Washington Redskins defensive end Anthony Lanier has gone through plenty of offseason changes heading into his second professional football training camp.
He has gained weight and muscle, going from 271 to 291 pounds, in order to withstand the anticipated physical toll of playing 16 NFL games over 17 weeks. His frame is that of a create-a-player in Madden.
At 6-foot-6, Lanier weighs almost 300 pounds but has only 15 percent body fat. That’s “really good” even by NFL standards, according to Lanier in a phone interview Saturday.
“The average defensive lineman in the NFL today has a 19 percent body fat measure, so although I bulked up this offseason, I’m still above average as far as my body fat goes,” Lanier said.
A simple Google search of “Anthony Lanier” will tell you that he’s much more than above average. The Savannah native and Jenkins High School graduate began impressing NFL talent evaluators with his play in college at Alabama A&M. Although he was not selected in the 2016 NFL draft, the Redskins signed him soon after the draft’s completion.
The rookie made the 53-man roster as a long shot out of training camp, and although he did not record a sack, an interception or even a tackle in the 2016 season, Lanier was seemingly always doing something, anything, to impress and capture the attention of those above and around him.
He did not appear in his first career NFL game until week eight on Oct. 30, but, in typical Lanier fashion, he found a way to make an impact.
The game against Cincinnati was tied 27-27 late in overtime and the Bengals were driving around midfield. Redskin defensive lineman Chris Baker stripped the Bengals’ Andy Dalton when the quarterback was attempting to sneak for a first down. When the pile finally cleared, it was number 72, the man nicknamed “Spoon,” on top of the ball.
A fumble recovery in the decisive drive of his first game, preserving a tie. Not a bad start for the kid from Savannah.
Heading into the 2017 season, Lanier is not exactly taking baby steps toward his ultimate goal of being an every-down lineman in the NFL. Redskins training camp begins July 27 in Richmond, Virginia, but on Sunday, at 5 a.m., Lanier flew out of Savannah and headed to Washington to get ready.
“Coming back this year, I feel like it’s time to start letting the bull out of the ring,” Lanier said when asked how he plans on improving this season.
“I just feel like I’ve been waiting on this time all of my life, and going through all these processes of training, and being signed, and being a rookie; I think now it’s the time to show the world what I can do.”
The Redskins’ defense, much like Lanier himself, has undergone some significant changes. A unit that underperformed under last year’s coordinator Joe Barry has new leadership in Greg Manusky (promoted in January from outside linebackers coach) and former San Francisco head coach Jim Tomsula as defensive line coach.
Tomsula hopes to improve a unit that ranked 28th last season in total defense and 25th against the run. Lanier says that his new coach is different in that “he has a take-no-prisoners” attitude that already has made an impression on Lanier and teammates.
Tomsula saw Lanier squatting 600 pounds this offseason and began to get excited at the prospects for his second-year D-end. Jay Gruden, the Redskins’ head coach, is perhaps more excited than anyone. He talked to FanRag sports about the physical stature of Lanier after an OTA practice in June.
“He is like a newborn horse, a colt,” Gruden said. “He just comes out, he’s all over the place, long legs just falling all over the place. He just has great talent.”
Gruden also raved about Lanier to CSN Mid-Atlantic’s Rich Tandler earlier in the summer.
“We’re really really excited about Anthony Lanier,” Gruden said. “We do one-on-ones almost every day. That’s one drill that I watch diligently every day. That’s how games are won, in my opinion. He was a guy who was most difficult for our guys to block. He was not a very natural rusher, either, he was just doing it on pure power, length.”
Rest assured, Anthony Lanier is grabbing the attention of those who make the decisions in Washington, but he’s still getting used to receiving attention from fans around Washington. He doesn’t quite know how to adjust to being a semi-celebrity.
Has it taken some time to get used to people recognizing him?
“Yeah” Lanier said. “It’s like when I’m walking through the grocery store or something, I might be wearing a T-shirt, shorts and maybe some slides or something. Still, someone will be like, ‘Hey, that’s Anthony Lanier for the Redskins. Can we get a picture?’ But I don’t mind. I just stopped wearing T-shirts and sliders as often.”
Attention hasn’t just come at stores. Lanier has received plenty of media attention this offseason because of what people expect from him in 2017. The Undefeated, a popular offbeat sports website, did a longform feature on him earlier in the summer entitled “Redskins Kid: How Anthony Lanier went from undrafted free agent to a potential premier player with the Washington Redskins.”
“(The writers) talk to me and they see me for however they see me,” Lanier said. “I can’t really influence what they write or how they feel about me. That’s their opinion that they can decide for themselves.”
A question must be asked, however. If he didn’t really light up the stat sheet last season, and appeared in only four games, why does he think he’s gotten so much attention from so many different people?
Easy answer for Spoon.
“I showed them enough for them to know what I already know. I showed them that Anthony Lanier is a man, he’s that guy.”
Barnes find success, solace in the ring
On the evening of March 24th, at a Kennesaw fight venue which goes by the name of “Electric Cowboy,” Wesley Barnes accomplished something that few in the MMA world thought he ever could, but something that he always knew he would.
Barnes won the NFC (National Fighting Championships) Lightweight Title fight (NFC 92) over fellow contender Brandon Longano after a fight that lasted only 21 seconds, officially.
In just 21 official seconds (although the video replay suggests the fight was probably over within 15 seconds), Barnes became the new Georgia NFC 155-pound title holder after disposing of a previously unbeaten, and heavily favored Longano.
The commentators of the fight frantically called the event unfolding before them, using mostly the word “wow,” before arriving at their eloquent and accurate recap just moments later.
“Wes Barnes has just put Brandon Longano to sleep!” they exclaimed.
“He is the new NFC lightweight champion. Wow.”
The fight promo poster of Barnes’ most recent fight. He won the title in just 21 seconds.
He prefers to be called Wes, his friends and those close to him affectionately call him “Black Dynamite,” but now, thanks to his most recent performance, you can just call him ‘champ.’
Barnes, 33, is not what you might imagine when you picture a prototypical “MMA fighter.” He isn’t loud. He isn’t arrogant. And, for now at least, the Savannah-born Barnes isn’t shirtless, nor foaming at the mouth and itching to pummel anybody in his way.
He’s different.
Instead, the light-skinned black man with a patchy beard is soft-spoken, confident yet noticeably humble—he’s measured in his conversation responses, like a veteran boxer feeling out his opponent jab-by-jab.
On this day, just over a week removed from his title bout, Barnes is sporting a loosely fit grey V-neck T-shirt and cut off sweatpants, which are cut plenty high enough to expose his bare feet. He’s taking it easy, watching other fighters go through “technique drills” at his home gym, The Champions Training Center. Located on Montgomery Street in Savannah, the cozy gym seems to perfectly symbolize its current prize fighter.
