Murray leads young group of Bulldogs.

[SacFalcFan]

Article

[freebird587]

good article...kinda feel sorry for aj though,so much talent and no experience at qb...lets hope aaron surprises

[popcornplaya]

I don't know how much of a surprise it'll be if and when Aaron succeeds. He's no slouch of a recruit. Kid has a CANNON and can move.

As far as the article goes, if he can work with DG's work ethic and produce, I'll be a happy Dawg fan.

Edited August 5, 2010 by popcornplaya

[usmcdirtybird]

good read

[SacFalcFan]

aaron is doing all the right things and saying it.. the media around him was amazing the first day of practice.. he is definately a star already.

[Fire Dawg]

Sac, I know that he was a great prospect but do you really have that much confidence in him? I'm not being sarcastic either. I'm just trying to figure out what to expect this year out of him. I like that he is an athletic qb that can use his legs if he needs too. We missed that alot last year. But does he have a strong and accurate arm? It seems he is progressing well with the playbook but that began from the get go. I also like what I am hearing about his leadership but we had that with Joe Cox. I guess I am reserving my excitement until I see him on the field.

[kingjamez]

I think the coaches have more confidence in Aaron Murray already then they had in Joe Cox all of last season. He's more skilled, he's a more natural leader, and the team 100% respects him and wants him to do well. Also, going into the season the Dawgs know that they have two great runningbacks -- going into last season we didn't know that. Plus the O-Line is back and they are experienced. Last year we all said 'Oh, Joe Cox needs to manage the game and hand the ball off, get it to AJ, how hard is that?'. Well we didn't find our running game until midway through the season and our O-Line didn't come together consistently until later in the season. We have everything figured out offensively this year and I don't think Murray will be forced to throw as much as Cox was. Murray has a strong arm -- not Stafford or Shockley strong but a little stronger than David Greene and he's accurate as well, more accurate than Stafford was a freshman or sophomore IMO. Murray has the "it" factor that Matthew Stafford and David Greene had.

I'm expecting a pretty good season from Murray. Of course I think he'll make a few mistakes but I think the play calling will be conservative and he won't be pressured into throwing the ball around a ton. We'll see though, I'm really excited to see him perform.

[Fire Dawg]

Appreciate the response King. I always enjoy hearing the honest answers to what players strength and weaknesses are. Coaches can often only tell the cookie cutter answers on these kids and I understand why. After the Joe Cox show last year I am skeptical on many qb reviews about Murray. I saw an interesting comparison between Murray and Brantley, while they had comparable stats, Brantley was seen as a sure thing while Murray was seen as a "wild card". Is Brantley that much better or is it because of coaching or the teams they play for? Just got me wondering?

[kingjamez]

It's yet to be seen who will be the better QB over the course of a full season in the SEC. Obviously people give the edge to Brantley because he has some game experience, although he hasn't been placed in crucial situations he has been successful in the time he's gotten. Brantley also has a good arm and he's accurate, much more of a pocket passer than Tebow and he's a pretty good athlete. I think him and Murray are similar QBs.

But Brantley is replacing a legend in Tim Tebow and he has some game experience, those are the two reasons he's getting so much more hype than Aaron Murray.

Edited August 5, 2010 by kingjamez

[tjb]

I have some pretty high expectations for him. I think he's got a great work ethic and all the tools to be successful. He's been through 2 spring practices, got to go through a full season to get acclimated to the system/college life/game atmosphere. He's got one of the most experienced offensive lines to work behind, one of the best WR's, a TE he's got chemistry with, and two very good RB's.

Personally, I think one of the biggest things going for him, is he is now the man at QB. In the spring, he was constantly looking over his shoulder at Mett/Gray and I felt like he was pressing too hard. I feel like Shockley did the same thing in a lot of games when he got in there when he was behind Greene. He tried to force things and that got him in trouble. Don't get me wrong, competition is a good thing and makes people better, but I think there is also something to be said about knowing you're the starter, and being able to command that respect and leadership position from your other teammates.

With all that being said, he is still a redshirt freshman who has yet to take a snap in a real game. He's bound to make mistakes. The key is minimizing those mistakes (well, that and not getting hurt) But, he's got the supporting cast around him, especially o-line, that can alleviate some of the pressure until he is able get some experience and be more comforatble.

Personally, I'd much rather a green QB with an experienced o-line, than the other way around.

[SacFalcFan]

Sac, I know that he was a great prospect but do you really have that much confidence in him? I'm not being sarcastic either. I'm just trying to figure out what to expect this year out of him. I like that he is an athletic qb that can use his legs if he needs too. We missed that alot last year. But does he have a strong and accurate arm? It seems he is progressing well with the playbook but that began from the get go. I also like what I am hearing about his leadership but we had that with Joe Cox. I guess I am reserving my excitement until I see him on the field.

the coaches have a lot more confidence in aaron murray than they had in joe cox imo the same time last year. aaron will also be helped with a strong running game and very solid offensive line right away which joe cox did not have last year. people love to bash joe cox (i have done my fair share), but no matter who you are at qb if you have a horrible running game and an offensive line that wasn't playing very well and a defense that wasn't stopping anyone thus limiting your chances offensively you are not going to have great numbers. Joe Cox didn't respect the ball, but he wasn't helped by his teammates.

