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Road To Pasadena: OMG WHOZ GUNNA CATCH TEH BALLZ

I had planned on writing this edition of "Road To Pasadena" about Riley Cooper and how the most underrated man-child on the team could be this year's Lou Murphy. But then David Nelson has a panic attack in this morning's Gainesville Sun;

"Yes, to be honest with you, I'm worried," senior wide receiver David Nelson said. "We've got some guys that need to step up. That's a work in progress. That's the main concern right now on the team, our depth at wide receiver."

A senior member of the receiving corps will have a much more pessimistic perspective on the situation than Tebow (who seems to think there are 6 or 7 who can play right now). The problem is that behind Nelson, Cooper, Brandon James, Deonte Thompson and Aaron Hernandez, it's an injured guy (Carl Moore, assuming Andre Debose gets surgery) and two freshmen; Frankie Hammond and T.J. Lawrence. 

But we knew going in that receiver would be a problem. That's why Jeff Demps, Emmanuel Moody and Chris Rainey will be leaned on. That's why you may see Tebow in a more traditional formation, putting more blockers out in front. (Although double-TE looks unlikely as a walk-on is the second tight end.) Nelson's reaction is as if he went to practice Monday and was surprised Harvin and Murphy were no longer on the team.

As for the five front runners, all can be trusted, save for Thompson. Nelson became a Man with his performances in the SEC and BCS Championship Games, Cooper and James never take a play off (but Cooper needs to be a better route runner), and Hernandez is a badass. Plus, Thompson isn't trusted because he was playing behind studs. On any other team, he's a No. 1 guy. In addition, Demps' hands are improving. Rainey will need more than the three catches he got last season and who knows if Moody knows how to use his hands. If you thought this would be easy, you were wrong. Repeating is harder than winning the first one, especially without your top-two receivers. But it's not impossible.

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Obviously the shallowest position on the team – after the potentially all-world Hernandez, we have nobody.

Which is why it is baffling that Orson Charles chose to go to UGA. He could have played a ton as a freshman for the top ranked team in the land, and he could have built a repretiore with John Brantley during what should be a ton of play once the starters are pulled….

by skigator93 on Sep 2, 2009 12:21 PM EDT reply actions  

Hammond.

If memory serves, he was a revelation during spring practice…

"A player who conjugates a verb in the first person singular cannot be part of the squad, he has to conjugate the verb in the first person plural. We. We want to conquer. We are going to conquer. Using the word 'I' when you're in a group makes things complicated." ~ Wanderley Luxemburgo, 1999

by ejruiz on Sep 2, 2009 7:42 PM EDT reply actions  

I was texting my friend, a Bama fan, during the SEC Champ game...

And at one point, he sent something along the lines of “were they checking 83 for a concussion because he actually caught the ball this time?”
Nelson really stepped it up in the championships – but he was just plain bad in the regular season, to me.

by bdalebs on Sep 2, 2009 8:57 PM EDT reply actions  

can BJ actually catch a ball?

i love brandon james, but he really scared me this saturday. he dropped a couple balls, one of which he was wide open in the endzone for.

by lugowsky on Sep 6, 2009 11:51 AM EDT reply actions  

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