WR Damien Alford withdraws from portal

[PhatOrange]

Yep, the timing is telling, imo. Grades come to mind immediately.

That was also my immediate thought yesterday. But it's eye opening how many kids are still dropping into the portal. Washington had a 5 star QB drop in yesterday. Hometown kid to. So who knows, but yeah grades came to mind.

 

[qdawgg]

We don't have an abundance of WR talent. Alford came on towards the end of the season. Was big, fast and a good blocker. This off-season has been horrible. We've lost far more than we've gained in the portal, and our recruiting class is G5 level and we lost our top 2 recruits. The future is not bright.

Define “coming on” at the end of the season. I’ve listed his full stats once and mostly his full stats another time. The end of the season he had 3 catches in our bowl game and 4 catches against a terrible BC team. Before that he had 1-2 catches every single game. Coming on is catching 3 balls in a bowl game?

 

[qdawgg]

Measurables at the Wr are great but I always go back to Sales and Lemon. Take those two all day. Knew how to get open

Exactly. Guys need to be able to play the position and catch the ball first. Speed, size, etc are all nice things to have. But a guy that can run routes correctly, catch the ball when we need a 3rd down, break man coverage (which doesn’t have to be the fastest guy - those guys are sometimes more likely to get stuffed at the LOS) those are real WR’s.

 

[GoSU96]

That was also my immediate thought yesterday. But it's still eye opening how many kids are still dropping into the portal. Washington had a 5 star QB drop in yesterday. Hometown kid to. So who knows, but yeah grades came to mind.

UGA now has multiple guys entering post nc game

 

[AAM62]

Measurables at the Wr are great but I always go back to Sales and Lemon. Take those two all day. Knew how to get open

yeah this is what people aren't understanding. They see measurables and ignore a season full of minimal production. Guy wasn't getting a ton of separation and I suspect he's not the best route runner.

 

[Jake]

Yep, the timing is telling, imo. Grades come to mind immediately.

Maybe it’s me, but in this new world, where we are treating players, like professionals, and paying them, how the hell are we letting grades get in the way?

It seems comical to hold players to an academic threshold, when we are allowing them to essentially be paid on the open market.

I guarantee you nobody is losing their eligibility in the Big Ten or SEC because of grades. I highly doubt we are either.

 

[orangeinohio]

What's unfortunate is that there will probably be nobody from Canada on the roster next year. Two guys from Germany, one guy from Australia but the Canada pipeline is dry.
I was hoping SU would become a prime destination for guys from Ontario and Quebec.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Who is the WR that high pointed a poorly thrown deep ball that had to twist his body to high point it but landed out of bounds?

I think CDRW made that throw.

Was it Hatcher?

Whoever that WR was is our WR that has our most raw talent behind OG. That was the best pure catch I saw all year even though it didn't count. I don't think that was DA.

Yeah, it was Hatcher. He's had moments like that and when he chased down LeQuint:s 90 yard run where the raw talent is obvious and just looks a notch above what we're used to from that position.

I'm bullish on him. I think money said he shines in practice but needs to grow into his body and get stronger before he'll be able to contribute more.

 

[RF2044]

Yeah, it was Hatcher. He's had moments like that and when he chased down LeQuint:s 90 yard run where the raw talent is obvious and just looks a notch above what we're used to from that position.

I'm bullish on him. I think money said he shines in practice but needs to grow into his body and get stronger before he'll be able to contribute more.

He's definitely tall and skinny at this juncture.

But I could see him sliding into that Alford role and delivering similar contributions next year. He's fast, he's tall, and he has a knack for catching high point balls. Cupboard is far from bare.

 

[PhatOrange]

UGA now has multiple guys entering post nc game

and one was a TE ;-) lol

Another Georgia TE enters transfer portal

Georgia Bulldogs tight end Brett Seither has entered the transfer portal. He joins fellow UGA tight end Arik Gilbert.

ugawire.usatoday.com

 

[PhatOrange]

Maybe it’s me, but in this new world, where we are treating players, like professionals, and paying them, how the hell are we letting grades get in the way?

It seems comical to hold players to an academic threshold, when we are allowing them to essentially be paid on the open market.

I guarantee you nobody is losing their eligibility in the Big Ten or SEC because of grades. I highly doubt we are either.