A brightly lit room, the ceiling is nearly low enough to touch, making even the smallest of fighters feel like a giant in the ring. It’s a room wherein no space goes unused. Every crevice and every mat serves a purpose.
The ring at Champions Training Center
The slight smell of sweat in the place serves as an olfactory reminder that title belts are earned, not given.
When asked if there’s somewhere to sit and talk about himslef, Barnes wraps up the tour and picks out two seats by the entrance.
He is joined by his trainer, and self-proclaimed role model, Miuhsin Corbbrey. Corbbrey, owner and operator of Champions, leans against the ropes along the outside of the ring.
A renaissance man, Corbbrey has an impressive fighting history of his own. But, nowadays he seems more concerned with the management and growth aspect of MMA.
This is where Wes Barnes comes into the plan.
“The goal for Wes is to allow him to make money off of all the hard work he’s done while fighting,” says Corbbrey.
“My goal for him long term is for him to own a Champions Training Center like this one day, after he’s done with pro fighting.”
Corbbrey, whose thick dreads give off an easy going Rastafarian feel, is the polar opposite of Barnes. He is intense. Passionate in his speech on subjects ranging from politics, to education, to MMA and beyond.
He is well read, having already graduated with his undergrad in political science from Armstrong State University, a father and husband, Corbbrey is currently finishing up online courses to receive his Masters Degree from Boston University.
Just like when Barnes is fighting in the ring, Corbbrey stands close by his fighter on this day as well — coaching and guiding him at every turn. Even for basi biography questions, it’s easy to see Barnes feeding off of his right-hand-man.
“I got into Mixed Martial Arts when I was in sixth grade,” Barnes recalls when asked how this all began. “I remember watching a copy of UFC 3 that my dad got for me on DVD. I was already enrolled in karate, and watching that fight was what really got me hooked on MMA.”
Simple enough.
A kid, guided by his father, falls in love with a sport he watches perfected on the screen, and never loses that love. For Barnes, however, the story was just beginning.
Barnes’ promo posters like this hang on the walls at Champions
Fueled by, as he put it, “all of those people that knew me in school, those people that said I wasn’t going to be able to do anything big or anything important,” Barnes joined The Marines almost immediately after graduating from Effingham County High School in 2003.
Hardly a career choice that is ever chosen so matter-of-factly, Barnes was genuine in his recount of why he joined up. He had something to prove, to the doubters, yes. But, perhaps, he had something much more to prove to his 18-year-old self.
“When they say ‘he can’t do it,’ I say, ‘hold my beer, watch this.’”
After four separate tours of duty in Iraq, Barnes had seemingly done more than enough to prove to others what he was made of, but he says that he simply “needed something more” after returning home to civilian life.
Barnes contends that MMA is what keeps him “from doing something crazy, like riding motorcycles 100mph down the freeway or something.”
“I found that when I returned home,” Barnes explains, talking with his hands and mouth. “I needed something to put my heart into. I needed a cause. (Fighting MMA) is what gives me my sanity.”
If the fighting gives him sanity, Barnes’ opponents receive something completely different from his punches. When asked how he thinks another fighter might describe his fighting style, Barnes takes a second to consider. With a sly grin, and his hand perched curiously beneath his chin, he guesses.
“Scary. They would say it’s scary to fight Wes Barnes. They more than likely wouldn’t want to fight me again.”
“Wes is an absolute animal.” Corbbrey adds.
“He’s a monster, a killer from start to finish. He’s 100mph and guys can’t keep up with him. Take [Longano] for example, he had ten amateur fights and lost by decision once. He was undefeated as a pro. Wes made the kid look like he never fought before.”
So now what?
Corbbrey and Champions Fight Group, AKA the Barnes training, management, promotions ultra team, are working towards scheduling another fight for the light heavyweight champ, a fight that should come together in the coming weeks says Corbbrey.
“Early Summer is my best guess (for the next fight) at this point.”
Barnes will continue to fight and train out of Champions in an effort to become a role model for the youth in the troubled neighborhoods surrounding the gym. He is aware of the opportunity he has as a role model for kids in Savannah wanting to learn MMA.
When asked about his ultimate goal for himself, Barnes continues to use an invisible doubting group simply known as “they” for his motivation. That spells bad news for any of ‘them’ that dare step in the ring with Black Dynamite.
“I want to fight in the UFC at the highest level before I’m done. I want to show all of them that I can do it. For now, I’m focused on that as my only goal.”
So, if you happen to see Barnes at the gym or around Savannah, hold his beer.
The Champ has more to prove.
Legends of the park: A brief history of Savannah basketball
In 1967, the basketball team at Savannah’s Alfred E. Beach High School changed everything. The moment that the Bulldogs of Beach knocked off South Fulton 94-55 in the ’67 GHSA-AAA title game, Savannah basketball had officially arrived.
It was, in some ways, the beginning.
It was the beginning of black basketball players and schools being allowed to compete at GHSA events. Prior to 1967, they had been relegated to the GIA.
Obviously, it didn’t take long for the African-American schools to adjust to their new home within the GHSA. Beach, a school comprised of only African-Americans at the time, beat another all-black school in South Fulton, clearly showing that the black players were indeed worthy of equal treatment from here on out.
An excerpt from a March 1967 issue of Sports Illustrated. The first portion features the achievements of the 1967 GHSA Champion Beach Bulldogs.
It was the beginning of a remarkable stretch for Savannah high school hoops. After Beach’s landmark win in ’67, Johnson knocked off the championship incumbent Bulldogs in the 1968 title game– A game that some, like Bill Robbins, who was in attendance, would dub “the greatest basketball game in Georgia high school history.”
“It was the greatest game I ever saw.” Said Robbins, who was an official for many of the Savannah basketball games in the 60’s and 70’s.
Robbins recalled a game between the two schools earlier that season at Savannah’s National Guard Armory when “1,400 plus people fit into the gym that night.”
“They had to chain the doors shut to keep the crowds from making their way in. In those days, when teams like that played, you were either at the game, or you were wishing you were.”
A few years after Johnson’s championship, another Savannah team would emerge as a state powerhouse. This time, it was the Savannah High Blue Jackets. The Blue Jackets won the 1972, 1974, and 1976 state championships to give the city of Savannah five GHSA basketball titles in nine short years.
The 1967 Beach squad was a beginning, to be sure; but it was also an ending, a validation of sorts.
It was the ending to a struggle that had begun 20 years earlier in downtown Savannah.
It was the culmination of what black basketball players in the hoods and playgrounds of Savannah had long been working towards: an equal playing field, or in this case, an equal playing court.
Paving the way
In 1946, exactly 125 years after James Naismith invented the game of basketball in Springfield Massachusetts, a tournament featuring that game would be held in Savannah, Georgia. It was this four-team basketball tournament that would eventually shape the trajectory of Savannah basketball for years to come.
Of course, in the moment, no one could’ve known what was actually at stake. For the time being, the reward for the winning team was, by today’s standards, peas and carrots.
