'25 WR Zachariah Branch (Georgia commit🤮)

#456
#456
MarcoVol said:
Just saw this

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Pope should take the boys to the trampoline park and community pool and make them catch balls while floating in the air. Anything to improve that catch rate. Also, the boys need to spend more time running routes with Nico on their off time. Timing and familiarity is everything.
 
#457
#457
Adam Sandler said:
Pope should take the boys to the trampoline park and community pool and make them catch balls while floating in the air. Anything to improve that catch rate. Also, the boys need to spend more time running routes with Nico on their off time. Timing and familiarity is everything.
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You sure they didn't make Squirrel try to catch at the trampoline park already?
 
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#459
#459
Adam Sandler said:
Pope should take the boys to the trampoline park and community pool and make them catch balls while floating in the air. Anything to improve that catch rate. Also, the boys need to spend more time running routes with Nico on their off time. Timing and familiarity is everything.
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If the coaching staff needs to tell the WR's and QB to throw more during their off time then that would be genuinely concerning.
 
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#460
#460
Booner said:
Wasn’t Mconkey the #1 for LA?
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Ok I’ll give you him. With 2 nattys, any others?

But he was a 3 star that held out on signing day wanting a Tennessee offer but Pruitt & Chaney didn’t think he could play.
 
#461
#461
wmcovol said:
Ok I’ll give you him. With 2 nattys, any others?

But he was a 3 star that held out on signing day wanting a Tennessee offer but Pruitt & Chaney didn’t think he could play.
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From national championship teams, you have to add George Pickens, AD Mitchell (2 years at UGA, 1 at TX).

Of the five WRs that caught a pass for UGA against TCU, three are on NFL rosters (one on a practice squad) and the other two haven’t haven’t entered the draft yet (one will this year and one next year). If you go back to the national championship against Bama, you could add Jermaine Burton, but we ran his rear end out of Athens and don’t claim him.

UGA has not prioritized skill position recruiting outside of TE. We consistently have recruited solid but not elite level players at WR and RB. That mindset is changing and was a mistake.
 
#462
#462
wmcovol said:
Ok I’ll give you him. With 2 nattys, any others?

But he was a 3 star that held out on signing day wanting a Tennessee offer but Pruitt & Chaney didn’t think he could play.
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It’s also moving the goal post a little. It’s a common knock on UGA that “they don’t develop receivers” or “they only go there to block”. Truth is McConkey and Pickens are #1’s for their teams in the NFL. Throw in Bowers at TE and they have 3. Heupel’s offense has not produced a WR with the same next level production so I can easily see why a recruit or transfer would choose them over UT. Truth is, Ohio State, Bama, and LSU have broken the mold with pumping out NFL stud WR’s and are going to continue to get the majority.
 
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#463
#463
Booner said:
It’s also moving the goal post a little. It’s a common knock on UGA that “they don’t develop receivers” or “they only go there to block”. Truth is McConkey and Pickens are #1’s for their teams in the NFL. Throw in Bowers at TE and they have 3. Heupel’s offense has not produced a WR with the same next level production so I can easily see why a recruit or transfer would choose them over UT. Truth is, Ohio State, Bama, and LSU have broken the mold with pumping out NFL stud WR’s and are going to continue to get the majority.
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I said I could understand TEs. You’re struggling. 5 or 6 straight top 3 recruiting classes & 1 WR? Their top WRs this year were portal guys.
 
#464
#464
wmcovol said:
I said I could understand TEs. You’re struggling. 5 or 6 straight top 3 recruiting classes & 1 WR? Their top WRs this year were portal guys.
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I agree UGA is not WRU, never said it was. But why would it be a better decision NFL wise to go to UT?
 
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#465
#465
Booner said:
I agree UGA is not WRU, never said it was. But why would it be a better decision NFL wise to go to UT?
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Tennesse has a far better track record putting WRs in the league. Tillman, Palmer, Jennings, Jones, Hyatt, Keyton , Callaway are all on NFL rosters. That’s despite having lower ranked recruiting classes (and some idiot coaches) since Smart has been there.

Nobody has done as well as Ga on DL & LBers since Kirby got there. He took the guys that used to go to Bama. I’d never attempt to argue there nor TEs but stop trying at WRs.
 
