players will not only play, but be asked to contribute in 2016. The second reason is because the number one name you need to know in 2016 is a name you already know, so there is no reason in me taking an extended look at Jacob Eason. There will be plenty of time to talk about Eason and the QB battle throughout fall camp.

So, with that said, here are the names you need to know for 2016: (Player #)

Julian Rochester (#5): Five-star defensive linemen Julian Rochester could be one of the most important players for Georgia in 2016. Coach Smart has repeatedly talked about the importance of being better and bigger on the defensive line, and at 6-5, 327lbs, Rochester teamed with Mr. Thompson could make Georgia’s defense one of the best in the conference, if not the country.

Isaac Nauta (#18): Nauta was ranked as the number one tight-end prospect in the entire country. He committed to the Dawgs during the Under Armor All America game back in January. Nauta formed a bond with Jacob Eason and committed to Georgia primarily because of that bond. Nauta is 6-4, 247 lbs and should see a good deal of playing time behind starting tight-end, Jeb Blazevich. New offensive coordinator Jim Cheney loves to use tight-ends in his offense.

Riley Ridley (#8): Four-star wide receiver from Coconut Creek, Florida, Cavin Riley Ridley goes by Riley so you don’t get him confused with his brother, Alabama wide receiver Calvin Ridley. Riley was an early enrollee, and looked to have breakaway speed during the spring game. At 6-2, 195 lbs, Ridley will be in the running to become Georgia’s number two threat at the receiver position behind Terry Godwin.

Charlie Woerner(#89): Woerner is a four-star prospect from Rabun County. Unlike everyone else on this list, Woerner did not participate in any of the dog and pony shows that most recruits use to boost their player ranking. Instead, Woerner committed early to the Dawgs, enjoyed his senior year of high school, and caught 15 touchdowns while running for another during his senior season. Woerner will be a fan favorite, because he is a legacy. Charlie is the nephew of Georgia great, Scott Woerner, who was a captain of the 1980 National Championship team.

Ben Cleveland (#74): Please take one minute to Google a picture of Ben Cleveland. Look for the picture of Cleveland in a “Commit to the G” white shirt and a camo hat. That picture, tells you everything you need to know about Cleveland. He is nicknamed The Mountain after a Game of Thrones character. Cleveland is 6-6, 345 lbs of man from Toccoa, Georgia. Like Nauta, his friendship with Jacob Eason was one of the biggest factors in Cleveland committing to Georgia.

Elijah Holyfield (#13): Georgia fans hope that Elijah is a real deal chip off the old block. Elijah is the son of former boxing champion Evander Holyfield.  Elijah was a four-star running back recruit. The depth chart at running back for Georgia is full of question marks, so there is a chance that Holyfield could get some touches early in the season. Once Sony Michel is full strength the best Holyfield can hope for is third string, but Georgia has historically used multiple backs, so there is no reason to think that Holyfield can’t make an impact as a freshman.

Javon Wims (#6): A four-star junior college transfer, Wims will be looking to emerge as a redzone target for whoever the quarterback may be. At 6-4, 220 lbs, Wims offers a different threat than some of Georgia’s other receivers.

Tyler Catalina (#72): Catalina could very well be the most important new player Georgia has this fall. At 6-6 and 325 lbs, Catalina is a graduate transfer from the University of Rhode Island, where he was a captain and starter of all 11 games at left tackle. Georgia’s offensive line has some huge questions, and if Catalina can come in and solidify an offensive line position it will go a long way towards Georgia having a great season.

Mecole Hardmen (#4): The consensus number two player in the state of Georgia, five-star prospect Mecole Hardmen is listed as an “Athlete”. Most likely, Hardmen will be playing defensive back for Georgia, but he will absolutely be featured on the offensive side of the ball at times. At 5-11, Hardmen’s height dictates that he play cornerback, but his ball skills are fantastic, and he is, without a doubt, a superior athlete. Appropriately, Mecole will be wearing #4, also worn by UGA Great, Champ Bailey, who played both ways for Georgia in the late '90s. 

