The Countdown 2010: 98 Days to Go

98:Greg Blue, Safety #17 (2002 – 2005)

Blue doing his best WWF impression on a Commodore.

Greg Blue was a 6’2’’, 215 pound, killing machine. The safety from Atlanta’s Banneker High School came to Athens as a member of Mark Richt’s first recruiting class. He was red-shirted in the fall of 2001 and saw his first game action during the 2002 SEC Championship season. Playing behind Thomas Davis and Sean Jones, Blue made 42 total tackles for the Georgia defense that finished fourth in the nation. He continued his back-up role in 2003, registering another 42 tackles, along with two QB pressures and three pass deflections.

In 2004, Blue earned a starting role at rover. Working along-side All-American Thomas Davis, the duo was one of the hardest-hitting pairs in all of college football. Blue totaled 80 tackles, a sack, three tackles for a loss, and caused three fumbles. During his senior season, Blue was named a permanent defensive caption for a team that would win the second SEC title of his career. Blue led Georgia with 96 total tackles and hauled in two interceptions. The secondary finished seventh in the nation in pass defense and Blue received a wide variety of accolades, including being a member of the All-SEC team and a consensus All-American (AP, AFCA, Walter Camp). Here is a look at some of the highlights from Blue’s career:

For his career, Blue totaled 176 tackles and was a member of two SEC Championship teams. He was drafted in the 5th round of the 2006 NFL Draft by the Minnesota Vikings. After a successful rookie season, he was cut during training camp in 2007. He has continued his football career in Canada, playing with the Toronto Argonauts.

The Countdown 2009: 17 Days to Go

17

Number worn by former Georgia safety Greg Blue. Blue was known for his viscious hits, including this one against Auburn:

The Georgia D: What’s Missing?

The debate about who is responsible for the demise of the Georgia defense has spread out of control this week. Many are calling for the firing of Willie Martinez (under whom the Georgia defense has seen a steady decline in points allowed per game over the last few years).

Others have claimed that injuries or a failure to develop a serious pass rush from the defensive end position are the culprits for the lack of defensive production. Despite these arguments, I believe the reason Georgia is struggling on defense (particularly in the red zone, where we are allowing touchdowns on 68% of opponents’ possessions as compared to 49% last year), is the lack of a playmaker at the safety position.

Let’s take a quick look back at some of the guys that made the safety position great over the last few years.

Sean Jones
Jones was a vicious hitter but also a great shut down player in the secondary. He was also a key member of the special teams unit (see Auburn 2002 for proof).


Thomas Davis
Davis came to Georgia as a linebacker, but became a breakthrough player as a safety his sophomore year in 2003. Who can forget the huge hits he laid in the destruction of LSU in 2004:


Greg Blue
One of the hardest hitters I have ever seen. Blue wasn’t known for his coverage skills, but SEC teams knew that if they came over the middle he would be there to light them up:


Tra Battle
A walk on who became a star for the Georgia defense. Despite his small size, Battle was a great tackler and also defended well in coverage. The Auburn game in 2006 stamped his name in the Georgia record books:


What do all of these players, along with Jermaine Phillips, Kentrell Curry, and Kelin Johnson, have in common? They all played the safety position with a linebacker mentality. In the current defense that Georgia uses (which is the same basic scheme under Martinez as it was under Van Gorder), we tend to rush four linemen and drop our linebackers into coverage. In the past, one of our safeties has pressed up with the linebackers to help stop the run and shut down passes over the middle. This is evident in guys like Thomas Davis being the team’s leading tackler from the safety position. These guys have also put themselves in positions to make game changing plays. Sean Jones’ 95 yard scoop and score at Tennessee in 2003 and Kelin Johnson’s opening play pick against Auburn in ’07 are great examples.

This year’s team is missing that guy in the secondary who strikes fear in the opponents’ runners and receivers. Rennie Curran seems to be everywhere at the linebacker position, but how often do we see CJ Byrd right there with him? Not very often. Reshad Jones has all of talent in the world to be a head hunter like Greg Blue, but he has proven time and again that he can’t make easy interceptions. And Drew Williams is a good player on special teams, but he does not have any business being our first safety off the bench.

While I am not completely against a change at defensive coordinator, I am aware that a coach can only do so much. If the players don’t step up to the plate and make the plays when they have the chance, the team will look like it has failed. What Georgia needs to do is rally around the team we have and find that swagger that once existed in the Georgia defense. We’ve got two games left in the ’08 season, let’s make them count.

GO DAWGS!!!

Georgia vs. Vanderbilt Memories - Greg Blue

During his time at Georgia, we saw Greg Blue de-cleat a number of opposing players. I think his best hit came at Vanderbilt in 2005.



He learned this move watching WWF as a child.