All around DawgNation I'm hearing the same ol' thing....there's no way this Joe guy can lead the team to a title. I don't get it, I really don't. When Stafford left, I expected some folks to be a little down, but to outright give up on the team is something I never anticipated. People are calling for this year's squad to go 8-4. I'm sorry, I just don't see four losses on the schedule. I'll give you a possible loss at Florida, sure. However, I think that's a very winable game. So far, the Dawgs have had drastically fewer losses due to injury and misbehavior in the offseason, so that gives me a great deal of confidence going into the season. Ten offensive linemen have starts under their belts. That's pretty great. We won't have a patchwork o-line like last season.
The defense was ravaged by injury last season...but the guys who were out are back, and playing very well in camp. So, that will be a bonus add-on this season.
Moreno is gone, yes...but the stable that he left behind is beginning to show themselves as playmakers in their own right.
Also, the short-high-directional kickoff philosophy seems to fading in Athens as well. This new kicker from California may be just the answer we've been seeking there. Having opponents start around the 20 instead of the 40 will be the first step in improving on last year's problems.
But, back to the title of this blog....and I'll admit, I'm writing it more out of passion than study...but I don't get why people are so down on Joe Cox. I have one friend who says, if Joe Cox is so great, why didn't he play more during Stafford's reign? Why did he never push Stafford for the job after midway through 2006? Why didn't Rich use Stafford-Cox like Greene-Shockley?
Well, it's not an apples-apples comparison, for one. Greene-Shockley was a change-of-pace duo. Greene was a pocket passer, Shockley was a scrambler. Stafford and Cox are both pocket passers. So, to bring one out and put the other in doesn't really change the game in any way for the defense. All it changes, is the personnel in the huddle...and the center-quarterback exchange. That's not something you want to fool around with too much if the reward isn't drastic. Richt had two similar quarterbacks, and he picked Stafford as the better of the two. Time will tell whether or not he was right in that assessment, or if the two were just two close to demote Stafford, as that could very well be the case.
For me, I like the fact that Cox is a fifth year Senior. He knows the playbook inside and out. He will be ready to go, day one, play one...and I like that. He is a leader. He is a competitor. He has the FIRE that has been missing from the QB position for quite a while. Last year Moreno provided that spark....this year, it will be Joe.
Finally, I'm tired of the quarterback position being the one that people point to when they say we won't be winning a title. Matt Leinart wasn't a stellar quarterback, and he won one. Who was the QB at Ohio State, Krenzel? Yeah....he's a star. Oh, and Dawgfans may kill me for this one....but Buck Bellue? Are you kidding me? Name a program today who would have him starting. In the 1981 Sugar Bowl, the game that WON the Dawgs the title, Bellue was 1-10 for 9 yards or something like that. He didn't complete a pass until there were les than 4 minutes to go in the fourth quarter. And you're telling me that we can't win a title because of Joe Cox?
Please.
Go Dawgs.
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I think Richt is getting back to the old Florida State way of handling QBs. Redshirt one year, sit for two more, play for two more. Obviously you can't do that with the Staffords or they may just leave early (I think he learned his lesson with Moreno on this one). Look at the results FSU had with that system... Brad Johnson, Casey Weldon, Peter Tom Willis, Charlie Ward, Chris Weinke, etc. None of them were stars (two Heismans, I know, but stars?), but they were leaders and game managers.
Anyway, my point is, I hope that's the direction he's headed. Cox this year, Logan Gray for two years, Aaron Murray for two years, the next guy for two years... Top 5 finishes every year, some national championships... oh yeah!
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