Column: With Ramsey gone, what does that mean to UGA's QB room?
Although Brice Ramsey’s decision to transfer no doubt caught some Georgia fans off guard, you can bet head coach Kirby Smart saw this coming.
We heard that Ramsey had stopped going to meetings with Jacob Eason and Jake Fromm way back in January, although when contacted, the former Camden County standout told me he had no idea where those rumors were coming from and he had every intention of sticking with the Bulldogs for one more year.
But the rumors persisted, and Tuesday morning it finally became official – Ramsey will leave Georgia as a graduate transfer.
Where he’ll end up, nobody knows for sure yet, although it’s been suggested that North Carolina – which graduates Mitch Tribisky – could be a potential landing spot.
We’ll see.
As far as what this does to Georgia’s quarterback room moving forward into the start of spring practice, that’s a bit more concerning.
No, Ramsey wasn’t going to win the starting job from Eason or Fromm, but losing that veteran presence in the quarterback and team meeting room is an aspect that’s going to be missed.
When you’re young quarterbacks like Eason and Fromm, it’s always good to have that calming influence standing alongside you to bounce ideas off and take advice when the situation called.
That was a role that Greyson Lambert served so well last year, and quite frankly, doesn’t get enough credit for. Eason – in the few times we talked with him late last season – spoke of this several times.
It also means the likelihood of Fromm seeing action – even if he doesn’t win the job outright – is much greater than it was. In fact, you can probably count on it. Heck, as everyone who watches SEC football knows, the No. 2 quarterback is always just one snap away from having to go in the game.
As Smart will tell you, there’s still a lot of improvement that Eason needs to do, while Fromm, for as much of an impression as he’s made so far, is still a freshman. If Eason were to get shaken up or worse, Georgia could have relied upon Ramsey to step in and guide the team. Now all eyes will turn to Fromm if anything happens to Eason.
Georgia’s third string quarterback? That now figures to be walk-on Sam Vaughn.
In other words, there’s going to be some serious crossing of fingers that no one gets hurt.
From a talent standpoint, Georgia has nothing to worry about. The sophomore version of Jacob Eason will be a year wiser and a year more seasoned than the one we saw as a true freshman, while Fromm’s work ethic has apparently already made quite the impression.
Fromm will be as ready as he can be, and as Smart said, that want-to and desire is something that’s already rubbed off on Eason who, like everyone, no doubt needs a little competition to be at the top of his game.
There’s also going to be an added onus on offensive coordinator Jim Chaney when it comes to nurturing his young QBs.
While I’m sure Chaney will do his best, no doubt Smart would love for the NCAA to go ahead and approve the 10th assistant as has been proposed. That would enable Smart to get recently hired offensive analyst Jay Johnson to get on the field and work directly with the two young signal callers.
That would no doubt be most helpful.
But until that happens, Georgia will move forward with its two young - albeit immensely talented – QBs.
While it’s not an ideal situation as far as the depth goes, it obviously could be worse. At least we’re not sitting here worrying about a quarterback who has never taken a collegiate snap. We saw Georgia push really hard for a couple preferred walk-on quarterbacks to help out with practice, another areas where Ramsey will be missed. Plus, Georgia still needs to settle the issue at punter.
But until the upcoming season is complete, there’s going to be some nervous coaches and fans, who doubt will be praying to the football gods that Eason and Fromm can stay upright the entire year.
Fingers crossed.