Tuesday News and Notes

Kirby Smart acknowledged Tuesday what we predicted earlier in the season that senior defensive lineman Julian Rochester appears to be heading toward a redshirt year.

NCAA rules allow players to take part four games and still qualify for a redshirt. Rochester who has 19 career starts over his career, has only played in two games this year.

"Maybe we've been thinking about that the whole time. That's kind of what we've been working toward,” Smart said, when asked if the redshirt was a possibility. “It's not set yet because we don't know how many games we've got left, but he did a great job in the Tennessee game. Jordan (Davis) went down, and he filled it. He's done a great job contributing. It's something we've thought about since the beginning of the year."

The former McEachern standout has made two tackles in the two contests that he’s played.

Smart said wide receiver Lawrence Cager (shoulder and ribs) has practiced all week.

“He’s been good,” Smart said. “I wouldn’t say he’s been as good as he’s been the last couple of weeks, but he has repped; he’s practiced, and we’re trying to help him recover.”

Smart said Cager re-injured himself on his first play in Saturday’s 21-14 win over Auburn.

…Offensive lineman Cade Mays (shoulder) was back on the field today, but still appears slowed by the injury he suffered against Auburn.

“Cade didn’t do much yesterday while he was out there,” Smart said. “He did a lot more today as far as reps. We’re hopeful he’s going to be able to go, but he didn’t do a lot yesterday, did more today, and hopefully he’ll do more tomorrow.”

D’Andre Swift ranks second in the SEC in rushing with 1,029 yards, but outside of Georgia, there are probably not a lot of college fans who are aware of how good he is.

“Yeah, you could say that. I definitely don’t think he’s overlooked within our program. He’s not overlooked within the perception of most people who look at these guys, scouts and people like that,” Smart said. “They realize how good he is. We’ve probably been spoiled by some of the guys we’ve had. He’s as good as anybody we’ve had, in my opinion, because he can do it all. There’s no limitation—pass protection, catching the ball, creating, running the ball, vision, toughness. He checks the boxes.”

Swift is coming off an 106-yard effort against Auburn, making him the fifth Bulldog in history to have two seasons of over 1,000 yards.

It’s one of the questions fans critical of Georgia’s offense have asked more than once: why don’t we see more slants in James Coley’s arsenal?

Smart was asked that very question.

“We’ve been a slant team in the past. The first couple of years here, we ran a lot of slants. If you can remember, we ran slants in the spring game. One of the passes that Eric Stokes took from J.J. Holloman went for a Pick-6,” Smart said. “That doesn’t mean it’s a bad play; it doesn’t make it one thing or another, but it's one that we haven’t been extremely successful with.”

No, that doesn’t mean the play has been completely stricken from the playbook.

According to Brent Rollins of Pro Football Focus, Quarterback Jake Fromm has attempted nine slants, competing seven for 65 yards good for three first downs with one drop and one explosive play.

That’s not a lot. But as Smart explained, there are a couple of reasons why we haven’t seen the play as frequently as during those first two campaigns.

“There have been several times we’ve been in empty that we’ve had slants attached, but No. 1, you’ve got to have guys who can win on slants, No. 2, you’ve got to feel good about the coverage you’re getting before the slants,” Smart said. “Basically, we don’t want to give a slant away, as opposed to giving a fade away that has to do with leverage.”

On Dominick Blaylock and coming through in big moments

“He’s done it everywhere. He went to the all-star game (U.S. Army All-American Game) and had two touchdowns, three, whatever it was. He's played big everywhere. He played big in high school playoff games; he had all the indicators of being ready for the moment. There’s no moment too big for Dom. He’s just so level. He’s not up and down. I don’t think the moment is too big for him.”

Smart on playing basketball with Jimbo Fisher at LSU

“This legend has gone too far. First of all, he never played pickup basketball when I was playing. He’s probably forgotten, because he’s gotten to the point where he can’t remember, I guess. But he and [Will] Muschamp played basketball, not me. I was coaching at Valdosta State or somewhere. When I came, the only guy who played was Muschamp. The rest of them were long gone. They were getting ice baths—they didn’t even play basketball. So I didn’t even play basketball with Jimbo. I don’t know; he dreamed that up.”

More on Texas A&M’s split-back sets

“The split-back stuff they do is unique in football now, but it wasn’t unique to us kind of in the early stages of football. Jimbo did it with Dalvin Cook and did an unbelievable job. Coley’s been with him. Can it create problems for you? Yes. It can create a lot of problems for you with a running quarterback, because a quarterback creates almost a wishbone back there, when you’ve got two split back, the quarterback, and a tight end who's blocking and can go anywhere. They do a great job with that. They’ve really hurt some teams with that, and it’s something we’re working on, because we know they’ll be able to use it.”