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[GatorUnvrsty]

Always hate it when your own alums dump on the team, especially brand new incoming players:

Caleb Exits; 'Dogs in Trouble at RB?
Posted by Buck Belue at 7/10/2011 3:52 PM
Categories: uncategorized

Back from the beach vacation. Got my bare feet into the sand and unplugged for a few days, but the Caleb King news hit St. Augustine quickly. Coach Steve Spurrier even heard the news. Bumped into Coach Spurrier on the beach again. More on that conversation in another blog.
  
Back to Caleb. It's disappointing news. And it hurts the 'Dogs this season. By the way, none of the CF fans I bumped into on the beach last week were surprised by this news. Not one. Most of us kind of expected it.
  
Here is what concerns me the most: Boise State and South Carolina play an aggressive style on defense and now, Georgia's offense will be protecting with a true freshman, a redshirt freshman and an undersized option at RB. That's Isaiah Crowell, Ken Malcome and Carlton Thomas.
  
Looks to me like Carlton Thomas will see his name at the top of the RB depth chart to start practice. Why? He's a junior and knows what to do. And he's a good option. Undersized at 5'7" 170? Yes. Capable of carrying the load? Probably not. Can he make plays? Well, yes. And Carlton will probably get 10-15 touches against Boise and Carolina. Bobo will adjust to more off-tackle, misdirection runs to utilize his quickness. Try to get him the ball in space some.
  
But the focus shines brightly now on Isaiah Crowell. Richt probably had to make some kind of promise to the Columbus teenager about getting the 1st carry in the opener against Boise State, in order to help lure him to Athens. Thus, the comment from CMR..."wouldn't be surprised to see Isaiah in there carrying the rock against Boise."
  
And Crowell won't have to earn it. Ready or not, Crowell gets the ball. Sure hope he's ready.
  
The initial reports have not been impressive. Not in good shape. Lil' bit of the "I'm the man" attitude. We'll see immediately. Sure hope he's coachable, because he's got a lot to learn, in a short amount of time.
  
Bobo will have to narrow his run play selection. The laminated sheet won't be as big.
  
Redshirt freshman Ken Malcome is a 3rd option. And at 225, Malcome could be the situational short-yardage back. An option that can bang it between the tackles.
  
Caleb King let the Bulldog Nation down, again. Time to turn the page. And turn to the freshman.

Buck's Blog: Caleb Exits; 'Dogs in Trouble at RB?

[TheRealBrave]

Yeah, been hearing the same kind of stuff from people like Radi. Every recruiting class brings in a prima donna or two... the difference over the past few years is Mark Richt hasn't been able to correct it. Hopefully Richt gets it done this time...

[HobnailedBoots]

Belue is talking out of his ass. Crowell isn't any more of a prima donna than any other 5 star recruit. From first hand accounts of people that have met him, spoken with him, and seen him on and off the field, he's a good kid.

And to paraphrase Gentry Estes - "you don't get to be as good as Crowell without putting in the work." According to those IN THE KNOW, he's got great work ethic.

Belue is literally the worst informed former player in the program. Nobody talks to him because they know he's going to run his mouth on the radio, so he read internet rumors and acts like he got them from "sources."

[HFS]

Buck Belue is the worst alias ever.

[HobnailedBoots]

I don't even understand it. There will be plenty of time to throw kids under the bus.  

But seriously, Belue's "opinions" are nothing more than regurgitated dawgvent rumors that are baseless to begin with.

[DCDawg]

I dont understand it either. It was Belue, the press and fans who have put all this pressure on Crowell, and before he has a chance to live up to the hype Belue is bashing him.

Why do some of our former quarterbacks insist on running their mouths about our program? Especially Belue who is very overrated himself. Someone needs to tell Belue that he didnt win the national championship for UGA, a great running back and a stout defense did. Belue was an average quarterback at best.

[SECorBust]

You're a blue chip recruit that just signed your LOI and stepped on campus you knew that there was a good chance for you to start and that you were going to play.  The kid is not going to show up flabby and expecting the snaps.  UGA has suffered some attrition at RB as has Alabama, but the guys who are left are still going to be working toward a chance to go pro and to earn their spots.

If Gentry said that then I'm buying.  Crowell is a great talent and will be ready even if he is inexperienced.  People will be watching for him so he's not going to just burst on the scene, but hopefully he can contribute greatly to the team.  He has got to pick up blocks.  That's the biggest requirement for any freshman RB that takes the field

[the Paradox]

Is Bill O,Reilly sponsoring this thread?


RTR

[GamecockDieHard]

Sometimes I think these people have the misguided idea that their criticism (whether justified or not) will somehow motivate players to work even harder.  No other excuse for spreading rumors and trash talk outside of an anonymous blog that is designed for such junk.  A sports analyst/broadcast or print journalist should know better.

[HobnailedBoots]

DCDawg said:

I dont understand it either. It was Belue, the press and fans who have put all this pressure on Crowell, and before he has a chance to live up to the hype Belue is bashing him.

Why do some of our former quarterbacks insist on running their mouths about our program? Especially Belue who is very overrated himself. Someone needs to tell Belue that he didnt win the national championship for UGA, a great running back and a stout defense did. Belue was an average quarterback at best.

This is a great point. For months, all we heard from guys like Belue was "Richt has to land Crowell. We have to have him. Caleb and Ealey aren't getting it done. Crowell is a program-changer." And now that we've got him, before he's even had a chance to prove himself, Buck is throwing him under the bus. It just defies reason.

I hate to think what kind of nonsense we're going to hear from him if Crowell doesn't rush for 100+ yards and 2 TD's in all of his first four games.

[GatorUnvrsty]

We've had former player critics of our own with a radio show like this... for us it was Shane Matthews, who was always criticizing Meyer and Mullen's offense, even while they were fielding one of the top offenses in the nation every year and winning 2 NC's with it.

Before I even posted what Belue said, I read a few UGA forums, and apparently the majority of the criticism is that he hasn't been able to complete workouts with the rest of the incoming players and has been doing lots of puking. Somebody from his old high school said it's a carry-over from his days there, where he was just so much more talented than everybody else on the field that he didn't think he needed to work out and train, so he didn't.

Not unusual for highly touted kids who have been men amongst boys for so long; sometimes it's a bit of a shock for them when they get to a major D1 campus, and realize that virtually everybody standing around them was a star in high school, and it's going to take more than just sheer talent to be the best in the SEC... usually doesn't take 'em long to know they're going to have to put in some serious work in S&C if they want to remain the BMOC in college.

[MCD]

The thought of an SEC-caliber workout makes me want to puke.

[TheRealBrave]

D3, these rumors are actually true - Radi had a post about it on the Vent the other day. Obviously Radi isn't some DawgVent goober...

[GatorUnvrsty]

TheRealBrave said:

D3, these rumors are actually true - Radi had a post about it on the Vent the other day. Obviously Radi isn't some DawgVent goober...

True or not, you kind of always hope your own alums won't stoop to that sh!t to keep their own ratings intact. We had the same problem with the 3 5* DL we landed in the '10 class; but longtime fans and students of the game shouldn't be shocked or surprised by it when it happens... and they really shouldn't use the inexperience or shortcomings of a young incoming freshman to further their own cause, goal, or agenda. That's what always pissed me off about Matthews; it eventually backfired on him when Gator fans turned on him in droves when he just wouldn't STFU about it.

[MCD]

TheRealBrave said:

D3, these rumors are actually true - Radi had a post about it on the Vent the other day. Obviously Radi isn't some DawgVent goober...

Are you about to get all Negative Nancy on us again?