Georgia Sports News

• 
  Brock Bowers: Elite “everything” TE target points out what he likes about UGA

  Want to attack every day with the latest UGA football recruiting info? That's what the Intel brings. This entry details how elite TE prospect Brock Bowers feels about coming from across the country to play at UGA. Brock Bowers could be the most versatile prospect Georgia will recruit in the 2021 cycle.There's a quote from his head coach that serves as the proper introduction to everything with Bowers. Let's stress that term 'everything' in regard to this young man from California. His Napa High coach, Richie Wessman, even played at USC and coached in the NFL. He told the Napa Valley Register about an early evalution period when he started to see what Bowers can do. 'He broke three tackles in a very impressive fashion,' Wessman said. 'It was like if you're playing a video game and you're pressing all the buttons. He hit the stiff arm, he hit the spin move, hit a juke and then ended with a speed burst. It was really impressive.' That was from a story which honored Bowers as the Napa County Football Player of the Year. Lots of coaches will often say that their player might have that 'X' or 'speed burst' button. When you flip on this film, his conjecture is validated. Bowers does indeed have all the buttons. But that 'Mr. Everything' stuff about Bowers only begins with what he did that day on the practice field. Let's just tick off all the elements of distinction here. Has a grade-point average that is already north of 4.2 in the classroom. His mother is a schoolteacher and hails from a family of athletes. His father was an offensive lineman at Utah State. His mother played softball in college. His older sister still does. The 6-foot-3 rising senior is now up to 225 pounds. Had a season-opening game last fall in which reeled in eight catches for 91 yards and two scores AND also paired that performance up with an 85-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. That was the same game. Pretty impressive stat line for a tight end. Bowers scored touchdowns on 14 of his 39 catches as a junior in 2019. That's a ratio of reaching pay dirt on 36 percent of his catches. Those 39 catches also produced 1,098 yards. That meant a gaudy 28.2 yards per catch. He ran a 4.55 laser in the 40 and tested with a 40-inch vertical leap at an Opening regional in 2019. Bowers played tight end, running back, wide receiver, linebacker and punt returner for his high school team. He also wrapped up 25 stops, eight tackles for losses and a sack on defense as an OLB as a junior. In his last two varsity seasons, he has recorded 21 combined touchdown catches and over 1,700 receiving yards. The 4-star recruit also finished third on his team in rushing with 355 yards, including a pair of 100-yard games. Bowers ranks as the nation's No. 6 TE and No. 152 overall prospect for 2021 on the 247Sports Composite. Check out his Opening testing below. The crazy part of that is he didn't train for that at all. Had a great time at @TheOpening today. Thanks for the good experience @BrandonHuffman @KTPrepElite pic.twitter.com/RNFTZ7ko4w Brock Bowers (@brockbowers17) May 12, 2019 Brock Bowers: An inspired backstory Bowers didn't play football until he was in the fifth grade, but then he skipped his sixth grade year. There's a pattern there. He played his seventh, but then skipped his eighth grade season. He grew up admiring a player that is seen as the best ever from his community. His name is John Boyett. That guy is as synonymous with high school football around Napa. Pretty much how Napa is with vineyards to the rest of the world. 'He went to Oregon and then got drafted and everything,' Bowers said. 'So it was cool to grow up watching him. He was like a big role model for me. I kind of always wanted to play because I was like always the biggest kid out of all of our friends. The fastest. I always thought it would be fun to play.' When he walked onto the turf for his Opening regional performance, he did so as an under-the-radar prospect. His Napa team was fresh off an 0-10 season in 2019. That was the program's worst record since 1955. He had just a single offer from Nevada. When he posted those times, that changed rapidly. Thrilled to have received an offer from the University of Georgia! Thank you to the coaching staff for this great opportunity @KTPrepElite pic.twitter.com/X4ULW3LxC6 Brock Bowers (@brockbowers17) September 12, 2019 There's a play on his highlight tape which follows below. It reflects that 'everything' appeal here. 'I caught like a little boot pass in the flat and I stutter step and like stiff arm a kid and then I just kind of made my way into the end zone,' he said. 