With the new coaching staff comes a new system both offensively and defensively, which will mean that returning players won’t have the advantage they would typically have over incoming players. Kirby Smart has been adamant that Georgia must improve their depth if they are going to be contenders. For Georgia to have a successful season, some of these new players are going to  have to step up and make an immediate impact.

Here’s to hoping they can do just that.

Go Dawgs.

A Feast of Games

We are only 29 days away from the start of the 2016 college football season. Just like every season, there will be big wins, upsets, hot seats, and games that we will never forget. Unlike previous seasons, 2016 offers what could be the greatest opening weekend in college football history.

Now I’m a big guy, and I like food, so I think the best way to describe the feast that we are in store for on opening weekend is by breaking it down as a delicious four-course meal.

So, here is what you can look forward to enjoying starting on September 1^st.

The Appetizer Course: Thursday September 1^st

7:30pm  Appalachian State @ Tennessee (SEC Network)

8:00pm South Carolina @ Vanderbilt (ESPN)

Ok, so maybe this is pretty thin, but after having no football for so long, trust me you will be starving by the time these games come around. Look at it this way, at least it will be fun to watch crazy Wil Muschamp pick up his first of what will be many loses as Carolina’s head coach.

The Salad Course: Friday September 2^nd

7:30pm Northwestern State @ Baylor (FSN)

8:00pm Colorado State @ Colorado (ESPN)

9:00pm Kansas State @ Stanford (FS1)

I’ll admit, no one typically likes the salad course, but there are at least some interesting story lines here. Baylor lost the offseason as the biggest dumpster fire in college football, so it will be very interesting to see how their team and fans react to returning to the field after all of the disgraceful things that have happened in Waco over the past few months. Mike Bobo starts year two at Colorado State by taking on their in-state rivals, Colorado. If you can stay up to watch Stanford you will see one of the favorites for the Heisman, Christian McCaffrey, the Stanford running back who is one of the most exciting players in the country.

The Main Course: Saturday September 3^rd

7:30am Boston College v. Tech (ESPN 2, in Dublin, Ireland)

Noon Oklahoma v. Houston (ABC, in Houston Texans Stadium)

3:30pm UCLA @ Texas A&M (CBS)

3:30pm LSU v. Wisconsin (ABC, Lambeau Field in Green Bay Wisconsin)

5:30pm North Carolina v. Georgia (ESPN, Georgia Dome)

8:00pm USC v. Alabama (ABC, in Dallas, Texas)

9:00pm Clemson @ Auburn (ESPN)

The official rankings haven’t come out yet, but there is no doubt that the top three teams in college football, Clemson, Alabama, and Oklahoma are all playing a legitimate opponent in the first week of the season. Throw in a breakfast date in Dublin, Les Miles at Lambeau, the Kirby Smart era kicking off in the Georgia Dome, and a very interesting matchup between Jim Mora and Kevin Sumlin, and you have a fantastic, full day of college football. It is doubtful that all of these games will end up being classics, but one thing is for sure, we are going to find out a lot about the 2016 season on the first full day of the 2016 season.

Finishing off someone else’s plate: Sunday September 4^th

7:30pm Notre Dame @ Texas (ABC)

With the NFL not starting until the following weekend, two of the most storied programs in college football history will take the stage on Sunday night to kick off their seasons. Notre Dame has aspirations of returning to a New Year’s Six Bowl, while Texas’ coach Charlie Strong is probably on his last leg in Austin unless the Longhorns can turn things around in 2016.

Dessert: Monday September 5^th (Labor Day Night)

8:00pm Ole Miss v. Florida State (ESPN, in Orlando, Florida)

Hugh Freeze and the Rebels are grateful to Baylor for all of their trouble, or it would be Ole Miss with the title of biggest dumpster fire in college football. The clean cut coach has been accused by former players of overseeing a program with a system in place of pay players money. Freeze and his team have lost some of their biggest names from the past few seasons, but quarterback Chad Kelly returns to power Ole Miss again in 2016. Meanwhile, FSU hopes to knock off Clemson as kings of the ACC and return to the college football playoff.

