Picking the all-time Georgia Bulldogs football team

Predicting what will happen this fall (everyone’s dreams are still alive during the summer!) and making lists of things that have happened in the past.

In the latter category, compiling lists of greatest or all-time teams is always good for a healthy (and sometimes not so polite) discussion.

And so, this week, the Saturday Down South site stepped up and offered its selections for what it calls the all-time Georgia Bulldogs football team.

Here’s what they came up with:

OFFENSE
QB: Aaron Murray
RB1: Herschel Walker
RB2: Frank Sinkwich
WR1: Terrence Edwards
WR2: A.J.Green
TE: Randy McMichael
OL: Matt Stinchcomb
OL: Pat Dye
OL: Max Jean-Gilles
OL: Jon Stinchcomb
OL: David Andrews

DEFENSE
DL: David Pollack
DL: Bill Stanfill
DL: Richard Seymour
DL: Freddie Gilbert
LB: Jarvis Jones
LB: Boss Bailey
LB: Ben Zambiasi
DB: Terry Hoage
DB: Champ Bailey
DB: Jake Scott
DB: John Little

SPECIAL TEAMS
K: Kevin Butler
P: Drew Butler
RS: Brandon Boykin

Bill Stanfill is usually a consensus choice when it comes to all-time UGA teams. (University of Georgia)

That’s quite a collection of all stars, and it’s notable that both Stinchcombs, two of the Baileys and the father-son Butler pairing made it!

Many of those choices are what just about any longtime fan would pick, but there are a few places where you can quibble, and naturally comments on the SDS Facebook page questioned several of the inclusions and omissions, complete with the insults that some benighted souls believe are part and parcel of any difference of opinion these days.

Since I've written before that I think Aaron Murray edges out David Greene as well as Fran Tarkenton and Matthew Stafford as UGA's all-time best quarterback, I don't have a problem with SDS picking him for their list, but some readers got kind of hot under the collar on the subject.

Others just got snarky, as in the case of this comment: “If Aaron was throwing P-44 Haynes in Knoxville, the pass would have been deflected.”

As for the SDS choice of Walker and Sinkwich as the running backs, it's hard to argue going with the school's two Heisman Trophy winners, but, as we discussed here a couple of months ago, a pretty convincing case can be made that Todd Gurley ranks as UGA's second-greatest back, so how can you leave him off?

(Perhaps you could move into asterisk territory by designating one RB spot for pre-modern era players like Sinkwich and Charley Trippi and listing Walker and Gurley as your two modern-era backs.)

And, at receiver, what about Hines Ward? But whose spot should he take, Edwards' or Green's? Surely, not the latter. And that has nothing to do with Edwards' infamous drop against Florida. Of course, there are other names you could throw into the discussion, including Jimmy Orr, Lindsay Scott, Andre Hastings and Mohamed Massaquoi.

And some might want to quibble about an all-time OL that doesn't include the likes of Tommy Lyons, Royce Smith, Edgar Chandler, Joel "Cowboy" Parrish and Mike "Moonpie" Wilson, though it's worth pointing out how much smaller offensive linemen were in their era. In fact, you might want to make the case that someone like Jonas Jennings ought to take Dye's spot on the list, even if the latter does date back to the days of tough two-way players.

You won’t find many people who wouldn’t put Champ Bailey on a list of all-time Bulldog greats. (Associated Press)

On defense, few would argue with Champ, another tough two-way iron man, or with the legendary Scott, but the absence of Scott Woerner and Thomas Davis jumps out to some fans, and I have to say I think I'd choose Woerner in place of Little.

And on the DL, I'm not sure I'd go with Seymour, who was an All-American and two-time All-SEC selection, but whose numbers don't crack the career leaders lists in Georgia's record book. I'd be inclined to consider adding Bill Goldberg in his place.

And what about such defensive stars as Knox Culpepper, Jimmy Payne, Randall Godfrey, Richard Tardits and Greg Bright?

Yes, compiling an all-time list like this requires making some tough choices.

Feel free to make some of them yourself and share who you think does or doesn’t belong on such an all-star team.

Got something you want to discuss concerning UGA athletics? Or a question for the Junkyard Blawg? Email junkyardblawg@gmail.com.

Find me on Facebook.

Follow me on Twitter.

— Bill King, Junkyard Blawg

Bill King is an Athens native and a graduate of the University of Georgia’s Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. A lifelong Bulldogs fan, he sold programs at Sanford Stadium as a teen and has been a football season ticket holder since leaving school. He has worked at the AJC since college and spent 10 years as the Constitution’s rock music critic before moving into copy editing on the old afternoon Journal. In addition to blogging, he’s now a story editor.