Wednesday, June 8, 2011

The Countdown 2011: 87 Days to Go

Marlon Brown: Time to Live up to Expectations

On National Signing Day in 2009, Georgia picked up a commitment (and national letter of intent) from 5 star wide receiver Marlon Brown. The 6'5'' receiver from Memphis' Harding Academy was considered one of the top players in the 2009 class and it appeared as though Georgia had found another superstar to pair with AJ Green. Many thought Brown would stay in state and attend Tennessee (there were reports on UT message boards as early as July 2008 that he had committed to be a Vol). Great expectations were leaped upon Brown when arrived in Athens, but so far those expectations have not been met.

Brown did not see the field for much of Georgia's first few games of 2009 and many thought he was headed for a redshirt. But when the Dawgs travel to Tennessee, Brown was on the field (to a chorus of boos from Vol fans) and made two catches for 15 yards. Those would prove to be his only catches for the entire season. 2009 was a wasted year and in my opinion, Borwn should have stayed on the bench and been granted a redshirt while he adjusted to SEC football.

When AJ Green sat out (and was subsequently suspended) for the first four games of 2010, it was another chance for Brown to step up. He never took hold of the starting job and immediately fell back on depth chart behind Kris Durham. Borwn did make his first career touchdown catch at Colorado, but overall it was another disappointing season. He played in 12 of the 13 games, making 11 catches for 133 yards and one touchdown.

Kris Durham has graduated and AJ Green has left early, leaving Brown the opportunity to become a starter this fall. If the Dawgs hope to continue the success in the passing game they saw last fall, Aaron Murray will need someone other than just Tavarres King to throw to. Hopefully Brown can step up and finally live up to the amount of hype he entered school with.

1 comment:

Dawgfan17 said...

If Brown can make the jump from 11 catches last year to around 25-30 this year (Durham had 32) it would take a lot of pressure off King and the other wide receivers. It would be even more helpful if with his size the majority of those catches came on 3rd downs and in the redzone.