Now, I will have to work for a lot of the weekend, but if you have the chance, at least spend all of Saturday with your feet propped up watching football. As always, the season will go by quicker than you think. For all those lonely Saturdays we have endured throughout the summer, take one day to celebrate the majesty that is college football.

Besides, week 2 sucks.

SEC Hot Seat Rankings

The college football season has kicked off with the start of SEC Media Days in Hoover, Alabama. 

The long wait from the end of the national title game to fall practice is speeding towards an end, and the time has to come to look ahead to the coming season.

I will be putting out a lot of content over the coming weeks in anticipation of my favorite time of the year, the start of the college football season. I will break down Georgia’s outlook under Kirby Smart, analyze the quarterback battle from every angle, give regional and national predictions, and Georgia fans ready with my annual “Names you need to Know.”

Today, I’m going to do something I’ve never done before, and that is rank the SEC’s coaches based on their job security. In thinking about it, the only reason I can come up with why I have never written this type of blog before is that Mark Richt would have been pretty high on this list each year since I have been writing my blog, and I didn’t want to focus on Richt’s job security too much.

It’s a new day in Athens and a new day for me, so here is my pre-season SEC Hot seat list, from the most secure job in the SEC, to the coach most likely to be fired in 2016.

14. Nick Saban (Alabama): No breaking news here. Saban’s success at Alabama has been historic and his stay in Tuscaloosa will last as long as he decides he wants it to last. Each year people question when Saban will retire, or how long he can keep going at the pace is he is going, but I don’t see any reason to believe Saban will leave Alabama in the next five seasons.

13. Bret Bielema (Arkansas): Before you get too surprised, give me a chance to explain. Arkansas hired Bielema in the wake of the Bobby Petrino fiasco, and to his credit, Bielema has represented Arkansas well. He has verbally challenged Nick Saban and his lectures to the football world, while keeping Arkansas semi-relevant in the most difficult division in football. Bielema could be much higher on this list by the end of the season, but my sense is that Arkansas fans feel very good about the direction of their program.

12. Kirby Smart (Georgia): Many things can offer job security in the SEC. The biggest factor for Smart is that he hasn’t lost a game yet. With so much of the Georgia fan base ready to move on from Mark Richt, the move to Smart has been met with overwhelming excitement in Athens and around the state. Smart has done everything right so far, and there is almost no set of circumstances that would lead to Smart losing his job after 2016.

11. Jim McElwain (Florida): The Gators won the East and beat Tennessee and Georgia in 2015. After the disgrace of Muschamp, Gator fans must be jumping for joy in their jorts. McElwain will be higher on this list before 2017 for sure because the Gators are poised to take a significant step back in 2016.

10. Dan Mullen (Mississippi State): Similar to McElwain, Mullen’s success over the past two seasons will sustain him through what is sure to be a very difficult 2016. The Bizarro Bulldogs won 19 games in the past two seasons, which is, and I’m not kidding about this, a school record for a two year period. With Dak Prescott graduating, and losing significant players from his defense, Mullen will be under pressure following the 2016 season, but he will have at least one more year in Starkvegas.

9. Tom Odum (Missouri): Who? Exactly. Odum was the hand-picked successor to long-time Missouri coach Gary Pinkel. Missouri isn’t going to be very good this year, or really for some years to come, in my opinion, but the fact that he is Pinkel’s guy combined with the fact that the Tigers are about to find out why the SEC is so difficult should buy some time from a fan base with pretty low expectations.

8. Will Muschamp (South Carolina): Now we start getting to some fun. Muschamp takes over a program that has seen its days of glory pass by. Steve Spurrier raised the bar of expectations in Columbia throughout his tenure, but left the cupboard remarkably bare for his successor. Muschamp’s fit-filled personality, the program’s lack of talent, and the fan bases’ reluctance to understand that they are not on par with Georgia, Florida, and Tennessee will make Muschamp’s reign in Columbia rocky, but must see. Even in his first year, I could see Muschamp wearing out his welcome in Columbia during what could be a 4 win season.