'I don't even know how. There are like so many people around me. I didn't really think about it. I just kept moving.' He was a marked man from a winless team in 2018. But he still came up with that monster average of 28 yards per catch in 2019. 'I think I only caught like one or two fade balls,' he said of his junior year. 'I caught like two go balls my whole year. Most of them my coach set me up for passes in the flats and naked boots. Getting the ball to me in the flats and shovel passes and stuff like that. Just let me run.' His answer translates about what really elite athletes can do. They may do it, but are not certain where it all came from. 'I don't know how it really happens sometimes,' he said. 'I just catch a ball and go for a long time. But my coach really set me up well with the play calling and the plays we were running.' College coaches do harp on his versatility. It would be unfathomable if they did not. Brock Bowers: Which schools are standing out Bowers already has a few table stakes set for where he wants to play college football. 'Just like the location to start with,' he said. 'The place where I would live around the football program. When I am not on a football field or in the classroom, I want to be in somewhere that I would like to live.' He has another priority for what he is looking for. 'Just a good program,' he said. 'Like a winning program. It has got to be good and then the culture of the program and the overall vibe around the school.' Location will not be a major factor. 'When I think about I know I am going to be doing school and football and be super busy,' he said. 'I won't be able to go home even if I am on the west coast.' There's a homespun feel to the young man. He says 'shoot' a lot while discussing certain topics in easy conversation. 'Georgia is one of those schools,' when asked which schools were making him a priority. 'I've been talking to Cal, UCLA, Oregon and Washington. Those are the main ones in the Pac 12. I'm going to take visits to Michigan, Notre Dame and Penn State in the spring.' The Bulldogs were able to garner one of his three 'Junior Day' trips last month. He also checked out Clemson and LSU. The Tigers were away visiting The White House when he was in Baton Rouge. So he was able to see the facilities, the stadium and met with a recruiting assistant. 'I didn't get to meet any of the coaches but Baton Rouge is a cool place and everything,' he said. 'The campus was a lot prettier than I thought it would be.' Clemson didn't really work out with another timing aspect. He stressed the 'super nice' facilities, but also noted how it didn't seem like he will be a fit there. 'They got that one kid committed for tight end that just committed right after I took my visit,' he said. 'So I'm not sure if that will work out at all. I think they were just taking one tight end for this year. I think. I could be wrong.' He has no specific timeline. 'I am trying to narrow it down in the summer after I take my visits in the spring,' he said. 'Then just figure it out whenever I know where I want to go.' Bowers did grow up an Oregon fan. Naturally. That's where Boyett played as a safety before he was a sixth-round draft pick in 2011. 'They are recruiting me hard,' Bowers said. 'A little bit.' Brock Bowers and Georgia: The connection there That was his first trip to check out UGA. 'I really liked Georgia,' he said. 'Athens really reminded me a lot of Napa. Like the vibe and the town and everything. That was cool.' He said it was hard to explain why he liked the visit so much. But he continued to bring up a 'vibe' at UGA from both the players and coaches. He's from California, but feels at home in a blind or a tree stand. He considers himself an avid deer and duck hunter. Bowers doesn't even know yet that he will have that in common with a few members of the team. 'Everyone seemed like they wanted to be there,' he said. 'That was the main thing I took away from all of that. It was just a good visit.' He didn't see the coaches at LSU. At Clemson, they added a commitment for his position just after his visit. Georgia afforded him the chance to watch film with both the offensive coordinator and tight ends coach. Todd Hartley, the tight ends coach, and Todd Monken, the new coordinator, showed clips of what he could be in the new Georgia offense. 'They were pulling up film and they were just basically saying you could be like one of these guys' in their offense,' Bowers said. 'It was cool. I mean I really liked it.' Bowers got to see former first-rounder O.J. Howard and his clips from the Buccaneers with Monken. Georgia is in line for two more visits here. 'Right now I am thinking about coming back for an unofficial,' he said. 'Pretty sure about that right now. Taking that unofficial and then another official if Georgia stays up there for me.' The post Brock Bowers: Elite 'everything' TE target points out what he likes about UGA appeared first on DawgNation.
