Dayne Young and Brent Rollins collaborate to discover the nuances of the Georgia Bulldogs and college football.
*All grades and other data via www.PFF.com*
Dayne: Todd Monken brings nearly three decades' worth of on-field coaching experience to Athens in 2020. We focused on his time at Oklahoma State (2011-12), Southern Miss (2013-15), and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2016-2018) for this Film Don't Lie review. Kirby Smart often bemoaned the lack of explosive plays for the Bulldogs in 2019. Monken's track record shows a much more aggressive approach.
Brent: LSU called upon previously unknown, 30-year-old Joe Brady to jump-start its offense. But Kirby Smart turned to a more experienced offensive coach in hopes of the same effect. As Georgia itself highlighted in a tweet introducing Monken, he's been a part of some prolific scoring and passing offenses at each of the stints Dayne mentions, with each stop using the personnel in different ways to maximize success. What will Georgia's offense look like in 2020? Air raid-esque? RPO-centric? Ultimately, what is probably best, and also what I hope we'll see, is a blend of all the new voices in the room: Monken's Air Raid underpinnings, emphasis on the vertical passing game, and use of the pistol to create downhill running opportunities, combined with Matt Luke's RPO and counter/pull and lead/quarterback run concepts. This should create a truly diversified offense that can play any style of game, maximize the personnel, and never take its foot off the gas pedal.
Deep ball
Dayne: Oklahoma State flourished under Monken's guidance. Quarterback Brandon Weeden and wide receiver Justin Blackmon both were developed into first round NFL selections. Blackmon caught 18 touchdowns in 2011 and was in the mix for a Heisman invite. Georgia's Sugar Bowl win showed that George Pickens must be a focal point of the offense; Monken can make that happen.
Brent: From a traditional receiver numbers perspective (receptions, yards, and touchdowns), look at the receiving seasons put up in Monken's offenses at Oklahoma State (2011-12) and Southern Mississippi (2015, didn't include '13 and '14 given he took over an 0-12 program):
(source: sports-reference.com/cfb)
- 2011 Oklahoma State - Justin Blackmon - 122 receptions, 1,522 yards and 18 TDs
- 2012 Oklahoma State - Josh Stewart - 101 receptions, 1,210 yards and 7 TDs
- 2015 Southern Miss - Michael Thomas - 71 receptions, 1,391 yards and 14 TDs
That's good for an average of 98 receptions, 1,374 yards and 13 touchdowns. Also, during the three seasons Monken led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers offense, wide receiver Mike Evans averaged 84 receptions for 1,282 yards and eight touchdowns. Now, for comparison's sake, do you know what the Georgia records are for receptions, yards, and touchdowns in a season? Here you go:
- Receptions - 76 - Brice Hunter (1993)
- Yards - 1,004 - Terrance Edwards (2002)
- Touchdowns - 11 - Edwards (2002)
A.J. Green had 848 receiving yards in his suspension-shortened 2010, or that number might be different. Still, if a certainly supremely talented returning receiver stays healthy and has even a slightly below average season compared to Monken's past number-one receivers, Georgia's single-season receiving records might just be in jeopardy.