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#466
#466
wmcovol said:
Tennesse has a far better track record putting WRs in the league. Tillman, Palmer, Jennings, Jones, Hyatt, Keyton , Callaway are all on NFL rosters. That’s despite having lower ranked recruiting classes (and some idiot coaches) since Smart has been there.

Nobody has done as well as Ga on DL & LBers since Kirby got there. He took the guys that used to go to Bama. I’d never attempt to argue there nor TEs but stop trying at WRs.
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Ladd, George Pickens, AD Mitchell, and Mecole Hardman aren’t too shabby
 
#467
#467
VawlIn said:
Ladd, George Pickens, AD Mitchell, and Mecole Hardman aren’t too shabby
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You don’t get it. Ga has been among the top 5 recruiting schools in the country the last 7-8 yrs. That’s a pretty weak group for signing practically nothing but 4 &5 star guys. Other than LM, all were 4 & 5 WRs coming outta high school.
 
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#468
#468
wmcovol said:
You don’t get it. Ga has been among the top 5 recruiting schools in the country the last 7-8 yrs. That’s a pretty weak group for signing practically nothing but 4 &5 star guys. Other than LM, all were 4 & 5 WRs coming outta high school.
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Yup. UGA is where 5 stars WRs and QBs go to die.
 
#469
#469
Carp said:
Yup. UGA is where 5 stars WRs and QBs go to die.
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UGA has signed one 5-star WR since 2018. He’s the most productive WR on his NFL team. Not sure why you think that’s bad.

UGA turned AD Mitchell and Ladd McConkey into stars, too. 3-stars, both.

Are there several misses? Yes. Burton got run off. Blalock blew out his knee and never made it all the way back. Kearis Jackson is a practice squad player and Rosemy-Jacksaint didn’t stick on a roster. But of the 9 WRs that UGA recruited from 2018 to 2021, 4 were drafted, 2 signed as UDFAs, and 2 more are eligible this year: Smith and Meeks. Smith should be a 4-5th rounder. The only one never to sign an NFL contract was Blalock, and that’s injury related.
 
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#470
#470
Visidog said:
UGA has signed one 5-star WR since 2018. He’s the most productive WR on his NFL team. Not sure why you think that’s bad.

UGA turned AD Mitchell and Ladd McConkey into stars, too. 3-stars, both.

Are there several misses? Yes. Burton got run off. Blalock blew out his knee and never made it all the way back. Kearis Jackson is a practice squad player and Rosemy-Jacksaint didn’t stick on a roster. But of the 9 WRs that UGA recruited from 2018 to 2021, 4 were drafted, 2 signed as UDFAs, and 2 more are eligible this year: Smith and Meeks. Smith should be a 4-5th rounder. The only one never to sign an NFL contract was Blalock, and that’s injury related.
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UGA has had exactly 1 WR break 1000 yards in the history of it's program. If players are getting drafted, it's almost entirely based on raw talent and not college production.. And most certainly, they aren't getting drafted as high as they would be if they played college ball at a school that got them noticed by NFL scouts. Funny you mention Pickens, because had he gone somewhere else and been utilized correctly, he would likely have been a 1st round pick and made a lot more money.
 
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#471
#471
Carp said:
UGA has had exactly 1 WR break 1000 yards in the history of its program. If players are getting drafted, it's almost entirely based on raw talent and not college production.. And most certainly, they aren't getting drafted as high as they would be if they played college ball at a school that got them noticed by NFL scouts. Funny you mention Pickens, because had he gone somewhere else and been utilized correctly, he would likely have been a 1st round pick and made a lot more money.
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this isn’t really falsifiable, you know? Not worth arguing with what would have happened in another world.

UGA rotates heavily under Smart and especially under Monken and Bobo. That practice keep production numbers lower. It’s also supposed to make UGA less dependent on single players in case of injury. That part hasn’t always worked out. UGA has learned that top-end talent really matters and is trying to address it through recruiting and the portal.

If you think that NFL scouts don’t know what’s up in Athens (or Knoxville or any other SEC program), I don’t know what to tell you. Teams are not drafting on college stats. They’re watching practice and practice film for these guys, not just game film. They’re around during the spring. They’re all over these programs. They’re for certain not scanning the box scores.