• 
  Georgia football has highest-rated quarterback-receiver combo in SEC, per PFF advanced metrics

  ATHENS Georgia has the best quarterback-receiver duo in the SEC, 'easily,' according to advanced metrics website Pro Football Focus. The PFF website, which grades and charts every player in every game at the NFL and FBS level, ranks Bulldogs' incoming graduate transfer Jamie Newman and returning sophomore receiver George Pickens among the top 10 returning players in the SEC. We @PFF_College are looking forward to the Jamie Newman George Pickens combo.. @PFF_Anthony 'The Bulldogs have easily the best quarterback-receiver duo in the SEC and one of the best in the country.' https://t.co/gumzly4rs5 Brent Rollins (@PFF_Brent) February 17, 2020 LSU cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. was rated by PFF as the No. 1 returning player in the league. Stingley Jr. raved about Pickens when asked by DawgNation to assess him at the College Football Playoff Media Day in January. The PFF staff rated Newman the No. 3 returning quarterback in college football behind Clemson's Trevor Lawrence and Ohio State's Justin Fields earlier this offseason. Most recently, PFF ranked Newman the No. 3 player in the SEC behind Stingley Jr. and LSU receiver Ja'Marr Chase. From the PFF assessment: ' No quarterback was forced to throw into a tight window more than Newman last season, and he overcame that to produce the second-highest passing grade on those throws behind only Joe Burrow and the third-lowest rate of uncatchable passes. Newman's arm strength and accuracy will give Georgia an added boost in the deep passing game, an area it was average in at best last season. PFF noted Newman trailed only Burrow on his passing grade on throws of 20 yards or more. Former Georgia football coach Mark Richt, now an analyst for the ACC Network, told DawgNation that Newman could fit into any kind of offense. Of course, Newman hasn't even won the starting job with the Bulldogs yet. Incoming freshman Carson Beck expects to challenge, as do returning redshirt freshman D'Wan Mathis and redshirt junior Stetson Bennett. RELATED: Carson Beck making easy transition to Georgia football program Of Pickens, PFF penned, the Bulldogs' freshman displayed 'a massive catch radius and sure-fire hands . the man would catch any catchable ball thrown his way.' WATCH: The Pickens Plan, LSU defensive coordinator reveals special plan for Georgia WR Pickens was ranked No. 7 in the SEC coming off a season that saw him have the third-most catchable targets (49) without a drop last season. Georgia's George Pickens had the third most catchable targets without a drop in college football at 49 as a true freshman (per @PFF). His catch radius and hands are flat out unbelievable for his age. Pickens is easily one of the top-10 returning players in the entire SEC. pic.twitter.com/C5M2FtCSFi Anthony Treash (@PFF_Anthony) February 17, 2020 Georgia football newcomer stories Key takeaways on Georgia football newcomers Numbers game: Comparing Jamie Newman to Jake Fromm 3 things about Georgia freshman Carson Beck Kendall Milton making quick fit into Georgia football Podcast: Major Burns had best reason for choosing UGA Carson Beck making easy transition into Georgia QB Trainer: Jamie Newman fits direction of Georgia football offense Kirby Smart talks Broderick Jones 2020 signees best positioned to make Georgia impact WATCH: Mark Richt gives straight-forward analysis on Jamie Newman The post Georgia football has highest-rated quarterback-receiver combo in SEC, per PFF advanced metrics appeared first on DawgNation.