A brand new paved basketball court was to be given to the neighborhood who won the 1946 City of Savannah basketball tournament. A simple slab of concrete with some lines painted strategically throughout and flanked by netted-goals on either side was the reward.
The plaque currently in Crawford Square that highlights the 1946 City of Savannah basketball tournament.
Why was this so sought after?
Easy.
The four African-American neighborhood parks that were vying to replace their “clay” courts by winning the tournament were:
- Crawford Square
- Soldiers Field
- Cann Park
- Yamacraw Village
It would be a tournament that would impact the neighborhoods involved for years to come, but unfortunately for the black youth at the time, Savannah city leaders were only gracious enough to allow for one colored playground to have a paved court.
The losing neighborhoods were forced to continue playing their games on the dirt and mud of South Georgia, or else try and find a way on to the only paved court that blacks were allowed on in the entire city: the court at Crawford Square.
The “Jets” as the team from Crawford Square was affectionately called, saw their new court designed and paved, the goals erected, and the nets hung (by the city) at the end of 1947.
From that time on, the best basketball players Savannah had to offer were playing their hoops in Crawford Square.
The 1946 Crawford Square Jets.
A Who’s Who of Savannah Basketball
There is not enough room in this space to list every basketball player of note that has come through Savannah. Any of the area’s top public schools could compile a rather impressive list of basketball players using only their own alumni has content.
Anyone, given enough time and effort, could scan the rich basketball history of Beach, Johnson, Tompkins, Savannah High, or Jenkins and see for themselves just how much talent this city has produced over the years.
Since I was unable to witness these legends play with my own eyes, I was forced to do just that. I did my due diligence and scoured the archives of numerous Savannah publications trying to get some sort of consensus as to who stood above all the rest when it comes to basketball legacy in the 912.
I anticipated this task to be difficult, if not rewarding. It ended up being much harder, and more rewarding than I could’ve ever imagined.
It is impossible to know the history of the game of basketball, and more specifically the game of playground basketball, without knowing the history of Crawford Square in Savannah, GA. It is equally as impossible to know the legend and impact of Crawford Square basketball without knowing the men responsible for creating its history.
Notable names in Savannah Basketball History
- Larry “Gator” Rivers – Beach
- Andrew Knowles – Beach
- Pervis Ellison – Savannah High
- Joby Wright – Johnson
- Luscious Foster – Savannah High
- Joe Manker – Tompkins
- Ed Daniels – Johnson
- Roger Moore – Beach
- Ricky Harris – Savannah High
- Larry Turner – Jenkins
- Ike Williams – Johnson
- Arnold Coles – Beach
- Russell Ellington – Beach (Coach)
In no specific order, these are the need-to-know names in the history of Savannah high school basketball. Still, there were some who stood out.
Enter Gator Rivers.
Gator Rivers with legendary Beach coach Russell Ellington
Larry “Gator” Rivers may be “the finest basketball player Savannah ever produced” according to the city’s Sports Hall of Fame website. Rivers, a member and key contributor off the bench for the ’67 Beach squad, went on to star for The Harlem Globetrotters.
Now back in Savannah, Rivers has begun the process of reviving playground basketball in Savannah.
Why?
He’s probably glad you asked.
The Revival
“Playground basketball is dying.” Rivers began to say as he scanned the court at Crawford Square.
“There’s so much history in these courts, and we want to preserve it. We want to honor it.”
By “we,” Rivers means himself as well as other prominent names in the basketball community. Prominent names like Ed Daniels, the former Johnson High standout, who has joined the Rivers hoops campaign because he too sees the decline of playground basketball as a critical problem.
“I don’t think the city (of Savannah) realizes how serious the (lack of safe playground basketball courts) is.” Said Daniels over the phone.
“I think basketball can help with a lot of the problems we are having with our youth, and I just don’t think that (the Savannah government) does.”
The conflict is not easily described. But, simply put: playground basketball in Savannah is dwindling not because of a lack of players, but because of a lack of support from the community.
In early July (2016), at Crawford Square, the home owners association for the area met with Gator Rivers and city councilman Bill Durrence.
It was here that I got my first taste of this conflict.
As young men played on the historic court nearby, the meeting began under the gazebo in the middle of Crawford.
Rivers made his case…
While passionate (to put it nicely) Crawford homeowners surrounded him (fittingly), Rivers strolled through the middle of the gazebo. Pacing… Preaching…
He talked about his goals and plans for the court — plans to utilize the Dream Courts program started by Nancy Liebermann of the WNBA where brand new courts are installed on playgrounds throughout the country. Plans to make the court newer, nicer, better.
But that’s not what those living around the square wanted. The homeowners, who just so happened to be exclusively caucasian, voiced loudly their concerns about unsupervised youth flocking to the new court in the masses. A few dozen in number, the residents essentially demanded that Rivers and his group build the court somewhere else. Crawford Square is, as one objector eloquently noted, “not a playground damn it.”
“The squares were designed to serve the residents.” Another concerned homeowner added.
“Tourists come to see the history, not the modern ‘stuff.’”
A moment between pickup games at Crawford Square in early July.
And so the struggle to build that court remains.
Rivers will keep trying, but he will surely continue to be met with objections every step of the way.
With or without a new court in the future, the dispute around Crawford Square points Savannah towards a larger and more pressing question: is playground basketball worth promoting? Worth saving?
Both sides have their merit, but it is becoming more and more obvious that Savannah city officials have answered that pressing question already.
Outdoor courts in Savannah’s downtown neighborhoods are simply not prioritized.
They aren’t being torn down or dismantled. Rather, the playground courts are being “allowed” to decay with more time and less maintenance.
Hector Perdomo, an official with the Naismith Basketball Foundation, disagrees with that answer. He believes that basketball can provide kids with more than just what takes place between the lines.
“Courts like the one at Crawford Square stand for hard work.” Perdomo said when asked what basketball can teach kids.
“Kids can look at what happened at Crawford Square with the Jets and they may not understand. It might teach them about working hard, being committed to something, and sacrificing for something. Courts like Crawford Square can teach them more than we know.”
So the stalemate continues.
Currently, Rivers and company are in the beginning stages of bringing a permanent 3-on-3 league back to Savannah. The venues are undecided, for the most part, but make no mistake, the end goal is to, as Rivers puts it, “put kids back on the blacktop.”
Moving Forward
2017 will be the 50th anniversary of the 1967 Beach squad led by legendary coach Russell Ellington. So, it’s only fitting that a basketball renaissance begin taking place heading into the new year. A renaissance that the Crawford Square Jets, the ’67 Beach Bulldogs, and the great teams that followed all had a hand in shaping.
In recent years, the basketball played in Savannah has seen a revival indeed. Jenkins, led by coach Bakari Bryant, won a state championship in 2015 before returning to the title game in 2016 and losing to the same Morgan County team they had beat the year prior.