7. Hugh Freeze (Ole Miss): Freeze has transformed the Rebels in his short tenure in Oxford and beat Alabama each of the past two seasons, which should make his job as safe as Saban’s. However, Laramy Tunsil’s draft night admission that he accepted benefits from Ole Miss coaches changed the perception of Freeze. Freeze lost the crown jewels of his first full recruiting class to the NFL draft, and even though he has the best QB in the SEC coming into the season in Chad Kelley, there are a ton of questions for Freeze both on and off the field. If the Tunsil questions and subsequent investigation reveals that his miraculous turnaround in Oxford was fueled with improper benefits, you never know what could happen in Oxford.

6. Derek Mason (Vanderbilt): Mason has built a solid defense at Vanderbilt but the Commodores are almost completely devoid of offense. Mason has a positive feeling around the program again, but in reality he hasn’t won anything. If Vandy fails to win 5 games this season, both Vandy fans are going to be looking for the next former Vanderbilt head coach.

5. Les Miles (LSU): Think about this, Les Miles job was decided during a home game last November. That should tell you all you need to know about the Tiger’s head coach. Miles will not survive another season like 2015. I think the bar is incredibly high for LSU in 2016. Anything less than 10-2 will see Miles looking for a new employer, and even 10-2 might not be enough if the Tigers are embarrassed by the Tide.

4. Mark Stoops (Kentucky): No coach in the SEC does himself more of a disservice each off season than Mark Stoops. Each year, Stoops fires up Kentucky fans by talking about his recruiting classes, and building up his team. The problem has come when the team steps on the field and under performs. Stoops started 4-1 in 2015 but only beat Charlotte for the rest of the season. I think Stoops will be fired once Kentucky fails to make it to a bowl game in 2016. Kentucky may be a basketball school, but Stoops has convinced them they can be more. It’s going to cost him his job.

3. Butch Jones (Tennessee): Tomorrow, Tennessee will be picked by the SEC media to win the SEC East. The same thing happened last season, but the Vols under performed in the big moments in 2015. It is hard to believe Tennessee blew the leads they had against Florida and Oklahoma last September. Tennessee hasn’t beaten Alabama since Obama has been President. The school just had to settle a lawsuit related to sexual misconduct by multiple football players. The reality of the 2016 season for Tennessee is that it is now or never for Butch Jones. After the spectacle of playing Virginia Tech at Bristol Motor Speedway on September 10, the Vols get into the meat of their schedule. Starting on September 24, the host Florida, travel to Georgia, travel to Texas A&M, then return home to host Alabama. Those four weeks will decide not only the fate of the Vols in 2016, but also the fate of their head coach.

2. Kevin Sumlin (Texas A&M): Oh how quickly things can change. Sumlin was the hottest name in college football following the 2012 season. A&M upset Alabama. A&M had the Heisman winner in Johnny Manzel. A&M was expanded their stadium and inventing millions and millions of dollars into their facilities. Just three plus years later, Sumlin seems to be on his way out of a job. A&M has not been able to take the next step under Sumlin, and they have lost two highly coveted QB recruits who left the program, reportedly because of issues they had with Sumlin. There is talent at Texas A&M and John Chavis is a solid defensive coordinator, but unless the Aggies can pull a couple of big upsets in 2016, I think A&M will be making a phone call to Tom Herman at Houston in December.

1. Gus Malzahn (Auburn): Speaking of things changing quickly. Malzahn was the toast of the Plains after leading the Tigers to the last BCS title game in 2013 on the back of the Miracle at Jordan-Hare and the Kick 6. Last season, the hype machine was billing Auburn as the favorite to win the conference and perhaps a national title. Auburn nearly lost at home to Jacksonville State in week two then proceeded to lose every significant game on their schedule including games to Georgia and Alabama. 2016 has the potential to be even worse for Auburn. Malzahn announced that four Auburn players who are facing drug charges won’t miss any games, which has drawn criticism due to the fact that Clemson travels to Auburn week one. Road games at Ole Miss, Georgia, and Alabama in the second half of the season have the potential to permanently stop the Gus Bus.