ATHENS — Georgia football fans aren’t the only ones expecting Kirby Smart to press the accelerator on the Bulldogs’ offense this season.
SEC Network analyst Jordan Rodgers shared his take on the Georgia offense earlier this week on the “3 Man Front” show on WJOX radio in Birmingham, Ala.
“My biggest question mark with Georgia, looking back to last year, with Jake Fromm, this offense is going to be completely different,” Rodgers said.
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“But last year with Fromm, who could change the play — and pretty much did 80 -90 percent of the time, change a run, change a protection, change a pass to a run to get them in the right play — there were still five SEC games where they scored 24 points or less.”
No doubt the Georgia offense sputtered with inconsistency, Smart attributing some of the pass game woes to “a merry go-round of receivers” that played on account of several wideouts suffering injuries throughout the season.
“You can’t do that, you’ve got to be a team that has more firepower.”
The Bulldogs have a championship caliber defense, but the offense is in reload mode on the offensive line, in the backfield and somewhat at receiver.
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There are obviously new quarterbacks, too, with graduate transfers Jamie Newman (Wake Forest) and JT Daniels (USC) believed to have an early leg up on redshirt freshman D’Wan Mathis and freshman Carson Beck.
Rodgers, once a collegiate quarterback himself at Vanderbilt in 2011-12, going 11-8 as a starter and earning team captain honors, suggested that’s a lot of newness to overcome.
“I don’t think it comes around quick enough to beat Bama early,” Rodgers said, referring to a current UGA schedule that features a Sept. 19 road trip to Alabama. “I’m giving Florida a slight edge just because of the question marks that Georgia has on offense and how quickly it can come together.”
Rodgers projects new offensive coordinator Todd Monken to devise a fast-moving unit.
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Monken has an “Air Raid” background and directed the NFL’s most productive offense in 2018, setting franchise records at Tampa Bay.
“You are going to see more tempo,” Rodgers said. “I think you’re going to see less of the changing the plays at the line of scrimmage and see more tempo more plays, get this offense moving at a quicker pace to get more points on the board.”
Rodgers acknowledges the Bulldogs have a championship level defense, but he doesn’t believe that’s enough.
“They have a an elite defense,” Rodgers said. “But you can’t depend on your defense every week in the SEC to hold their opponents under 20 points to win a football game.”
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