Sounds eerily similar to the 1967 and 1968 Beach squad.
When Jenkins (also an exclusively African-American roster in 2015) won its first title in 2015, the Warriors joined other Savannah schools to have won state championships – Jenkins, along with Johnson, Beach, Tompkins, and Savannah High have all brought titles back to the low country.
A GHSA table showing basketball state champions from 1967-1977. The far left column is dominated by Savannah teams.
“We’re just getting back to the way it used to be.” Robbins said when asked if he could see similarities in what is taking place now and what took place in the late 60’s and early 70’s.
“There’s still really no comparison in my mind. The basketball that Savannah had back in those days with beach, Johnson, and Savannah High was something that will likely never happen again in any area, let alone Savannah.”
“Those were simply the golden days of basketball in Savannah. Those teams will never be matched.”
Maybe not.
But the rise of Jenkins as a prominent player on the state basketball scene has caused other schools like Johnson, Savannah High, and Beach to try and match the Warrior success.
“That,” Rivers says, “is the way it should be.”
Follow Travis on Twitter: @JaudonSports
On baseball, handguns, and steroids
Surely, the punishment should always fit the crime.
That’s the only logical, just, and humane way to dole out a punishment. Extreme violations of any law or rule, in any society, must surely be matched with the harshest of penalties. Lesser offenses are likewise met with a comparative hand-slap.
But, for Major League Baseball, these seemingly simple principles are foreign concepts when it comes to suspending players for violating the rules of the game.
Rule violations – say like those in the domestic violence category and those in the performance enhancing drugs realm.
Domestic violence is, sadly, a more common occurrence in today’s society than any sane human wishes it to be. And with the rise in DV, the MLB and it’s players have been in the middle of the epidemic.
Rockies shortstop Jose Reyes and Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman each were given DV suspensions courtesy of Rob Manfred, the Commissioner of Major League Baseball. The suspensions, handed down prior to this season, point to a larger problem throughout the game.
Chapman, perhaps the best closer in baseball, was accused of choking and beating his girlfriend in Florida. Chapman denied that claim, but did admit to firing eight shots through a wall and window at his Florida home after being locked in the garage.
Think about that. A Yankee closer firing rounds from his handgun out of frustration and anger.
When authorities responded to complaints and arrived at Chapman’s home, they found his girlfriend hiding in the bushes outside, out of what she claimed to be “fear for (her) life.”
But, wouldn’t ya know it? These charges were eventually dropped due to what was termed “conflicting accounts and insufficient evidence.” Even so, wanna take a wild guess as to how long the suspension is for all of those shots fired and alleged strangleholds? You guessed it. 29 games.
29 games. That is the suspension Chapman was given under MLB’s new (and collectively bargained) domestic violence policy. But, Reyes, a fellow abuser of his partner, would’ve been happy with 29 games.
The Reyes case, which sprung from incidents involving Reyes and his wife in Hawaii, was also eventually dropped: thanks this time to an uncooperative witness. The 22-million-dollar-a-year shortstop’s wife was that witness.
For his transgression, Reyes served a 52-game suspension during which he was not paid. Gasp.
Reyes lost out on an estimated seven million dollars in 2016, as well as being required to donate $100,000 to a domestic violence charity.
All of this. All of these domestic violence numbers, and horrific accounts of violence involving eventually dropped cases and following claims of gun shots, and bare beaten backs, and bruised cheeks, and battered torsos, and bloodied eyelids become universally insignificant until the punishments are adequately paired with their crimes.
What could possibly be worse, in the eyes of Mr. Manfred and Major League Baseball, than one of their players assaulting his girlfriend or wife you wonder? Only the act of testing positive for performance enhancing drugs of course.
Let’s compare the Reyes and Chapman suspensions with those of Jenrry Mejia and Dee Gordon – these are the suspensions that come by way of failed drug tests, which tend to come by way of repeated steroid use.
Mejia, 26, received a lifetime ban from baseball after being notified of a third failed doping test in February of this year. The Dominican reliever was with the Mets in 2015 when he twice failed urine sample tests, both of which showed anabolic steroid use.
Gordon, the Miami Marlins’ all-star second baseman and reigning National League batting champ, was suspended for 80 games in late April after he tested positive for the first time in his six-year career.
The speedy leadoff man was said to have failed the test in spring training, reportedly for the use of the performance enhancing drugs exogenous testosterone and clostebol.
So Mejia gets blacklisted for life, and Gordon gets 80 games (nearly half a season) while Chapman and Reyes were suspended for a combined 81 games. That can’t be right, can it? Could the crime of a man harming himself by way of injecting performance enhancing drugs into his bloodstream be more vicious, more egregious than the crime of choking and beating your wife or girlfriend?
Sound reason and common sense tell us that obviously the later is more despicable than the former, but Major League Baseball has unfortunately neglected to use either reason or logic when it comes to the handling of this issue.
For professional baseball, handguns and fists are more forgivable than unclean piss.
Sure, baseball wants you to know that they are taking domestic violence serious – just not as serious as performance enhancing drugs or steroids. The list of players suspended for PED’s with little or no evidence is long and prestigious. But those players were suspended anyway, because baseball will leave no stone unturned when it comes to its prized priority of having a “clean game.”
For this, they will exhaust all options.
But the question must be asked: How clean can this game really be, Mr. Manfred, if the wives and girlfriends of baseball players are playing second fiddle to the dope dealers slinging HGH to their millionaire clients?
Shouldn’t the abusers be punished more harshly than the users?
Alex Rodriguez was suspended for more than five times the amount of games as Aroldis Chapman (now teammates in the Bronx) simply because he (Rodriguez) talked to and allegedly was injected by known dope dealer Anthony Bosch. Bosh is currently serving a four year prison sentence for his involvement.
Rodriguez would’ve been better served by simply abusing a woman. Then, he would’ve gotten off light.
Baseball has long had its dirty little laundry tucked away for no one but the maid to see. But this problem is right in front of us. It’s staring us all directly in our faces. It’s time domestic violence in baseball be taken as seriously as PED’s.
We’ve been taught that simple lesson since childhood…
The punishment will always fit the crime, right? Right?
2016 MLB Predictions and Awards
I’ll admit it. My 2015 MLB projections did not go as planned. I took some chances; picking teams like the Indians and Mariners to win their divisions. Both finished near the cellar. I went with some obvious (or so I thought) picks as well. League champion picks such as the Nationals and Red Sox were, at the time, chalk selections according to the pundits. However, it turned out that whatever I predicted, the opposite happened. So what if I picked Robinson Cano to win the AL MVP and The Mets to hover around .500? That’s the stuff of the past. So, for whatever reason, I’ll try my hand at predicting the order of finish again in 2016. These predictions will likely amount to nothing more than a useful and lowly starting point for my 2017 MLB Preview, but hey, you can’t hit it if you don’t swing it right? Right?
