DEPTH

David Hale of the Macon Telegraph is doing an outstanding job covering the Dawgs here. One of the regular features that he has been running has been looking at players who may not necessarily start or get a lot of attention, but who he believes will play a key role in the upcoming season. These are all good reads, and you should check them out if you're a UGA fan...the most recent ones are Kade Weston and Tony Wilson. Jody Yarborough is doing a similar series here.

What strikes me about these series is what I believe is one of the primary reasons this is going to be a very special season for the Dawgs...we have more quality depth right now than I can EVER remember. Just look at the depth charts at places like DT, DE, RB, CB, and especially WR and LB. Even on the OL, where there has been an awful lot of hand wringing by a lot of scribes talking about the Dawgs, you're still looking at Tripp, Vance, Davis, Glenn, and Boling (after suspension) with backups like Josh Davis, Bean Anderson, Ben Jones, Tanner Strickland, and Ben Harden. Most if not all of these backups would probably be starters at most SEC schools (with the exception of UT...that OL scares the bejeezus out of me).

I think this is one characteristic of this team that is being sorely overlooked by the college football "experts" over at the World Wide Leader. They look at us losing Trinton and having some early suspensions/injuries, and they say there's no way the Dawgs can overcome that. They don't bother to look deep enough to notice that the folks we are plugging into these roles are players of the highest quality. They look at the schedule and say there is no way we can run that gauntlet. They don't notice that we have the key ingredient to having the best shot at doing so...the ability to rotate players in at virtually every position that would be starters at 98% of Div IA schools, and therefore have a better shot at keeping those players fresh.

I'm not saying that the "obstacles" being talked about by much of the media aren't real. If the Dawgs run through this year with the amount of success we are all looking for, they will certainly have earned every accolade that will be thrown at them. I just think that of all the pieces needed to overcome these obstacles, we have possibly the most important one. This team is DEEP.

LEAVE NO DOUBT!!