• 
  Georgia football: Good news, bad news offseason outlook in position groups

  ATHENS Georgia football is a work in progress, but some areas require more construction than others. Kirby Smart and his staff planned ahead well, in terms of procuring key graduate transfers and utilizing the recruiting process to find impact players and restock need positions groups with top prospects. RELATED: Early takeaways on Georgia football newcomers, good news The final rank for the 2020 Class was No. 1. But Smart was more concerned with checking all the boxes. More underclassmen are leaving Georgia, leaving gaps that need filling. Five of the departing underclassmen landed NFL combine invites. Here's a pre-spring good news/bad news look at each position group for Georgia, as Smart readies for what should another run at the College Football Playoff: Quarterback Good news: Wake Forest graduate transfer Jamie Newman (6 foot 4, 230 pounds) brings a new dual-threat option to the offense. Incoming freshman Carson Beck is a capable competitor and D'Wan Mathis is optimistic he'll be completely cleared in May. Bad news: It's essentially an overhaul at the position. There figures to be a lot of newness with coordinator Todd Monken and offensive line coach/associate head coach Matt Luke added to the staff. Running back Good news: Georgia scored well in recruiting with California blue-chip Kendall Milton (6-1, 227) and South Georgia back Daijun Edwards (5-10, 201). The Bulldogs have just about every type of back to choose from. Bad news: D'Andre Swift was essentially 'every type of back' rolled up into one and will be difficult to replace. None in the stable currently project to fill Swift's shoes, it will take a committee effort. Receiver Good news: Smart went deep addressing this position. Georgia landed five receivers and two incoming tight ends to ensure talent and depth at the position. RELATED: George Pickens graded top true freshman in nation by PFF Bad news: The 'newness' factor once again. The only one of the seven new pass catchers to early enroll is Justin Robinson, meaning a lot of the work and timing can't get done until voluntary summer drills and fall camp. Offensive line Good news: Matt Luke proved a capable recruiter, securing elite offensive tackles Broderick Jones and Tate Ratledge, along with the nation's No. 1 center, Sedrick Van Pran. Bad news: It's hard to imagine anyone filling Andrew Thomas' shoes at left tackle, commonly referred to as the most important line position on either side of the football. Defensive line Good news: Malik Herring's decision to return for his senior season and former starter Julian Rochester getting a redshirt means strong experience returning. Freshman Jalen Carter is good enough to make the rotation. Bad news: If Georgia could put more pass rushers on the field at one time, it would. Azeez Ojulari, Nolan Smith, Jermaine Johnson, Adam Anderson and newcomer MJ Sherman are forces. Linebacker Good news: Middle linebacker Monty Rice heads into the offseason healthy and ready to improve himself and lead the others around him. The linebackers took a step forward last season. With Nakobe Dean a quick learner, the group figures to be even better in 2020. RELATED: Adam Anderson turning heads in Georgia football offseason Bad news: Teams went after Georgia's linebackers in pass coverage, and the tackling wasn't always the best in the open field. There's room for improvement in both areas along with a need for more playmaking in the form of forced turnovers. Secondary Good news: Richard LeCounte's decision to return seemed to set the trend on defense, and the talented rising senior should emerge as a permanent captain. Lewis Cine showed he could fill J.R. Reed's shoes in the Sugar Bowl. Georgia has four NFL talents at corner with the addition of Kelee Ringo. Bad news. None. Special teams Good news: Jake Camarda is back for his junior season. Most probably don't know his 46.8 average last season is third highest among the returning punters in the nation. UGA has several fleet-footed incoming freshmen who could spice up the return game, which took a hit last season with Mecole Hardman moved on to the NFL. Bad news: Rodrigo Blankenship is headed to the NFL, so Smart will have a new kicker for the first time in his tenure. Dominick Blaylock had earned Smart's trust on punt returns, but he underwent knee surgery in January and the timeline for his return is uncertain. DawgNation Georgia football Kirby Smart curiously short on early Todd Monken praise 21 names to know for Georgia football 2021 recruiting class Brandon Adams podcast: Recruiting key to national titles Freshman RB Kendall Milton finding quick fit at Georgia Jeff Sentell: How the nation's No. 1 class came together Georgia football produces 10 NFL combine invites Pre-combine Georgia NFL draft projections, top 3 rounds The post Georgia football: Good news, bad news offseason outlook in position groups appeared first on DawgNation.