*Indicates Wild Card winners
American League
East
- Toronto Blue Jays
- Baltimore Orioles*
- New York Yankees
- Boston Red Sox
- Tampa Bay Rays
Thoughts
- The Yankees bullpen, even with the loss of Andrew Miller for a lengthy period of time and Aroldis Chapman for the first month, is one of the best built bullpens (on paper) in a long time.
- Like the Buck Weaver Orioles of old, Baltimore will live and die by the long ball in 2016. For what it’s worth, I think The Orioles are a threat to break the all-time single season home run record (264) set by The Mariners in 1997. Chris Davis, Mark Trumbo, Adam Jones, Matt Wieters, and Jonathan Schoop are all capable of hitting 20+ homeruns.
- Toronto is loaded. A lineup that will feature Josh Donaldson, Troy Tulowitzki, Jose Bautista, and Edwin Encarnacion is scary. Add in players like Ben Revere and Kevin Pillar and the boys in the “six” have a lethal offensive attack.
- The Red Sox, despite spending considerable amounts of money and time on it, have yet to show they are committed to starting pitching. I can’t imagine a team winning a lot of games when Clay Buchholz, Rick Porcello, and Joe Kelly are truly depended on for meaningful innings.
Central
- Kansas City Royals
- Cleveland Indians
- Chicago White Sox
- Detroit Tigers
- Minnesota Twins
Thoughts
- Despite how badly they let me down last season, I still like the Indians. Strong pitching with the likes of Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, and Danny Salazar means that this team can withstand hitting droughts that come with a young lineup. If Trevor Bauer can pitch like he did in the 2015 first half and Michael Brantley (out for first 2-5 weeks) can come back from injury hitting like he always has, the Tribe can be dangerous.
- Kansas City is still the cream of the crop. Built up the middle with strong pitching and A+ defenders in Salvador Perez, Alcides Escobar, Omar Infante, and Lorenzo Cain, the Royals give me no reason to worry. But you know how that goes.
- The White Sox have talent, but they are a few players away from competing it seems. Look for Jose Abreu and Adam Eaton to have big years. I also like number two starter Carlos Rodon to bounce back behind ace Chris Sale in 2016.
- The Twins and Tigers are trending in opposite directions. While Minnesota gets younger and more promising with the likes of Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano, the Tigers get older by the minute with Ian Kinsler, Miguel Cabrera, and Victor Martinez in the middle of their lineup.
West
- Los Angeles Angels
- Houston Astros*
- Texas Rangers
- Seattle Mariners
- Oakland Athletics
Thoughts
- The AL West is a two-horse race in my mind. I’m not sold on Texas, although I seem to be in the minority with that opinion.
- The Angels according to one division rival scout are a “stars and scrubs type of team.” In other words, they have some big time players, and then some small time players. That formula works though, ask the Giants. Adding an all-world defender at shortstop in Andrelton Simmons fills a need for the Angels. Veteran pitching, timely hitting from Mike Trout and Albert Pujols, and solid years from middle-of-the-rotation guys like C.J. Wilson and Jared Weaver can propel them to a division crown.
- The Astros are good too. Solid take huh? But all jokes aside, this team is for real. Carlos Correa and Jose Altuve are already the best SS/2B combo in the game. Having the reigning CY Young winner in Dallas Keuchel is a nice touch as well. I expect Ken Giles to be one of the better closers in baseball and I also like Carlos Gomez to win Comeback Player of the Year after an up-and-down 2015 campaign.
- I’m still mad at you, Seattle. Take that.
AL Champion: Baltimore Orioles
MVP: Manny Machado (BAL)
Cy Young: Chris Sale (CHW)
Rookie of the Year: Byron Buxton (MIN)
National League
East
- Washington Nationals
- New York Mets*
- Miami Marlins
- Atlanta Braves
- Philadelphia Phillies
Thoughts
- I picked Washington in 2015, and I’ll do it again in 2016. The addition of Dusty Baker as manager is a perfect for this club. A season with turmoil and disappointment, the 2015 season for the Nats was forgettable to say the least. Bryce Harper can still win baseball games by himself. His 1.109 OPS last season was the highest in baseball over the past decade. I expect nothing less this year. Look for the often criticized Stephen Strasburg to have a career year en route to the NL East title.
- The Mets pitching staff may be one of the best rotations to begin a season in a long, long time. No need to list them, they are already household names. If talented prospect Michael Confornto can adjust to playing everyday, he can provide plenty of pop in Queens. Bats like Neil Walker and Juan Lagares must be more consistent in the bottom half to keep this lineup moving.
- The Braves aren’t rebuilding okay! Okay!?! So goes the mantra spoken constantly from the Atlanta brass this off-season. The fact is, the Braves tried one thing (home runs or bust) in 2012 and 2013, and it just didn’t work. So they did the smart, albeit tough thing to do: they scrapped it and started over. I still think this team plays better than the experts predict. Unlike last season however, the Braves will not start fast and fade at the end. They will start slow. Over the summer this team will improve as the prospects slowly begin to trickle up to the show. Be patient Atlanta, you’ve waited this long.
Central
- St. Louis Cardinals
- Chicago Cubs*
- Pittsburgh Pirates
- Cincinnati Reds
- Milwaukee Brewers
Thoughts
- What a three team race this could be all summer. Honestly, your guess is as good as mine, but I settled on the Cardinals because of precedent, and the Cubs as the wild card because they are impressive on paper. The Pirates may be just as good, but I can’t convince myself their lineup can produce enough to hang with the likes of the Cubbies and Cards.
- The best player in the Cubs outfield will never be Jason Heyward. He simply hasn’t progressed nor produced enough for me to consider that any more than a supplemental signing. Spare me the rant about his RF defense. RF defense is as irrelevant as Kanye West at an awards show. Chicks still dig the long ball.
- Cardinals fans should be excited for the outfield tandem of Randal Grichuk and Stephen Piscotty. I expect them to drive in 175 runs and 50 home runs combined. That kind of production along with steady bats in Carpenter, Molina, and Holliday should be enough to propel this club to a division title.
West
- San Francisco Giants
- Los Angeles Dodgers
- Arizona Diamondbacks
- San Diego Padres
- Colorado Rockies
Thoughts
- Since the Giants did not win the whole thing last year, it only makes sense that they do so this season. Love their lineup. Love their pitching staff. Love their manager. Safe to say I’m sold on the boys by the bay.
- The Dodgers should be really good. I still thing they are a year away, and would do well by themselves to trade pieces like Adrian Gonzalez AJ Ellis, but that won’t happen. I think Yasiel Puig takes a step forward this year, but I’m not convinced the rotation has enough behind Kershaw. Corey Seager is going to win the rookie of the year going away.
- Arizona baffles me. Behind Zach Greinke and Shelby Miller, the rotation is below average. I guess I just don’t see what everyone else sees in this rotation and lineup. But, I will say that they have, in my opinion, one of the most underrated prospect in the game in outfielder Socrates Brito. Remember that name.
