Notes from the first week of spring practice

There’s only one healthy tight end on scholarship practicing – Tripp Chandler. Coleman Watson (groin) and NaDerris Ward(shoulder) will be fine by the fall. Bruce Figgins and Aron White don’t arrive until the summer.

Linebackers are hard to find, too. Akeem Hebron (hamstring) is non-contact and Marcus Washington (shoulder) and Daryl Gamble (foot) are out of commission for now. With Darius Dewberry bothered by a hamstring injury, Akeem Dent is the starting strong side LB. Brandon Miller seems to have taken to the middle spot very well. Hey, remember Dannell Ellerbe? Stole Mudcat’s car and got suspended three games last year? He appears to be back in form.

Jeff Owens and Kade Owens appear to be a great tandem on the interior line. That’s probably a good thing because our DE’s need to hit the pasta.

None of the offensive linemen are really stepping up except for returning starters Fernando Velasco and Chester Adams. By the way, those names are too long. So we need to start using their nicknames. Last year Coach Richt said that Fernando Velasco is too big for someone with that name, so he called him Bubba. And on his first day of practice, Chester Adams walked up to Coach Richt and said, “Coach my name is Chester Adams and they call me the Big Cheese.” Duly noted, Chester. Anyway, don’t get worked up about the line not being able to ‘gel’ right away. It will take awhile. New OL coach Stacy Searels is going to get up in their grill. The stocks of Scott Haverkamp and Trinton Sturdivant are rising.

Brian Mimbs is the only punter listed right now, but he KNOWS he’s going to get some competition from Drew Butler in the fall.

And wide receiver Sean Bailey is back. Dear Lord baby Jesus, I jus wanna thank ya. If the rest of the receivers catch even half the balls they dropped last year, opposing defensive coordinators are going to have to account for them even more.

Knowshon Moreno is making an impact. Remember on signing day when someone asked Coach Ball about him? He replied, “He’s a special young man.” It got a big chuckle because everyone knew he was being modest. It’s been said that he has replaced Kregg Lumpkin on the first team. If that’s the case, we should begin his Heisman campaign right now.

Depending on how much they learn, Reshad Jones and Quintin Banks could spend a lot of time rotating in on the safety positions. There’s nothing wrong with starters Kelin Johnson and CJ Byrd, it’s just that Jones and Banks are that good.

The party line is that Andy Bailey and Brandon Coutu are still battling for the kicking spot, but unless Bailey’s psyche gets a major overhaul, Coutu will be the man.

Seems like there’s someone I’m forgetting……….oh, right. Matt Stafford ain’t gonna have one of those sophomore slumps. All he’s gonna do is get better.

In spring and fall practice, the offense usually takes awhile to catch up to the defense. After one week, they look about even (even with the new o-line). I stand by my prediction that the offense will finally outshine the defense in 2007.