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Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Looking out for Caleb King, four others
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Five players I’m watching in the SEC this spring:
1. Caleb King, RB, Georgia: Since we know what Knowshon Moreno can do, now we find out if Mr. King is ready for prime time. I’ve seen enough film on King to know that he can run the ball. Frankly, that’s the easy part of being a college running back. What we don’t know is how quickly he will pick up the protection packages. You can’t put a young running back on the field if you aren’t sure he can pick up the changes in protections made by the quarterback at the line of scrimmage. It will get your quarterback killed. OC Mike Bobo is a good teacher and King should pick it up pretty quickly. But that will determine how much he gets on the field in 2008.
2. Emmanuel Moody, RB, Florida: With Tim Tebow, the Heisman Trophy winner, and WR Percy Harvin back, this could be the only missing piece to making the Gators one of the best offenses in the country. Moody, who ran for 459 yards as a freshman at Southern Cal two years ago, sat out last season. The Texas native was highly recruited but found himself on a depth chart with 10 great backs. This spring we’ll start finding out if he’s the real deal. If he is, the Gators will give Georgia all they can handle in 2008.
3. Javan Snead, QB, Ole Miss: Snead started at Texas but lost the quarterback competition to Colt McCoy. So he transferred to Ole Miss and sat out last season. One of the hallmarks of the short Ed Orgeron era was exceedingly poor play at quarterback. Snead should prove himself to be the guy in Oxford this spring. But head coach Houston Nutt and new OC Kent Austin must figure out how much they can turn Snead loose in this league as a rookie.
4. Ricky Jean-Francois, DT, LSU: It’s hard to replace a player like Glenn Dorsey, one of the best DTs to ever play in the SEC. But Ricky Jean-Francois will be closer to Dorsey’s talent level than most folks think. He had to sit out all of last season after being suspended for academic dishonesty. He became eligible for the SEC championship game against Tennessee last December and was then named the defensive MVP in the BCS championship. If this guy turns out to be as good as I think he is, LSU will have enough players to win the SEC West again.
5. Trevard Lindley, CB, Kentucky: Coach Rich Brooks doesn’t hype players but he’s told me more than once that Lindley, from Hiram, is one of the best cover corners in college football. I watched him play in person three times last year. He’s not flashy. He just makes a lot of plays. He’s a lock down cover corner, supports the run well, and makes the big play when needed. I’m just watching this spring to make sure he doesn’t get hurt. I’m sure Brooks will make sure that doesn’t happen.
