When reading all these "character issue" reports, especially the ones now being reported post draft, it's easy to say "oh there's just nothing to this", but that's probably just not true. There's a lot of smoke, there's probably at least some type of fire. I just don't buy that it's all to make his draft stock fall.
Now THAT said, it's important to remember the context in which these convos are happening:
- Kirby is very up front with players that he's going to be very EXTREMELY honest about things like practice effort and dedication when NFL coaches come calling
- Georgia is a program that's putting out several ELITE players every year
- There exist some (albeit very very few) true freaks of nature that can put in a 6 out of 10 effort at practice and contribute at UGA.
It just seems exceedingly likely to me that Jalen Carter is one of those dudes, who has enough God given talent that even with mediocre effort he was the best on any field he stepped on. George Pickens was a lot like that as well I imagine.
That kind of gift can lead to some behavioral stuff, sure, but what really magnifies the situation is standing next guys like Jordan Davis, Nakobe Dean, Nolan Smith, guys who are both elite physically and elite character additions for the locker room. Kirby is going to be honest and draw that distinction, both to be fair to the guys that put in the effort, and to be overly honest with coaches to build trust for future drafts.
Combine all that with the fact due to the intensity of training at UGA a 6 out of 10 effort is likely a 8-9 at other programs, and "lower effort" guys are really going to stand out here. We had top 10 draft picks last season, we'll have some next season. We're not going to gloss over certain incidences just to try to make sure we have one this year, something that I imagine is pretty common at other programs.
Jalen will be fine, and in fact our coaching staff making these observations likely resulted in a much more sustainable landing place for him. The difference in a 2 year behavioral flame out, and sticking out a 10 year career because he got drafted by a team that felt comfortable with the supporting infrastructure around a player like him could be literally a $100 million swing.
Now THAT said, it's important to remember the context in which these convos are happening:
- Kirby is very up front with players that he's going to be very EXTREMELY honest about things like practice effort and dedication when NFL coaches come calling
- Georgia is a program that's putting out several ELITE players every year
- There exist some (albeit very very few) true freaks of nature that can put in a 6 out of 10 effort at practice and contribute at UGA.
It just seems exceedingly likely to me that Jalen Carter is one of those dudes, who has enough God given talent that even with mediocre effort he was the best on any field he stepped on. George Pickens was a lot like that as well I imagine.
That kind of gift can lead to some behavioral stuff, sure, but what really magnifies the situation is standing next guys like Jordan Davis, Nakobe Dean, Nolan Smith, guys who are both elite physically and elite character additions for the locker room. Kirby is going to be honest and draw that distinction, both to be fair to the guys that put in the effort, and to be overly honest with coaches to build trust for future drafts.
Combine all that with the fact due to the intensity of training at UGA a 6 out of 10 effort is likely a 8-9 at other programs, and "lower effort" guys are really going to stand out here. We had top 10 draft picks last season, we'll have some next season. We're not going to gloss over certain incidences just to try to make sure we have one this year, something that I imagine is pretty common at other programs.
Jalen will be fine, and in fact our coaching staff making these observations likely resulted in a much more sustainable landing place for him. The difference in a 2 year behavioral flame out, and sticking out a 10 year career because he got drafted by a team that felt comfortable with the supporting infrastructure around a player like him could be literally a $100 million swing.
