re: 2019 title shot - most experienced roster since ??

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2019 will be our most talented team ever but we also have to face the following:

- A&M in year 2 under Jimbo
- Notre Dame coming off a second straight solid season and possibly a playoff appearance
- Florida in year 2 under Mullen
- Tennessee in year 2 under Pruitt

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Definitely will not be a year where people can/should be criticizing our schedule.

Upside of course that A&M and Notre Dame are in Athens. QB situation at UF will still be problematic IMO. Emory Jones will likely take over next year but I'm not sold that he's going to really get things going for them. Tennessee on the road, and they seem to be improving, but they have a longer way to go IMO.

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The only real question marks are how does this quarterback situation continue to play out and who steps in at center next year. If those two are well answered, we should have a team as good or better than '17.

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I think we've got more questions than that...

Namely, what does the ILB situation look like. It is easily the biggest weakness on the D this year. The youngsters haven't taken the job from objectively a bad Natrez and a middling at best Juwan Taylor. Tae Crowder has surprised at least and given us decent play and Monty has played well despite the injury. We are going to need them to step up in a big way and get ready to run shite.

D.Baker... Tyson Campbell may be a true freshman, but it is night and day different between those two guys right now. Even assuming a big growth year for him due to the experience and another off-season of training, Tyson needs to grow up quickly. And who rotates into D.Bake's spot? Our defense is taking massive advantage of the fact that Baker essentially eliminates 1 receiver with no real need for backup. I don't think year 2 of Tyson is going to be enough to have that same effect (would love to be wrong). Who is the lead candidate to be the next starting CB? Mark Webb? Divaad Wilson once he's back from the injury? Not saying we don't have the "next guy up", just curious who it is and if we feel good about it.

DL - Depth has been the biggest issue this year, but Julian Rochester has been a big time underperformer. We lose Ledbetter this year who has been a pretty big difference maker. I like our chances to reload here, but it's not like we aren't going to be making any changes.

RB - I don't *think* we'll see Holyfield/Herrien transfer, but keep in mind that it is a possibility. That could make for a very thin position group pending White's recovery and Cook putting on some good weight in the offseason.

K - Could Hot Rod leave early? I don't think he would, but don't throw away the idea either. Amazing to see how much that kid has grown though in his time in Athens.

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Who is the lead candidate to be the next starting CB? Mark Webb? Divaad Wilson once he's back from the injury? Not saying we don't have the "next guy up", just curious who it is and if we feel good about it.

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You could've said the same thing about the WR position in 2017, or quarterback after Eason's injury, or the OLine after losing a few starters. The talent, experience and depthis there, although no doubt losing Baker will hurt.

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DL

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Not really worried. I think Jordan Davis becoming the presence he's become has solidified us on the interior, and I'm confident in Cox's development plus Nolan Smith/Travon Walker coming in to provide depth. Again, talent and experience will be there big time with likely 3 seniors who have playing since they were freshmen.

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RB

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2020 worries me, but not 2019.

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K - Could Hot Rod leave early?

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I'm gonna say 95% odds of no he won't. If he does, wasn't Camarda recruited as a PK rather than a punter? Not saying he'll be Rodrigo-level good, but the cupboard may not be bare.

Honestly, my only major worry is receivers leaving early. If Mecole and Ridley both bolt, we could be thin there, but if one or both stay, we'll be really loaded on the outside.

To be fair, you said "the only questions"... I think all of these are acceptable questions. It doesn't mean we absolutely won't have answers, but as of *today*, they are pretty big question marks.

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You could've said the same thing about the WR position in 2017, or quarterback after Eason's injury, or the OLine after losing a few starters. The talent, experience and depthis there, although no doubt losing Baker will hurt.

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There is a huge distinction between replacing an elite wide-out and an elite-CB. An elite wide-out can score sure, but you can replace that scoring via other methods. Covering for the lack of an elite CB is not as simple. As we've seen with a very talented Tyson Campbell, CB mistakes can cost you yards, first downs, and touch downs... quickly and often. I am confident that we have talent to put in, but if they aren't better than Tyson Campbell was this year, we could have significant problems...

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DL
Not really worried.

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I'm not hugely concerned. I agree that Davis has been an exceptional addition. One more offseason and he could provide a huge boost to the middle of that group. Depth behind him for that is light still, so you're one injury away from right back to hurting in the middle because Rochester simply isn't a NT.

To the point that NCDawg made the other day, Nolan will spend 90% or more of his snaps at OLB at UGA, so can't really include him in that mix. We do have additional talent coming in though in Walker, Norton, Logue, etc... Hopefully Walthour can be ready to contribute as well. This year should be a good influx of bodies... we'll see how ready they are to contribute.

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RB - 2020 worries me, but not 2019.

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100% agree that 2020 is *more* concerning, but were Holyfield to decide he wanted to leave, we'd be a little light on bodies and *hugely* dependent on Zamir making a perfect recovery.

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I'm gonna say 95% odds of no he won't. If he does, wasn't Camarda recruited as a PK rather than a punter? Not saying he'll be Rodrigo-level good, but the cupboard may not be bare.

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Yeah, I put this as my last one because I think it's the lowest risk. 5% seems about right. Pretty sure Camarda was recruited for his punting but he is a "dual threat" kicker, in that he had strong PK capabilities as well. Doubt we'd have him do both, but no telling what Marshall Long's status will be... Wish you could find Niazaleks growing on trees every year...

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Honestly, my only major worry is receivers leaving early. If Mecole and Ridley both bolt, we could be thin there, but if one or both stay, we'll be really loaded on the outside.

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It would certainly suck, but with the emergence of Holloman, DRob riding the bench currently, and other really talented receivers unable to get onto the field, I feel more confident in our ability to plug and play here than other areas. I also don't think that either are huge risks for it? Maybe Mecole, as he has a larger body of work, but as an undersized receiver, that could be tricky for him. Ridley has this year plus the natty last year as his primary body of work. He still needs another year IMO to go where he'd probably like to in the draft.

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We look to be very good next year.

The only issue is that 2019 projects to be Saban's best Bama team of all time. We will have to be at another level to win it all.

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This and the schedule is tough. Should be the best UGA team ever.......I’m cynical that we win a natty given our schedule and Alabama being what they will be....

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Also, ND is 4th or 5th game of the season and Texas A&M is 11th. UGA has a good chance at getting settled in and should be hitting on all cylinders by both games.

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That's the upside; the downside is that there is a good bit of time for people to get injured, but that's always a wild card - for both teams. For either game, one or both teams could come limping in.