• 
  UGA athletics needs to do more to celebrate its history

  UGA has a pretty illustrious sports history, including having produced such stars as Dominique Wilkins, Teresa Edwards, Frank Sinkwich, Courtney Kupets, Spec Towns, Charley Trippi, Fran Tarkenton, Bubba Watson and, of course, Herschel Walker, recently named by ESPN as the second-greatest college football player in the history of the game. You'd expect an athletics program with such a storied history to be celebrated on campus in high style, as a way of commemorating past accomplishments, inspiring current student athletes and impressing future enrollees. Perhaps a statue like the University of Florida has for Tim Tebow? Maybe a street named after them like Peyton Manning has in Knoxville? No? Well, surely, there's at least a first-class museum or hall of fame paying tribute to UGA's past athletes, right? Unfortunately, that's not the case either, a point driven home to me this week when I stopped by Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall in Athens to drop off my annual Hartman Fund contribution, and I spent some time in the athletics headquarters' rotunda, perusing the somewhat underwhelming historical displays (you can't really call it a 'museum,' despite the Explore Georgia website optimistically trying to do so ). The best thing you can say is that there's a display case for every varsity team that UGA fields, men's and women's. Plus, there are displays for three of UGA's football coaches ( Harry Mehre, Wally Butts and Vince Dooley), cases for Sinkwich and Walker that include their helmets and their Heisman Trophies, and a display paying tribute to longtime UGA publicist and tennis coach Dan Magill. Another case shows the evolution of football helmets through the years. Although all sports are represented, the emphasis is on football. Kupets winning the 2008-2009 award as the national women's athlete of the year is noted inside the Gymdogs' case, rather than in a display of her own. Around the rotunda are wall displays with photos and artwork depicting different eras of UGA football (the early years, the Butts years, the Dooley years, and 1989 to the present). There's a wall case with the four retired football jersey numbers (Sinkwich's 21, Trippi's 62, Theron Sapp's 40 and Walker's 34), and another display listing all of UGA's SEC championships. The national championship crystal football trophy is on display, too. Also in the building is the Larry Munson Trophy Room, featuring awards and trophies Georgia football has garnered through the years, but that's on the second level (one floor down from the rotunda), where fans aren't as likely to roam. (It's aimed mainly at recruits, I think.) Still, the most prominent display area is in the rotunda, where visitors have more immediate access. Unfortunately, my latest visit to the rotunda displays left me with the feeling the athletic association is not really trying much anymore when it comes to celebrating UGA sports history. The touch-screen audio-video displays with vintage footage and Munson calls that my son used to check out when he was a kid? Gone. And, I noticed the bowl history display hasn't even been updated since 2014! The SEC championship display does at least include 2017, but that is the rotunda's only mention of that fairy-tale football season. (Thankfully, over on the other side of campus, the Hargrett Library's current football exhibit, 'Beautiful and Brutal: Georgia Bulldogs Football, 2017,' runs through Feb. 29. Thank goodness for Hargrett!) Senior Associate Athletic Director Claude Felton explained that 'most of our individual sport museums' are spread around at the respective sport facilities. We have lots of special displays in various facilities the Boyd Golf Center, Stegeman, in and around the men's and women's basketball and gymnastics areas, equestrian facility, etc. All have historical displays (and graphics) of those particular sports.For example, we have a Teresa Edwards display in Stegeman that includes some of her Olympic medals, jerseys, etc.' That's fine, but I believe such displays would have a greater impact (and the historic artefacts more easily could be maintained and protected) if they were gathered together in one proper museum space. I asked Athletic Director Greg McGarity whether, in the current $80 million expansion of Butts-Mehre, there are any plans for the history display area to be expanded/changed/moved at all. Any thought given to a more elaborate museum covering Georgia athletics? 'We do not have any current plans to renovate this space; however, we do have future plans that would address updating this area of the Butts-Mehre,' he said, adding that the timing is still to be determined. As for what happened to the touch-screen displays that my son used to use? 'There were those kinds of screens years ago, but they always malfunctioned, so I assume they were never replaced,' McGarity said, adding that 'they were not here when I returned in 2010.' The only touch-screen they have now is 'a display that indicates the hometowns of our football players, and it's located outside the public entry of the football offices on the second floor,' one level down from the rotunda display. It is open to the public. Also, McGarity said, 'We have TV monitors that display content throughout the indoor [practice] facility, as well multiple areas throughout the entire facility. We have a mix of static' displays and a mix of the monitors that provide content change throughout the year.' However, the indoor practice facility is not open to the general public. So, a proper athletics museum may not be in the cards any time soon, but at least the recognition of UGA's past glories has improved