In Theory It Looks Like a Great Idea, But...

With Sanders Commings suspended for two games and Nick Marshall and Chris Sanders now playing JUCO football, depth in the secondary has suddenly become an issue for Georgia. One idea that has been floated around and now commented on by Coach Richt is letting rising sophomore Malcolm Mitchell spend time at corner. And while this sounds like an idea that may work (I have no doubt Mitchell could be a very good CB in the SEC), I would rather not see our rising star at receiver playing both ways. Here are the reasons why.

#1 - His greatest potential is at the receiver position. Malcolm had a fantastic freshman season, catching 45 passes for 665 yards and four touchdowns. And he did it while missing three full games to injury. While those numbers are not quite AJ Green level, they are comparable to Mohammed Massaquoi (38 for 505, 2), Fred Gibson (33 for 772, 6) and Terrence Edwards (53 for 772). Mitchell has the potential to be one of the best receivers in Georgia history, why divert his attention?

#2 - Speaking of those three games he missed, is it worth it to risk an injury. He got hurt running a simple deep route and it took a month to recover. AJ Green ended up missing a lot of time due to injury and I don't want that to happen to Malcolm.

#3 - Playing Mitchell at corner this year will not help us prepare for 2013. The entire second will graduate after this year. We need to get some experience in those young players like Bowman, Swann, and Dawson. Let them fill in Commings role against Buffalo and Missouri. In case anyone else gets hurt, at least these guys will have some real experience.

#4 - We may need him to return kicks. This is the one place where missing out on Patterson really hurt. While Branden Smith will get first crack, I am still concerned about his tendency to fumble.

#5 - He's not Champ Bailey. Malcolm Mitchell is a phenomenal player, but to put any kind of expectation that he could perform like Bailey is asinine.