Skinny - Even though first place in the East should be locked down this year by Florida, placement in the rest of the division is very much up for grabs. Georgia had a less than stellar year last season after having a very highly touted team. Stafford and Moreno are gone and Georgia must rebuild their offense around AJ Green, who had himself a very productive freshman year and will become a true star this season if he has a quarterback to throw it to him. Caleb King was a highly regarded recruit a couple years ago and looks to replace Moreno, but he should be challenged by another highly regarded former recruit in Richard Samuel. Georgia really needs a quarterback to show up and fast as they play Oklahoma State in the season opener at Oklahoma State. I don't expect Georgia to win this game as they adjust to a new offense and Oklahoma State has an offensive machine, but the team needs to learn from whatever happens in the game and use it the next week in a conference rivalry game against South Carolina.
Strengh - Front 7
5 of 7 starters return with only one defensive end position seeing a new starter. I'm counting Jeff Owens as half a returning starter and Darryl Gamble as a half a starter too. Owens would have been a starter and a good one last year if not handicapped by injury and Gamble had 6 starts last season, so the experience is clearly there. Rennie Curran is the team's returning leading tackler with 115 and the depth at linebacker should be good and an injury should not be too devastating. Marcus Washington will be solid as a backup returning from an injury season and Marcus Dowtin has potential after getting 17 tackles as a true freshman. The defensive tackles Geno Atkins and Jeff Owens should be one of the premier tandems in the conference and should allow the linebackers to make plays and Atkins had 7.5 sacks two years ago, impressive for an interior lineman. Battle and Dobbs at defensive end need to step up the production to make this a scary unit.
Weakness - Quarterback
All three quarterbacks in contention for the job were respected coming out of high school, but its not high school anymore. Joe Cox has one last chance to play up to his potential, but he hasn't played to well the last couple years when I saw him in spot duty and I don't expect him to follow very well in the footsteps of Stafford, Shockley, and Greene. If he can't handle the position, Georgia will have to turn to freshmen. The freshmen, Aaron Murray, Logan Gray, and Zach Mettenberger, are all high potential players but there is always a bit of a learning curve when a freshman quarterback takes the reigns in the SEC. Murray, Mettenberger, and Gray all have ability and its obvious in the games I watched them play in all star games and the spring game, but both seem raw at the same time and trying to challenge Florida would be require a herculean type effort from one of them.
Key Game - 9/12/09 South Carolina
The Bulldogs are either going to be on a high by knocking off a highly regarded Oklahoma State team or a low with an opening season loss. The Bulldogs must gather their emotions and play a rivalry game that always has a close margin of victory. The new quarterback and running back won't have much time to get used to the game as the first 5 games are @Oklahoma State, South Carolina, @ an improved Arkansas, Arizona State, and LSU. The schedule could be disastrous for Georgia if the team doesn't come together and they must play well in the opening games.
Key Player - Joe Cox
Cox was a good high school player and was expected to compete for the job a few years ago but lost out to Stafford. Cox is in prime position to lock down the job as his competition is a redshirt freshman and two true freshman. Cox has some game experience, but not as much as Coach Richt would have liked. Cox had good statistics last season, but only in a minimal 15 attempts which isn't truly indicative of anything. Cox doesn't have the luxury of a proven game, but he does have a star receiver in AJ Green that should bail him out in certain situations. If Cox becomes a serviceable quarterback and the defense regains what they lost last season, the team could be good but probably not good enough to compete with Florida.
Impact Freshman - Marlon Brown
Predicted SEC finish - 2nd (SEC East)
Top 5 Players
1. WR AJ Green
2. RT Clint Boling
3. LB Rennie Curran
4. DT Geno Atkins
5. SS Reshad Jones
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