It's hard not to get excited about A.J. Green. The Dawgs' top recruit has been turning heads ever since pre-season camp began.

I have seen Green in practice and I must say he is every bit as advertised. He's tall, fast and full of confidence. And now he has been moved up to number two on the depth chart at flanker behind senior Mohamed Massaquoi. This depth chart movement has come with very little action during camp. A hip flexor strain in the early going put him on the sidelines, and it was only this week that we was able to shred the green "no contact" jersey.

There is also quite a bond developing between Green and Massaquoi. At the first football media day in Athens back on August 4th, Mo Mass talked a great deal about Green. And it's very apparent that the senior has taken the freshman under his wing.

So here's my thought. See what you think. The media and much of the talk preseason is, rightfully so, about Knowshon Moreno. However, with Matthew Stafford in his third year at quarterback and a bevy of talented receivers, the passing game and the play-action stand to have a big year.

Stafford is the leader of this team. The reports out of pre-season camp have made that abundantly clear. And this season, to go with Massaquoi and Green he has three solid tight ends, plus Kenneth Harris and Kris Durham return from last season. Add Tony Wilson, Demiko Goodman and Michael Moore along with freshmen Tavarres King and Israel Troupe and the corps is talented and deep.

If you key your eyes on the running game this season, you just may miss the best action, and that should be Stafford and the passing game. It just may be one of the best in the nation.

If you are one of the many who want to jump off the Bridge at the Tate Center because of the injury to Trinton Sturdivant, then don't let me stand in your way.

But for the rest of us who take a more sane approach to UGA football, life is going to be just fine.

The injury to arguably the best sophomore offensive lineman in the SEC is, no doubt, a big blow to this team, but a close look at the roster will tell you that as far as the "o-line" is concerned, this team is plenty deep.

The tragic part of all of this is not the fact that his departure will leave a void at left tackle. It is that it happened to a truly fine young man who was, and probably still is, destined to be a top NFL draft pick once his Dawg Days are done.

Left tackles are a valuable breed. They are the ones employed (or in the case of a college player, enrolled) to watch the backside of a right handed quarterback. The book entitles The Blind Side by Michael Lewis chronicles how a good left tackle over the years has become quite the commodity in the NFL.

So we will watch the rehab and then development of Sturdivant over the next couple of years, and see where this journey takes him...and the Dawgs.

As far as the roster is concerned, there are sixteen interior offensive linemen listed. Redshirt sophomore Josh Davis is slated to be given first crack at filling the void left by Sturdivant, but there are plenty of talented guys who can move in, and I feel, do the job.

I am at that age (and maybe you are, too) where the games and seasons arrive in rapid fire succession. There is always another game, and there is always another player to step in. So it's time to as the old cliché goes: Take a Chill Pill. The Dawgs are going to be fine.

But come back to see me if any more linemen get hurt, and we may jump off that bridge together.

ATHENS--Coach Mark Richt was mad, and no one could blame him. It was the first media day in Athens prior to the first practice of 2008, and he wanted to talk about the team, but all he could talk about was the trouble.

He knew this going in. His opening statement mentioned the off-field problems and the distractions they have been causing the team. For the next 30 minutes he fielded questions about his team; 98 percent of which were about disclipline. You could see that this fine coach, who prides himself with not only teaching the game of football, but also helping young men succeed in live, was hurt and disappointed about the recent wave of problems.

Since the Monday press conference, though, the news has been encouraging for the Dawgs. The weather has been in usual August-like in Georgia, and the reports have been that the team is pushing hard and practicing well.

Sometimes adversity can pull a team together, and just maybe all the negative press that the media feeds on in today's society, will help the young men to a good season. The reports of top wide out recruit AJ Green are encouraging, even though he has suffered a mild hip flexor strain to hold him back. There has been good competition at offensive line, and at the number two running back spot. We all new Caleb King would be considered as the number two, but according to Chip Towers of the AJC, apparently true freshmen Richard Samuel and Dontavius Jackson are making a serious run at playing time as well.

The key word for any successful college football team is depth. If the players can continue to step up, this number one ranking may not have been too much as many are led to believe.