ATHENS — ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit says Jake Fromm can do some “exciting things” at the NFL level, and whoever drafts him is getting an “old soul” sort of player.
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“Whoever gets him is going to get a gym rat type of guy, and a guy that can do some exciting things,” Herbstreit said on ESPN’s NFL draft conference call on Monday.
“I’m a huge fan of his,” he said. “I know that last year didn’t go the way fans wanted, and I know that the quarterback gets too much credit, and a lot of times gets too much blame.”
Herbstreit called Georgia’s offensive struggles in 2019 a “collective effort,” pointing out that Fromm didn’t have the same level supporting cast around him.
“They didn’t necessarily have the receiver play they had the past two years when he was a freshman and sophomore, they weren’t able to get the ball downfield in this offense, and I think eventually it caught up with them,” Herbstreit said.
“I think they also re-evaluated their offensive coordinator,” he said, referring to James Coley being replaced by Todd Monken as the Bulldogs’ offensive coordinator.
“They’re going in a different direction, which I think maybe will help them moving forward.”
Maybe so, but Kirby Smart was lamenting losing Fromm during his “Virtual G-Day” interview on Saturday.
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“If we had Jake back in this situation, you’d be thinking, ‘Man, I’m at a huge advantage,’ “ Smart said during his interview with the Georgia Bulldogs Radio Network on Saturday, discussing the challenge of not having spring drills.
“It’s just the opposite for us, because we don’t really know what we have.”
Herbstreit stressed how Fromm brings the intangibles.
“If you’ve been around him, if you’ve covered Georgia you know what I’m talking about, he’s just an old soul, right?” Herbstreit said.
“He’s a guy who isn’t going to go to the combine and blow everybody away with certain drills and arm strength, and that kind of thing.”
But, Herbstreit said, Fromm is like former Washington State quarterback Gardner Minshew in his ability to run an NFL offense despite not having all the physical attributes.
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