a little bit at Sanford Stadium in recent years, with the addition of wall graphics, such as one emblazoned with 'Oh you Herschel,' borrowing a phrase from Munson. But, aside from the SEC championship banners and the mascot cemetery, that's about it. It seems like they could at least add some plaques or busts or something to Reed Plaza. As I've written before, I've often wondered why you see so little of UGA's football history at Sanford Stadium, in contrast to schools like the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, where Tar Heel history is a tangible presence at Kenan Memorial Stadium. UNC generally isn't thought of as a football power these days, but it has a statue of Charlie 'Choo Choo' Justice. Speaking of statues, aside from an 8-foot-long bronze likeness of former mascot Uga VI outside the veterinary school and another small statue of one of Uga's predecessors, Mike, in front of Memorial Hall, the only athletics-oriented statue at UGA is that of Dooley, located at the southernmost tip of the campus, in the athletic complex named for the coach. It's not for want of trying. Athens sculptor (and UGA alum) Stan Mullins, who did the bronze statue of Dooley being hoisted by some of his players, also has created an 8-foot-tall bronze sculpture of Walker, but so far has had no luck getting the athletic association interested in putting it on display. When he approached UGA few years ago, he said, 'the initial pushback was that they needed to honor Sinkwich and Trippi first.' So, Mullins also created clay models of those two players. His grand plan, dubbed the Crowns of Glory Project ( which has its own Facebook page ), called for monuments at the four corners surrounding the stadium, with the Walker statue to be at the bookstore end of the Sanford Drive bridge, a Trippi statue at the other end of the bridge, and a Sinkwich statue near Gate 6 on the east side. A fourth monument, located at the other eastside corner, would have an uncarved 12-ton Carrara marble block as an unfinished sculpture, which Mullins views as a recruiting tool and incentive for players, showing that Georgia is waiting on its next hero. Mullins self-financed the casting of the bronze statue of Walker out of money he made doing a monument at Marshall University, and he unveiled it in 2016. The Walker sculpture spent time at various locations around Athens, and several months at the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in Macon, before settling down at Mullins' studio, a renovated and redesigned 18thcentury cottonseed oil refinery on Pulaski Street in Athens. 'He's attacking the Greenway, the entry way to the river,' Mullins said of the Herschel statue this week. The public is welcome to visit the statue there and take pictures, he said. I asked Mullins about the status of his efforts to have the sculpture put outside the stadium. 'I don't know,' he said with a sigh. 'I stopped trying. I kept hitting resistance. ' It seems like everybody else has one,' he added, referring to athletic statues on other campuses. 'It does not make sense. ' McGarity said the issue of adding statues 'will always be an item for discussion moving forward,' but he added that there are 'no firm plans.' These days, Mullins is busy working on a sculpture of Tomochichi, a Yamacraw chief instrumental in Georgia colonial history, to be located in a park near Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. He made the point that commemorating past heroes with monuments is all about inspiring future heroes. 'The pageantry of sports leads to the pageantry of humanity,' Mullins said. 'And, if we don't celebrate it, it goes away.' I've never understood the reluctance to do more to celebrate UGA's athletics history. Whether it's the statues offered by Mullins, or monuments created by someone else, UGA athletics should do more to embrace its past, and not just Walker. As a friend put it, 'We have such a rich history, and I think we undersell it; we're more than just Herschel, as great as he was.' On Georgiadogs.com, it says that part of the UGA Athletic Association's mission is 'to serve as a source of pride, a rallying point, for the legions of supporters that follow its teams.' I think that's one area where greater effort is warranted. The post UGA athletics needs to do more to celebrate its history appeared first on DawgNation.
• 
  D’Andre Swift compared to two of NFL’s best running backs

  It's February, and we are in full-blown hype mode for the upcoming NFL Draft. It's the season for bold opinions and draft projections seemingly out of nowhere. That's what makes it so fun. If you can remember this time last year, draft 'experts' had former UGA defensive end D'Andre Walker and Bulldogs receiver Riley Ridley going in the first round. Nevertheless, if there's one consistency for this year's crop of NFL-bound Bulldogs, it's offensive lineman Andrew Thomas being drafted in top half of the first round, and D'Andre Swift being one of the top three running backs off the board. Swift, who stepped up as UGA's locker-room leader on offense this past season, got some love from two notable NFL analysts this week. He was compared to two of the best NFL running backs this past season: To Dalvin Cook, by ESPN's Matt Bowen; and to Alvin Kamara, by Bleacher Report's Matt Miller. The arrow is definitely pointing up for Swift, and he could even rise higher with a strong performance at the NFL Combine, which kicks off on Feb. 23. Love it. My comp is Kamara. Excellent receiving option. Hate that he got banged up late but saved some tread on his tires Matt Miller (@nfldraftscout) February 4, 2020 The post D'Andre Swift compared to two of NFL's best running backs appeared first on DawgNation.