Aaron Murray has it all imo. He has a very strong arm, very accurate, and his leadership has been established which is very hard to do for a young player especially someone who hasn't played a game. He is a tough player who runs enough to find the open man. He doesn't run to run, he has a purpose. The other thing I like about Aaron is he doesn't waste a lot of movement. When he is back there whatever he does its for a purpose. That's something some quarterbacks get and some who don't. If that doesn't make sense that's fine you will hear it mentioned throughout the year when they discuss aaron. I personally see Aaron having a 22 td 8 int year. He is a redshirt freshman not a true freshman and that is a big difference going through not just 1, but 2 springs. He watches more film that anyone on this team and he won't be making mistakes due to a lack of preparation. He will make his mistakes early, but the one thing he will learn from those and not repeat imo.

[Fire Dawg]

Thanks yall. Like I said I am just trying to find out whether he will fit the billing. Obviously I am hoping the best for him and this team as I do every year. As far as Cox is concerned, Joe had his role with the team. He helped Stafford out quite a bit and I do believe that he was a leader for the team. In all honesty, for his lack of arm strength he the throw a pretty nice deep ball. I agree though that he did not respect the ball enough. I also believe Murray would have been starting in the middle of last season if not for injuries. Murray is a competitor and prepares like one. That is shown throughout his high school career and his time with Georgia. It did look like he took a small step back in the G Day game but I believe there were other factors at play. It will be fun to watch him develop as it has been with most of the qb's in the Richt era.

[kingjamez]

Joe Cox made some **** good throws last season but I think what killed him was his slow release and his inability to look off defenders as a result he gave defenders a lot of time to make plays. Don't look at Murray's G-Day game as a reference for how he will perform this season. Heck, he performed better in last years game and obviously he's improved since then. We will all see where Murray is at when Georgia takes on South Carolina. I'm excited to watch him progress throughout the season though, his "it" factor gets me pumped to watch him grow as a QB.

[SacFalcFan]

Thanks yall. Like I said I am just trying to find out whether he will fit the billing. Obviously I am hoping the best for him and this team as I do every year. As far as Cox is concerned, Joe had his role with the team. He helped Stafford out quite a bit and I do believe that he was a leader for the team. In all honesty, for his lack of arm strength he the throw a pretty nice deep ball. I agree though that he did not respect the ball enough. I also believe Murray would have been starting in the middle of last season if not for injuries. Murray is a competitor and prepares like one. That is shown throughout his high school career and his time with Georgia. It did look like he took a small step back in the G Day game but I believe there were other factors at play. It will be fun to watch him develop as it has been with most of the qb's in the Richt era.

don't take one scrimmage as any indication of anything. he proved a lot in the other 2 scrimmages and plenty of practices. joe cox's big issue was horrible decision making. i don't care how good or bad of an arm you have if you make bad decisions and don't respect the ball it doesn't matter how much leadership you have, but he wasn't helped by a poor playing supporting case early on. I am very excited to see what aaron can do this year.

[tjb]

don't take one scrimmage as any indication of anything. he proved a lot in the other 2 scrimmages and plenty of practices. joe cox's big issue was horrible decision making. i don't care how good or bad of an arm you have if you make bad decisions and don't respect the ball it doesn't matter how much leadership you have, but he wasn't helped by a poor playing supporting case early on. I am very excited to see what aaron can do this year.

I agree. I think if the running game and OLine had come on a little earlier, it may have been a different story. We wouldn't have had to so much on his shoulders early on. But the running game was nonexistent the first part of the season. And forcing someone with a bum shoulder to take on that much of the workload so early on and consistenly. Personally, I think he never had the chance to "manage" the game like we all hoped going into the season. The Oline didn't really give him that opportunity, and with no running game, DC's were basically daring him to throw.

You're right, he didn't make the best decisions, and he didn't have the skillset to take those risks and get away with it (like Stafford could sometimes do)

And if I'm not mistaken, I could have sworn I read that Joe wasn't doing the best job of disguising his plays at the line. So a lot of the defense and DC's were getting tipped off and were a little ahead at times. That would explain a lot :wacko:

[Carter]

I don't have any high expectation of Murray this season... I just expect him to be steady, play it safe, and maybe try to bust out a handful of great plays throughout this season.

With the talent we have on offense, I think Murray only needs to be steady for us to make real waves in the conference. With our o-line being as experienced as it is, hopefully they gel quickly and Murray will have a great running game to rely on. That will be critical. Charles and White will be big security blankets, in my opinion. I see Murray checking down a lot if AJ isn't open... even though the defining look of an "open" AJ downfield is very vague.

I'm really impressed with how much of a student of the game Murray is. We will not be lacking on a prepared QB while he's at the helm.

Kinda interested to see if Branden Smith will continue to be used in some offensive packages. He had his troubles last year with hanging onto the ball or knowing when to just take what was there, but overall I thought he brought a great dynamic to the field.

[MemphibianDawg]

It's funny that every year, 'round about this time, I start wavering from bouts of almost overwhelming despair to moments of supreme confidence:

Despair: But...but...we have a redshirt freshman QB who's never even taken a snap in a real game!

Confidence: Yes, but that redshirt freshman QB is Aaron Murray.

Despair: Alright, well, we're trying to learn a new defensive scheme and everyone knows that takes a while to really get rolling.

Confidence: Honestly, did you see last year's defense? Could it really get any worse?

Despair: Kickoff coverage!

Confidence: Warren Belin!

Back and forth, over and over, until the season starts. My girlfriend thinks it's cute. I'm not so sure. But it does explain why I'm losing my hair, I guess.

[kingjamez]

I think most fans feel the same way.