In any event, I think the development narrative is overdone—especially at WR. We all want to think our schools are making champions out of ordinary talents, but it’s mostly recruiting. Ryan Williams and Jeremiah Smith are just Julio Jones and AJ Greene reborn: they were elite when they stepped on campus.
 
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#472
#472
Visidog said:
this isn’t really falsifiable, you know? Not worth arguing with what would have happened in another world.

UGA rotates heavily under Smart and especially under Monken and Bobo. That practice keep production numbers lower. It’s also supposed to make UGA less dependent on single players in case of injury. That part hasn’t always worked out. UGA has learned that top-end talent really matters and is trying to address it through recruiting and the portal.

If you think that NFL scouts don’t know what’s up in Athens (or Knoxville or any other SEC program), I don’t know what to tell you. Teams are not drafting on college stats. They’re watching practice and practice film for these guys, not just game film. They’re around during the spring. They’re all over these programs. They’re for certain not scanning the box scores.

In any event, I think the development narrative is overdone—especially at WR. We all want to think our schools are making champions out of ordinary talents, but it’s mostly recruiting. Ryan Williams and Jeremiah Smith are just Julio Jones and AJ Greene reborn: they were elite when they stepped on campus.
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College stats get you noticed. It's just a fact. They matter. Do you think Hyatt gets drafted if he has a medioce Junior season? Of course not. His talent didn't change. But his production did.

Cam Ward went from late round draft pick a year ago to likely first overall pick in the draft. Because stats matter.
 
#473
#473
Carp said:
College stats get you noticed. It's just a fact. They matter. Do you think Hyatt gets drafted if he has a medioce Junior season? Of course not. His talent didn't change. But his production did.

Cam Ward went from late round draft pick a year ago to likely first overall pick in the draft. Because stats matter.
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Sure—that’s a good correction. college stats will get you noticed. But the absence of college stats doesn’t mean somebody doesn’t get drafted.

Hyatt is an interesting example. I agree that he was drafted largely on the strength of his college production, but that hasn’t translated to NFL production yet. Yes, it’s the Giants and the usual caveats apply.
 
#474
#474
Visidog said:
this isn’t really falsifiable, you know? Not worth arguing with what would have happened in another world.

UGA rotates heavily under Smart and especially under Monken and Bobo. That practice keep production numbers lower. It’s also supposed to make UGA less dependent on single players in case of injury. That part hasn’t always worked out. UGA has learned that top-end talent really matters and is trying to address it through recruiting and the portal.

If you think that NFL scouts don’t know what’s up in Athens (or Knoxville or any other SEC program), I don’t know what to tell you. Teams are not drafting on college stats. They’re watching practice and practice film for these guys, not just game film. They’re around during the spring. They’re all over these programs. They’re for certain not scanning the box scores.

In any event, I think the development narrative is overdone—especially at WR. We all want to think our schools are making champions out of ordinary talents, but it’s mostly recruiting. Ryan Williams and Jeremiah Smith are just Julio Jones and AJ Greene reborn: they were elite when they stepped on campus.
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Nerve struck!!! And new word toilet paper bought
 
#475
#475
Is it going to be an issue if I actually get back to discussing Zachariah Branch here?

If you go back to a thread I started in early Sept of 2023 I proclaimed ZB to be the best player in CFB after seeing him in the Polynesian Bowl with Nico and then his first college game at USC against St Jose State. The speed, the elusiveness, etc, was amazing to me and I had him pegged as Reggie Bush Jr. In retrospect, what I should‘ve said is he was the most explosive player in CFB and I really believed it. However, now I scratch my head wondering why a solid offensive football mind like Lincoln Riley couldn’t get more out of ZB in his 2 years at USC. Hell, they primarily used him as a decoy more than anything else.

i still don’t doubt his physical abilities, but can ZB learn an offense? is he a slacker at practice? Does his ego get in the way of him being a great player? Just how is it he’s not been more productive the first 2 years of CFB?

Again, I believe ZB is an amazing athlete and maybe the light—unfortunately—comes on at UGA, but I can’t help but think there’s something missing that’s holding him back.
 
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