NL Champion: San Francisco Giants
MVP: Buster Posey (SF)
Cy Young: Stephen Strasburg (WAS)
Rookie of the Year: Corey Seager (LAD)
World Series Pick: Giants over Orioles
Follow on Twitter: @JaudonSports
Three offensive coordinator candidates Kirby Smart should consider at Georgia
With the arrival of Kirby Smart in Athens, the current Georgia coaching staff will be subject to major change, but that’s to be expected.
As a general rule in college athletics: with a new head coach comes a new set of assistants.
Smart, who has served as the Alabama defensive coordinator since 2008, will obviously want to put his own stamp on the UGA defensive coaching staff which means current Bulldog defensive coaches like Jeremy Pruitt, Tracy Rocker, Kevin Sherrer, and others will be employed elsewhere for 2016 and beyond.
Like the defensive staff, the Smart-led offensive assistants, are still being speculated. Unlike the defense, the offense has many more questions surrounding its future leaders.
It has been reported by the Atlanta Journal Constitution that Smart will, in all likelihood, retain the services of running backs coach Thomas Brown who played under Smart (RB’s coach) at Georgia in 2005. Pretty much every other position on the offense is up in the air this early on. However, while all spots on the offensive staff must be filled correctly by Smart, his most crucial hire of the coming weeks is without a doubt the position of offensive coordinator.
It seems that a few guys have separated themselves in the mind of Smart to become Georgia’s next play-caller. Namely, Western Kentucky’s Tyson Helton and Alabama WR coach Billy Napier.
Helton calls the shots for the nation’s 10th ranked offense in total yards this season while Napier became familiar with Smart prior to coaching at Alabama during his time as a UAB assistant from 2007-2012.
Helton and Napier represent the two most likely options for UGA’s 2016 OC, but I think Smart would do well by himself and The University of Georgia if he took the time to consider three more options as well.
- Bryan McClendon (UGA recruiting coordinator and WR coach): McClendon has quickly become one of the best recruiters in the SEC and possibly in the country. His ability to attract top-flight talent would have to increase if given the title of offensive coordinator. Familiar with the previously ran UGA pro-style offense, McClendon could bring a fresh change to a currently stale Georgia offensive attack.
Bryan McClendon
- Brian Johnson (Mississippi State QB coach): Johnson is only 28 and has quite the coaching resume already. A former Utah QB, Johnson was made the QB coach of his alma mater at the age of 23 before being named the offensive coordinator of the Utes in 2012, two weeks before turning 25. He currently serves as the MSSU QB coach under Dan Mullen, but with Mullen being mentioned as a possible candidate elsewhere, Johnson may be available at the right time for Georgia.
- Lincoln Riley (Oklahoma offensive coordinator and QB coach): Riley, 32, was hired as the Sooner OC prior to the 2015 season and served on the staffs of Texas Tech and East Carolina prior to that. Everywhere he has gone, the Riley offenses have clicked. His work with Baker Mayfield this season has the Sooner QB near the top of most Heisman ballots. If Riley can be had, and I believe he can, Smart and Georgia need to take a good long look at him before hiring an OC.
Lincoln Riley
Georgia vs Auburn: Brotherly Hate
“It’s a unique thing. It’s like playing against your brother”
-Pat Dye
For the first time since 1987, Georgia has a chance to take the lead in the all-time series versus their hated rival, Auburn.
Georgia has won seven out of the last nine matchups with Auburn, but the last two Auburn wins in the series have led to the Tigers appearing in the National Championship game.
These are two programs who, for a long time, were considered to be very similar in a multitude of ways. Graduates from both schools have appeared on the opposite sidelines throughout the history of this rivalry which is now tied at 55 wins per school. Legendary coaches from each school graduated from the opposite; Vince Dooley, the Auburn graduate, is Georgia’s all-time wins leader while the former Georgia All-American, Pat Dye, won 99 games as the Tiger head coach from 1981-1992.
The 2015 edition of this rivalry will be no different in that sense. Auburn defensive coordinator Will Muschamp is a former Georgia player while Bulldog defensive line coach Tracy Rocker was a two-time All-American and college football hall of famer at Auburn.
The rivalry, that at one time was considered to be a game between “dueling brothers,” has turned into something completely different over the last decade. While Florida and Georgia Tech rightfully remain the top two rivals for the University of Georgia, Auburn has become perhaps the most hated. The feeling is mutual from the Auburn side.
Sure, the play on the field has plenty to do with the rise of hatred in both camps, but the competition off the field has as much to do with it as the competition on the field. With recruiting becoming a year-round process nowadays, especially within the SEC, these two schools are now battling each other for 12 months a year rather than just one weekend in mid-November. Of course, the ongoing battles in the homes and hearts of recruits across the south has recently led to some memorable moments “between the hedges” and “on the plains.”
In 2007, #10 Georgia sported black jerseys for the first time in modern history when they welcomed the #17 ranked Auburn Tigers to Sanford Stadium. Georgia went on to win 45-20 in what is simply known to Georgia fans as “The Blackout.”
In 2010, Auburn defeated Georgia by a score of 49-31 en route to a National Championship behind Heisman winning quarterback Cam Newton and All-American defensive tackle Nick Fairley. Fairley, who made is hatred of Georgia known in the days leading up to the game, added new life to the rivalry by administering a late hit “spear” to Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray. The penalty, which caused Murray to lay on the ground for minutes after the play, nearly caused a brawl between the two teams.
Via: DawgPost
And then, there was 2013, two years ago in Auburn, Alabama. In perhaps the wildest, most entertaining, and most unpredictable game in series history, The Tigers completed a “hail mary” with 36 seconds remaining to solidify a 43-38 win that became known as “The Prayer at Jordan-Hare.”
Auburn led by 20 points with 9:36 remaining in the game before Murray and the Bulldogs scored three touchdowns in just over seven minutes. Georgia would take its first lead of the contest with 1:36 left in the final quarter. Facing a fourth-and-18 from its own 26, Auburn quarterback Nick Marshall threw the prayer that sent Jordan Hare into pandemonium. Coincidentally, Marshall was a former Bulldog defensive back.
This brings us to 2015. The game, set to kickoff on CBS at 11am local time, doesn’t quite have the gusto that some of the other matchups have had leading up to kick but that won’t mean much come Saturday. Mostly due to both teams having an SEC October to forget, each school (and perhaps more intensely, each fan base) is desperate to send the other reeling into December.
As always, the game will last only a few hours, but the outcome will have an impact for the next few months. For the losing coach, a warm seat will become scorching. For the losing players, a trip to a less than desirable bowl game will be inevitable. And for the losing program, a lot of explaining will be required to high profile recruits considering both Auburn and Georgia.