Agreed, but you'd have to have Profs in on it then cause all of the academic requirements are still in place. The GPA isn't even the only stickler it's also the number of credits towards graduation. You could have a 3.0 but not enough credits towards graduation based on your 'year' and be inelegible.

**But because of the model that Covid created, there are so many online classes now and even in classroom classes, so much of that work is done online ANYONE could do the work, take the tests, write the papers etc and no one would ever know. Work isn't turned in to the teachers desk anymore. It's all submitted online. Be hard to be ineligible.

 

[SU68]

That was also my immediate thought yesterday. But it's eye opening how many kids are still dropping into the portal. Washington had a 5 star QB drop in yesterday. Hometown kid to. So who knows, but yeah grades came to mind.

IIRC, doesn't a player have to be in good academic standing to transfer?

 

[tep624]

Maybe it’s me, but in this new world, where we are treating players, like professionals, and paying them, how the hell are we letting grades get in the way?

It seems comical to hold players to an academic threshold, when we are allowing them to essentially be paid on the open market.

I guarantee you nobody is losing their eligibility in the Big Ten or SEC because of grades. I highly doubt we are either.

Yeah who knows at this point - the whole thing is a mess right now.

 

[SU94]

The week 1 depth chart was Alford OR Jones and it was trending Jones.

Through the first 3 games (before Jones got hurt) he was 4-60 and 1 TD. Alford was 1-47 and 1 TD. Not a lot of difference but Jones was being targeted and like I said it was trending Jones and seemed obvious. This is Jones' job to lose if he's healthy.

And Jones caught "only" 4 balls in 2+ games. Which is why some here are down on Alford, right? Lack of volume? I, too, very much like I.Jones, so this is not meant to poo-poo him.

I just value players that have been in our system for years and have the potential to "pop." That is why I am particularly down on the loss of Alford.

Not sure everyone understands how difficult it is to learn/grasp/execute a complex new offensive or defensive system as players move from school X to school Y. I am sure there are some programs that are similar enough that the learning curve is not as deep.

But to execute authoritatively and with expertise in tandem with another player (like a QB), is a tall task for any young player (and everyone in college football is young, outside of Stenson Bennett).

Yes, CFB is much simpler that the NFL, but having sufficient reps in a system is still a huge advantage. Always will be. And Alford won't have that wherever he goes. And neither will we with any transfer we get coming in. I see it as a losing proposition for both parties, with the possible exception of NIL cash for Alford. Even then, I think it hinders any pro prospects he has (even in Canada).

 

[PhatOrange]

And Jones caught "only" 4 balls in 2+ games. Which is why some here are down on Alford, right? Lack of volume? I, too, very much like I.Jones, so this is not meant to poo-poo him.

I just value players that have been in our system for years and have the potential to "pop." That is why I am particularly down on the loss of Alford.

Not sure everyone understands how difficult it is to learn/grasp/execute a complex new offensive or defensive system as players move from school X to school Y. I am sure there are some programs that are similar enough that the learning curve is not as deep.

But to execute authoritatively and with expertise in tandem with another player (like a QB), is a tall task for any young player (and everyone in college football is young, outside of Stenson Bennett).

Yes, CFB is much simpler that the NFL, but having sufficient reps in a system is still a huge advantage. Always will be. And Alford won't have that wherever he goes. And neither will we with any transfer we get coming in. I see it as a losing proposition for both parties, with the possible exception of NIL cash for Alford. Even then, I think it hinders any pro prospects he has (even in Canada).

I'm not that high on Jones but the jury is still out. He only played in 3 games. I think he had a couple of bad drops to go with his 4 catches but I also think they were targeting him more than Alford so I felt like it was going to trend towards him.

Alford, I long compared him to Custis. You can see Alford having an awesome senior season but that's a ways off. He should have an alpha game and dominate, but he's nowhere near an alpha type. I think every time he hit the ground he came up gimpy to. Kind of an enigma.

This is one of those where it might hurt, it might not. It's not a lot of production to replace and the days of waiting 4 years for a skill player to realize their potential are long gone.

 

[SuFTW]

Yep, the timing is telling, imo. Grades come to mind immediately.

Wouldn’t he have entered the portal a week or two ago then? Grades have been out for a while.

