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Georgia Bulldogs: Kirby Smart continues to play the waiting game

By Kathryn Morrison

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Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart has still yet to name a starting quarterback. The Bulldogs are now under two weeks away from their season opener against the North Carolina Tar Heels.

Though there has been much anticipation that the Georgia Bulldogs might name a starting quarterback this week, it appears that everyone will have to wait. How much longer? According reports, Bulldogs first year head coach Kirby Smart may be waiting until game time to name a starter.

But just because he hasn’t officially named a starter, does that necessarily mean the Bulldogs don’t have one? It appears based on his recent comments that the tone has shifted from “we don’t know who the starter should be,” to “we’re not ready to name him.” When it comes down to it, the wait seems to now be directly related to attempting to keep North Carolina in the dark.

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VIA Marc Weiszer of the Athens Banner- Herald:

"“We’re not ready to name a starter,” Smart said in an interview with 960 The Ref’s David Johnston Monday evening before Smart spoke to the Touchdown Club of Athens at Athens Country Club. “But we’ve got to start focusing on the right guys getting the right reps.”Fifth-year senior Greyson Lambert, freshman Jacob Eason and redshirt junior Brice Ramsey are competing for the starting job.Eason worked more with the first-team last week as coaches got a more extensive look at the five-star rated early enrollee.Smart suggested later when speaking to the Touchdown Club meeting that he may keep the starter under wraps in the lead up to the Sept. 3 opener against North Carolina in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff game.“Here’s my question, just because we don’t announce one does that mean there’s not one?” said Smart, who prefaced his comments by saying that there was media in the audience, indicating he would tread carefully with what he said “My thing is I’m sitting here thinking what does North Carolina want to know? Why should I give them information? They’re not giving me information. I’m not going to give them information. That’s not in the protocol for us. We’ll do what we think is best to not only win this game but help the future of this program and also develop our players and out team for this year.”"

So…again, Eason or Lambert?

So the Georgia Bulldogs could have already chosen a starter, but then the question still remains for all of us…”who?” If you’re looking to Coach Smart for that answer, you’re likely to get mixed signals. The race seems to have been narrowed down to freshman Jacob Eason and senior Greyson Lambert as the top two contenders. Early on Coach Smart indicated that it was a tight race, as both players bring something different to the table.

Last Saturday, Coach Smart stated that Eason would be given “an opportunity to make more plays.” As of Tuesday’s practice, it appeared Eason was still getting first-team offensive reps. But if your thought process ranking Smart’s choice goes: Eason, Lambert, Ramsey, don’t be so quick to hand Eason the spot.

Lambert is still a serious competitor in the quarterback race because he brings experience in game management. According to Coach Smart, “You’re sitting there with Greyson, who’s played for us and been very valuable and you want to have experience at that position to help in these games.” That’s the experience working under Nick Saban coming out in him.

Next: Bulldogs ranked No. 18 in preseason AP poll

Regardless of his decision, fans can trust that it will be the right one. With Smart, nothing is earned, so rest assured that the player he chooses deserves to be there.

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