First, God forbid Aaron Murray ever gets injured. Second, Hutson Mason looks like he may be a pretty darn good quarterback in the future. I couldn't help but wonder last Saturday (Mason was 4/4 passing) if he will be another Mark Richt story by the time he leaves Athens.
Unless we lose Murray to the NFL a year early, I don't see Mason ever being anything other than a back up quarterback. And, with Christian Lemay coming next year, he could potentially get pushed to 3rd on the depth chart by the time his junior or senior year rolls around.
I can't help but be reminded of Blake Barnes, a kid that would have definitely started at quite a few BCS conference schools. What are your thoughts?
Thursday, October 21, 2010
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I wonder about that myself. I'm sure we'll see him in the Idaho St. game quite a bit.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure that Mason knows that he's one play away from being the starter. Sure, that hasn't happened at UGA much lately, but what are the odds that Murray goes through four years unscathed? Even Greene got hurt for part of a game (and came back in with a busted finger - DGD).
And who knows what would happen with LeMay? I recall another young QB from North Carolina who never lost a high school game and was to be the annointed after DJ left.
I'm curious to know what your assessment of Barnes comes from. He was 2/3 in one game in 2005. He didn't sniff the field in 2006 or 2007. Then he transferred to Delta State University, where he was a backup for his senior year, playing in 11 games. His statline for the year? 49-87-533-3-3. This was hardly against top-notch competition. The QB in front of him threw for 3277 yards, 28 TDs and 16INTS. 16 picks, and Barnes is still riding the pine.
ReplyDeleteEveryone thought he was all-world coming out of high-school. They were wrong. They were wrong about Cox, too. He was a great highschool QB. He was an average college QB.
Mason appears to be better-than-average, and could end up being 3rd string, as you say. If that happens, look for him to get redshirted in a year or two, so that he'll still be around for his fifth year and able to back-up Lemay.
Funny how QB competitions shake down, though...we're all assuming LeMay will come in and be a world-beater...kinda like we thought about AJ Bryant, Blake Barnes and Joe Cox.
I don't think we lose Murray to the pros a year early, but I think our offense develops more, and Murray begins to play less and less of games in his Junior and Senior years. Richt and Bobo like rewarding kids with PT when they earn it. I have a feeling Mason will earn his share.
Dukes,
ReplyDeleteI have nothing to base anything on about Barnes. I'm sure you know way more about Barnes the player than I do. I was just going on "potential", that obviously never panned out for whatever reason. I just remember thinking..."Barnes would probably have been a hell of a lot better off as GaTech's QB than Reggie Ball!"
Bry, great points!
"Mason appears to be better than average?" Based on what? He will never play over Murray or LeMay, but it's nice to have him as an insurance policy if/when either of those guys get hurt. Nothing against Mason. We were late offering for a reason. He could still make the decision that Barnes and others have made after a year or two in the program if he wants to be a starter somewhere.
ReplyDeleteWhat I want to know is why this coaching staff continues to not prepare our quarterbacks ?
ReplyDeleteHutson Mason we could not get in, in a 41-14 game 12 minutes into the 2nd half.
We coasted, did nothing; and, once again failed to get our back-up in the game.