.
I thought this would be a nice post to follow up
yesterday's on
Logan Gray. Then
Dexter Morant goes and
makes it even more compelling. Thanks dude. Ugh.
If Gray's switch is the most talked about,
Richard Samuel's position change may end up paying the bigger dividends. When I reread my post on Gray late yesterday, it made me feel a little uncomfortable. I hope it doesn't come across as being negative. That certainly wasn't my intention. I just think the kid has a tough row to hoe, despite the depth issues. Which only makes me pull even harder for him.
In fact I think Gray and Samuel both are in very similar situations in that they are both gifted athletes who are very deserving of the scholarship they've been awarded. They just had good (if not great) competition at their respective positions that either warranted or necessitated a change.
Could Georgia coaches have diagnosed Samuel as a LB earlier? Probably. But with his combination of speed and size it's hard not to want him to succeed running the football. I hope Samuel makes his coaches kick themselves as hard as they did after redshirting Knowshon.
But what will it take for Samuel to see the field? He probably avoided a redshirt when Martinez's 4-3 left town. It seems very unlikely the Cass HS product won't be used this fall.
Currently, Samuel is behind
Christian Robinson and
Marcus Dowtin at the "Mo" position. However, with
Akeem Dent missing all of August there will be plenty of reps for Samuel to progress. And even if he's still 3rd in line by September 4th, it's not like he's playing running back anymore. He'll see the field.
Take it from
Coach Richt himself, who spoke of Samuel's impression so far on the defensive coaches:
They see potential. They don't think he's a polished guy yet. They know he's fast, he can move laterally, he'll strike you. He has no fear to hit someone.
Has no fear to hit someone. From what I've read, sounds like Grantham's type of player.
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