Regardless of the outcome, the result of this game will only serve as a reminder that while many in the rivalry refer to this as a clash between family, pitting brother versus brother, the siblings seem to be liking each other less and less as the years roll by.
Three coaching candidates to replace Mark Richt
Mark Richt is still the football coach at the University of Georgia. Although Richt’s job is safe in my opinion, many national writers including Bruce Feldman, Dennis Dodd, and others have said that his seat is hotter than some would suggest. For what it’s worth, I’m of the mindset that Richt has run his course at Georgia and it is indeed time to part ways with the Bulldog coach of 15 years.
The obvious question that most fans have regarding the coaching situation at Georgia is “who would replace Richt?” Again, Richt seems likely to stay, but if Georgia were to part ways with him, they would need to be certain that they can land a coach who will be better. That’s easier said than done. A new coach at Georgia would need to be able to do two things that Richt has, at times, done with great success.
First, any new coach at the University of Georgia must be able to recruit the peach state to perfection. With the number of four and five-star recruits exiting this state every season, UGA is in a prime location to reload every February. A new coach wouldn’t necessarily have to be a “Georgia man” per say, but he would have to be able to connect with in-state high school talent.
Secondly, whoever Georgia chooses, he would have to be able to balance the expectations at UGA while managing the strict (by SEC standards) academic and disciplinary standards that the school upholds. Georgia is one of the only schools in the conference with a mandatory one-game suspension for marijuana-related infractions. It is rules like this that some coaches wouldn’t want to deal with. I’m looking at you Jimbo Fisher.
Here’s my list of three potential replacements for Mark Richt. These are not based on anything except my feeling that each of these guys would “fit” at Georgia based on their personalities and coaching talent. To be clear, I’m not suggesting any of these coaches will be probable candidates, but they would all be great choices.
1. Brian Kelly- Notre Dame
Kelly would be a huge “get” for Georgia. His ability to recruit the state of Georgia from schools like Central Michigan, Cincinnati, and now Notre Dame prove he is capable of keeping Georgia’s recruiting successes going. Kelly has had to deal with strict regulations at Notre Dame and still managed to play in a National Championship game. Everett Golson, the former Notre Dame quarterback who was kicked out of school for academic reasons, actually graduated from the school. Yet, the school more or less forced Kelly and the Irish to move on without their star QB. This is the kind of act that Kelly would likely not have to deal with at Georgia. Winning is important at Notre Dame and winning is important at Georgia. However, the conduct standards at Georgia, while strict compared to SEC schools, do not compare to the rigorous academic standards that could easily hinder winning at Notre Dame.
2. Kliff Kingsbury- Texas Tech
Called the “Ryan Gosling” of college football, the Red Raider head coach has revamped the Texas Tech program in a few short years at the helm. Kingsbury would certainly be a hire for Georgia that would shock the entire college football world most notably because he is a major proponent of the spread “run-n-gun” offense. Obviously, Georgia has traditionally ran the pro-style offenses throughout Mark Richt’s tenure. But a change at head coach (regardless of the coach) almost always means a change in philosophy. Perhaps a change in offensive strategy is exactly what Georgia needs to spark the program. And although Ryan Gosling was horrendous at corner back in Remember The Titans, the guy gets his. Like Gosling, when it comes to scoring points, the 36-year-old Kingsbury gets his.
3. Mike Bobo- Colorado State
I know, I know. This name still haunts lots of Georgia fans simply because those fans probably have a vendetta against the draw play, Bobo’s signature play call while in Athens. Despite his having pissed many Georgia fans off throughout his time as Georgia’s offensive coordinator, Bobo recruited the hell out of this state while seeing his offenses average over 40 points a game multiple times. With Bobo would come familiarity. He’s familiar with the state, the program, the donors, the players, the fans, and the rigors of an SEC schedule. He wouldn’t be a “splashy” hire by any means, but if Georgia wants a guy who can develop quarterbacks, there are few better than Bobo. It just so happens that a guy named Jacob Eason is set to matriculate to Georgia this January. Perhaps Bobo and Eason could combine for magic in 2016 and beyond.
Georgia Versus Alabama: The Primer
What: (13) Alabama (3-1) at (8) Georgia (4-0)
When: Saturday October 3rd (3:30 EST)
Where: Athens, GA Sanford Stadium
TV: CBS (Gary Danielson and Verne Lundquist)
Line: UGA (-2) O/U: 53.5
When Alabama comes to Athens to take on Georgia Saturday afternoon, the eyes of the college football world will be glued to the action between the hedges. Georgia, the number eight team in the country, comes into the game with an undefeated record after winning four straight games versus less than stellar competition. Alabama, ranked 13th in the most current AP Poll, comes in at 3-1 after losing 43-37 to Mississippi a couple of weeks ago.
This is a game that features a little bit of everything; a storyline for every type of viewer. It’s a game that pits two programs that are more similar than most people realize. Think, for a moment, about these SEC numbers coming from the two programs since Mark Richt arrived at Georgia in 2001.
– AP 1st Team All-SEC Selections: 1.) Alabama (49) 2.) Georgia (47)
– Freshman All-SEC: 2.) Alabama (37) 2.) Georgia (37)
– NFL Draftees: 2.) Georgia (79) 4.) Alabama (73)
– 1st Round NFL Draftees: 1.) Alabama (17) 4.) Georgia (12)
Needless to say, these schools produce top-quality talent year in and year out from the SEC. However, the needles for each program are pointing in different directions. While Georgia has a rising stock with a needle pointing up, Alabama is dealing with some slight adversity for the first time in a while.
In fact, if Georgia is favored at the time of kickoff (two point favorites as of Thursday) they will be part of history before the game is even decided. Dating back to 2009, Alabama has been the Las Vegas favorite for 72 consecutive football games.
72. Consecutive. Games.
The last time the Crimson Tide played a game as the underdog was in the 2009 SEC Championship Game versus Tim Tebow and the Florida Gators. The Tide, as five point dogs, won the game by 19 points going away en route to a National Championship. Georgia wasn’t going to sneak up on a favored Alabama anyway, but Saban and company as the underdog? My oh my.
Tempo, Tempo, Tempo
Nick Saban has long been a proponent of slowing down the college game. In 2014, he coined the “ten-second rule” trying to limit the effectiveness of no-huddle offenses citing player safety issues. Under Nick Saban, Alabama usually averages around 60-65 plays per game. But, through four games this season, the Crimson Tide have averaged an astounding 79 snaps per game while Georgia averages just over 59 per contest. It’ll be very interesting to see how the two teams use tempo to have success with the ball.
Georgia has admitted that they will want to try and speed things up on Saturday but they will need to be careful that doesn’t backfire. Georgia hasn’t been impressive in the time of possession category (26:04/game) mostly due to their quick strike offense this season, but if they don’t allow their defense the time to rest between possessions on Saturday, Derrick Henry may have the same kind of success against UGA that Eddie Lacy did in the 2012 SEC title game.