 

[Cuse181]

If by The Talk, you mean he/his family/HS coach heard from a bigger school about NIL money, that would make sense. Why would it make any sense for the SU Staff to chase away one of their best receivers?

He might have heard about it, but I doubt anything is coming his way at this point.

 

[djorange1989]

This is a loss, not because he has been great but because we are weak at WR. Is this a devastating loss? No. Gotta hang onto the rest of the big names and need portal WRs , 2 of them

 

[CbusCuse]

I think Adams is the new Alford. I wish Alford the best as long as its not against SU.

Yeah I can certainly see this. Adams does seem like more of the deep threat type. I can see him breaking out next year with more opportunities. I like him. I still think Jones will play a lot but seems to be a bit more of the possession type and will catch the intermediate routes so maybe he takes over for Cooper's spot.

 

[hoopsupstate]

Whenever you lose starters on your football team, especially when they are still eligible, is not a good thing.

 

[kingtidge]

20 receptions for 429...
1st 8 games...7 receptions for 161yds
last 5 games... 13 receptions for 268 yds

Damien has size and speed. Early on Anae/Beck/Shrader focused on Gadsden.
In the latter 3rd of the season Alford gained confidence.
I think this is a significant loss in the passing game... unless somebody is coming via the portal.

This.

It was starting to click for him towards the end of the season.

 

[OrangeDW]

I’m ok with playing dirty football, running up the score if we have the chance, etc. against schools that are tampering with our players.

*Shrug

I’m also ok with not shaking hands with their coach afterwards. Or punching him in the face. Either or.

Screw everybody else. Go Cuse.

 

[0.2 YNdeeR]

Addition ally you are where we had transfers out, I think we did a better job of bringing in higher quality replacements at all positions except wide receiver.

Queenly didn't play much, and Courtney Jackson was ok, you doing okay we haven't worked replaced either one... And now we're taking another hit.

Needs to be addressed.

Alford is a loss.

I'm still processing this, tbh. But one concern for me - aside from scumbag programs tampering with our players - is that Alford was our second leading (returning) receiver, and the only established deep threat on the roster. Adams can run but I didn't see much flash from him and he's 6 inches shorter and 35 pounds lighter. Hatcher has some height and catch potential, but is also a stringbean (30 lbs lighter than Alford). That leaves one guy, Jones, who's got some size but is coming off a season-ending injury. And I'm not even talking about blocking - Alford had his issues but might have been our best blocking WR. So let's be honest,on top of the other transfers this seems like a gut-punch to a unit that could ill afford it.

On the plus side, there's Gadsden - assuming we can keep the cockroaches away another year. He's a star, but also likely the focus of opposing defenses who were disrespecting our WR's even before we lost DA. Hopefully Jones is healthy this Spring, and we see some progress from him along with Adams, Hatcher, Brown and Cahoon. But anyway you look at it, this unit will continue to be a weak link until it gets a serious talent upgrade.

 

[tep624]

I'm still processing this, tbh. But one concern for me - aside from scumbag programs tampering with our players - is that Alford was our second leading (returning) WR, and the only established deep threat on the roster. Yes, Adams can run but I didn't see much flash from him and he's 6 inches shorter and 35 pounds lighter. Hatcher has some height and catch potential, but again, is a stringbean (30 lbs lighter than Alford). That leaves one guy, Jones, who's got some size but is coming off a season-ending injury. And I'm not even talking about blocking - Alford had his issues but might have been our best blocking WR. So let's be honest,on top of the other transfers this seems like a gut-punch to a unit that could ill afford it.

On the plus side, there's Gadsden - assuming we can keep the cockroaches away another year. He's a star that will have the attention of every team we play. Hopefully Jones looks in the Spring, and we see some progress with Adams, Hatcher, Brown and Cahoon. But anyway you look at it, this unit will hold us back unless it gets a serious talent upgrade.

As long as Jones can stay healthy I think he is a nice complement to Gadsden. We still need someone to take the top off of defenses consistently, someone with some size, and I'd like to see a slot-type burner as well. Maybe Brown steps up into that void or Cahoon comes in ready to play. But I'd feel a lot better if we had a couple of ready to play pieces in those 2 molds from the Portal.

 

[NCo’range]

potato knee?

What exactly are ”potato“ injuries.
I tried the search feature but no luck.