PJ is 10 times the coach Gailey was. PJ's problem comes down to recruiting. He has trouble recruiting talented players.
Here's my take on PJ's recruiting. His first true class 2008 sucked. It just did. Call it what it is. Got to remember that a lot of those kids were Gailey's recruits that PJ took over. But we had to play a lot of them because the depth stunk when PJ took over even though we had some studs at certain positions like DE, RB, and Safety. Certain guys took forever to develop like TJ Barnes who is still a question mark. But very little from that class was serviceable until year four of their careers. Big part is we missed on recruiting a stellar QB which is understandable for the first 2008 class. We missed on every Linebacker in that class (which were all Gailey holdovers) and other than Uzzi, no one has turned out to be a stud, but some of them certainly serviceable. We played guys like Cooper Taylor and Rashad Reid out of need because our secondary was absolutely horrendous everywhere but Morgan Burnett. Then both those players from that class disappeared the next year because of injuries.
2009 was a good recruiting class but we missed big on our Quarterback prospect for the second year in a row which in my opinion cost us better results in the 2010 season when Nesbitt went down to injury. The bigger key is 2010 showed just how badly of a recruiter Gailey was. 2007's studs had flown for the NFL and we were left with your normal Gailey recruits which were pretty sorry.
We have the best depth right now with solid players in the secondary, linebackers, oline, runningback positions, etc. mainly due to this 2009 class. We lost Stephen Hill to the draft which hurts because our WR recruiting has been our short coming. But the 2009 class is one of our better classes and most of them were redshirted so we got 4th year players who have two years remaining other than a few like Smith, Sweeting, and Cross.
2010 was a small class but solid talent. It really hurt that our DT prospects have not worked out thus far. Green to injury big and McCoy to heart condition. This year will speak volumes about this class. The bigger deal for this class is we failed to address the QB position with someone who lets face it, is a QB. When we recruited Days, I said from the beginning that I had little hope that he would be a QB for us. But Days could be a monster somewhere else, we just got to find a place for him. We were able to instantly upgrade our linebackers in this class and we have some athletes that look to see the field this year their third.
2011's seems underrated to me. Vad Lee was the answer to our QB recruiting issues, but again, he still hasn't done it on the field but he's only a second year player. We seem to have bolstered our depth at Linebacker, and OLine especially with good talent. We're finally recruiting bigger OTs too. I was disappointed with this class when they signed, but looking at the "reaches" on players then, it seems some of these guys are making a case for serious playing time. Like Laskey and Macordes. Both were WTF? recruits at the time, but they look to be true finds.
Too early to tell on 2012's class but it does address a lot of the problem areas on depth as well as stock pile some players.
PJ's recruiting has shown three weak areas:
1.) WR. We have to find some players at this position and in year 5, we haven't shown enough other than hitting on one Stephen Hill who never reached his full potential at GT.
2.) QB. We have to recruit a higher class of QB, and we have the last two years. Problem is they are young. Before that we have flat out missed on prospects for QB.
3.) B-back. Better find one that can produce. I have not written Sims or Perkins off. I think Sims can be a star but he needs to get off the injured list. After this year Perkins will be a bust if he doesn't produce. Laskey... I'll believe he's the answer when I see it but the kid looks to at least be a player and will push the other guys if he's not the next best white RB in college football.
I would also say we've missed at DT, but honestly, we've just been very unlucky with injuries and development here. We've recruited fine for this position but it just hasn't happened for whatever reason.
What I'm most happy about is that we are finally recruiting a higher class of QB, our OLine recruiting is better than its been since O'Leary was here. Chan sucked at recruiting OLineman. Our DLineman seem to be poised to be as productive as the 2008 team. Not as talented but certainly very deep especially at the DE position. Linebacker is loaded and our secondary is the best its been since Wille Clay, Curley Day and Ken Swilling were at the flats.
I expect a 9-4 season this year with a loss to UGA and a bowl win. Next year... look out.