Bama Getting Defensive
One of the most crucial aspects of any football game is the battle in the trenches; this game is the model for all others in that category. Georgia features “one of the better rushing attacks” Alabama has seen in “quite a while” according to Nick Saban and the Dawgs will likely lean heavily on that rushing attack once again come Saturday. Alabama will counter the running back trio of Nick Chubb, Sony Michel, and Keith Marshall with their ferocious front seven.
Since the beginning of last season, Alabama has allowed the fewest rushing touchdowns (7) in FBS and the second fewest rushing yards per game (92.3). During that time, the Crimsons Tide defense led by defensive coordinator (and UGA graduate) Kirby Smart, has allowed just over 18 points per game, good for seventh best in the country.
Oh. And just for good measure. The Alabama defense has allowed one rush of over ten yards inside the tackle box this season. One.
Chubb Vs Henry
The running backs opposing each other in this game are undoubtedly two of the best in the entire country, and the numbers support that claim. Nick Chubb, as most most Georgia fans know by now, has rushed for over 100 yards in 12 straight games. With one more such game, the superb sophomore can break the school record set way back in 1980-1981 by then freshman Herschel Walker.
While that streak is indeed impressive, it’s perhaps just as impressive that Alabama running back Derrick Henry (who was highly recruited by UGA) has a rushing touchdown in each of his last nine games. That’s good for the longest streak in the SEC.
Third is the Word
Again, I’m not going out on a limb here, but this game will likely be impacted in a huge way by what happens on third downs. Alabama is very similar to Georgia when it comes to third down offense and defense this season. Here’s how the third down stats look for both teams through four games.
Third Down Offense: Alabama- 21/57 (37%) Georgia- 11/31 (35%)
Third Down Defense: Alabama- 19/67 (28%) Georgia- 20/65 (31%)
So, to sum up these numbers. Neither team is very good at converting on third downs so far in 2015. However, both teams excel in preventing opponents from converting on third down.
Chip Towers of the Atlanta Journal Constitution spoke to Saturday’s CBS commentator Gary Danielson earlier in the week about this match up and Danielson seemed to agree that this game would “turn into a third down game.” Because of that, Danielson and many others believe the two second-tier running backs will impact the game more than expected. Both Sony Michel and Kenyan Drake thrive in space and both should get the opportunities to work in said space on those all-important third down snaps.
Huge Weekend for Recruiting
Sure Alabama and Georgia will be playing on the field Saturday, but they have been facing off outside the lines for years in the recruiting war that is the SEC. A number of high profile recruits who are considering both Georgia and Alabama are visiting Athens for the showdown this weekend. The list includes:
– Greg Little (#1 OL- Allen, Texas)
– Mecole Hardman (#1 ATH- Elberton, GA)
– Issac Nauta (#1 TE- Buford, GA)
– Kyle Davis (#1 WR- Lawrenceville, GA)
– Derrick Brown (5 Star DT- Buford, GA)
While all of these guys will be taking in the action from the seats inside of Sanford Stadium, at least one highly ranked Georgia and Alabama recruit will be watching from elsewhere.
Robertson via 247 sports
“It’s going to come down to the offensive line of Georgia, and the defensive line of Alabama. In the end, I got Alabama 27-17. Their front seven is just too good, especially against the run.”
Ben Bolton covers Alabama for the Alabama Sports Network, he too offered a prediction.
“It’s a matchup of similar teams matching strength against strength. Alabama is tested with a loss they gave to Ole Miss. Georgia hasn’t played a good team yet. Alabama wins in a close one in Athens.”
2015 SEC Football Predictions
The SEC football season will begin 2015 the way they have so many others, at the top of college football. Of course, I don’t mean to say that the SEC is on top of the preseason AP Poll, because Ohio State and TCU are one and two respectively in that poll. Instead, I mean that the SEC is once again littering the poll with its teams.
10 out of the top 27 teams in the country play in the SEC, including three out of the top nine in Alabama (3), Auburn (6), and Georgia (9). But, while the teams in the SEC are easily placed into a national poll, they aren’t so easily ranked inside of their own conference. That’s exactly what I’ll try to do.
Preseason Awards
Offensive Player of the Year: Nick Chubb (RB-UGA)
Defensive Player of the Year: Myles Garrett (DE-Texas A&M)
The East
- Georgia
- Tennessee
- Florida
- Kentucky
- Missouri
- South Carolina
- Vanderbilt
Lets just get this out of the way: the Eastern division of the SEC is the worst it has been in a very, very long time. The consensus pick (worth very little) has been Georgia really since the end of last football season. However, UGA may have more questions than anyone else in this division. A new quarterback in Greyson Lambert, new offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer, and a rebuilding wide receiver unit has the Bulldog offense full of questions heading into the Fall. Having Nick Chubb should balance those questions out however.
Tennessee is the team “on the rise” and for good reason. Butch Jones has got the UT program going through the right process to return to the spotlight and this season is a big step in that process. Florida scares me because A.) I picked them to win the east last season and that turned out terrible. B.) A new coach combined with a so-so quarterback (Treon Harris) is not a recipe for success in my book.
Out of all of the teams in the east, I really like Kentucky to improve the most this season. Patrick Towles is a star at the QB position but he just hasn’t had the help to truly shine in Lexington. This year he does. Returning his top two RB’s and four offensive linemen, third year head coach Mark Stoops (7-17 first two years) has his team heading in the right direction. I like the Wildcats to win 7-8 games this season and if they can get a couple of things to go their way, it could be more.
The West
- Alabama
- Auburn
- Arkansas
- LSU
- Mississippi
- Texas A&M
- Mississippi State
Every single team in the West was ranked in the top-27 by the preseason AP voters. While the East is going to be shaky at best this season, the West is loaded as usual. The classic powers of Alabama, Auburn, and LSU are very similar this year. They are all uber-talented, but lack a solid and dependable QB option, for now. All three schools have talented quarterbacks preparing to start for their schools, but none of the signal-callers have done anything of merit in SEC game-play. I may not be going out on a limb here, but whichever QB can start the fastest in September, his team will have a leg up in the division.
Arkansas is the most underrated team in the SEC. Yeah, I said it. The Hogs are more talented than people in the South are giving them credit for, but besides that, they are about as experienced as you can be in this era of college football. Brandon Allen returns as the schools first three-year starter since Matt Jones (2000-2002). The offensive line returns four starters to protect Allen and All-SEC running back Alex Collins.
Texas A&M and the two Mississippi schools are tough to predict. The Aggies may have the best skill players in the country as a group, but they have many questions everywhere else which makes it difficult to project. Mississippi State may be the best, last ranked team in the history of college football. Fox Sports Clay Travis said that he “wouldn’t be surprised if any given team in the West finished first or last.” Simply put, the SEC West is a gauntlet, as always. Let the games begin.
Sport by Travis 