Addressing Defensive Issues

The Dawgs’ defensive woes last year have been well remembered here at BHN and by Georiga fans everywhere for the last 7 months. In late December of last year just about every Dawg fan had his or her own opinion about what needed to change. Many thought Willie Martinez should go. Others insisted things would improve if players could tackle to the ground. Some believed the defense had simply turned “soft.” And much to the dismay of many fans, Richt apparently never even considered giving Martinez the boot. In fact he didn’t give all that many definitive answers about what the problem was or what exactly would change to fix it. Many were left frustrated and worried things would continue to be the same.

You could make the argument that the staff, especially recruiting coordinator Rodney Garner, has actually been hard at work fixing the problem in the last month or two. The 2010 class, which is being assembled at an impressive pace, has a distinctly defensive flavor to it.

Look at these stats from the last four classes (2007-2010) according to Scout.com. (Like many I’m not convinced that these services always “get it right” on players, but for this little exercise they at least help us quantify some things.) Notice for each overall class there were more offensive players than defensive players and that in terms of elite players (I used Top 20 at their position according to Scout) there is a slightly more noticeable offensive tilt.

2007: 8/23 Defensive players; Top 20 at Position: 2/7 Defensive players

2008: 11/23 Defensive players; Top 20 at Position: 5/12 Defensive players

2009:9/20 Defensive players; Top 20 at Position: 6/14 Defensive players

2010: 10/15 Defensive players; Top 20 at Position: 4/7 Defensive players

Though the class isn’t complete the 2010 group is the obvious outlier in the bunch (an admittedly small sample size). It may even out some in as the class is solidified but there is an obvious emphasis on positions of need, most notably 3 safeties and 4 defensive ends. The consistent issues last year were the lack of a rush off the edge and questions in the secondary. It won’t fix things for next season but it appears the problem is being addressed.

I know that in each class the staff recruits for the ever-changing needs of the team based on graduation, early draft entries and attrition. Some years you need offensive linemen. Other years the goal is to sign three running backs. And part of the defensive favoring this year may be that simple. But it seems like there might be more to it than that.

This is encouraging in more ways than one. After last years defensive issues and the signing of the 2009 class I heard more than one thoughtful and football-savvy fan worry that the Georgia staff had fallen victim to the “ESPN era” of college football where everyone is concerned primarily with having high power offenses that produce “Top 10″ highlights and stick in the minds of voters and fans nationwide for how flashy they are in putting up big points. Basically people worried that the Georgia staff was acting like the Dawgs play in the Big 10. And the recruiting trend didn’t refute that idea. It seemed that the big targets every year were offensive stars- Staffords and Morenos and Greens- and that we weren’t in the contest for elite defensive players often enough.

But it appears that Alec Ogeltree, Jakar Hamilton, B.J. Butler and Jalen Fields may be reversing that trend. And there may be more to come, as most of the Dawgs remaining top targets line up on the defensive side of the ball. Players in the 2010 class aren’t going to fix the defense for this Fall in any way. But recruiting is essential to every part of a team’s progression and this class could be part of returning the Dawgs to the ways of the celebrated defenses of old.

Long story short, we need more of this…

and this…

and less of this nauseating misery…