Big thanks to EC_Dawg over at Leather Helmet Blog for letting me post the following blog as a guest poster on LHB. Feel free to read/comment here or over at LHB here.

I`m enjoying this 2011 season immensely, but I simply can`t help taking a brief peep into what could turn out to be a very exciting 2012. With the victory (albeit an ugly one) over Kentucky under our belts, we now know that we have 3 games remaining in 2011 - GT, the SEC Championship and a bowl game. It`s certainly true that the season would sour a bit if we ended with 3 losses in those games, but even in that worst case scenario we`re talking about a 9-5 season with victories over Tennessee, Florida and Auburn as well as a SEC East Championship. Definitely a resounding bounce back year following that dismal 6-7 campaign a year ago. And, of course, the most optimistic scenario is one beyond most any impassioned fan`s preseason expectation - 12-2 record, SEC Champions and Sugar Bowl Champions. Read that out loud and tell me you don`t get goosebumps.

But salivating over what remains on the 2011 slate isn`t really what this blog is about. We all know that the Dawgs have accomplished this year`s turn-around with a team whose major contributors are underclassmen. With that in mind, I can`t hold back a building excitement about what next season could bring. To really get a feel for things, let`s take a look at the two deep this season:

Now, take a scan at the two-deep there on offense and defense. How many Seniors do you see? I count 5 (4 starters) on offense and 2 (both starters) on defense. That`s a grand total of 7 of our first 44 players that will exhaust their eligibility this year! Now, every off-season includes attrition from various sources including NFL early entry, transfers, academic problems, behavior problems, etc. As much as I`d like to believe these things won`t take place, that viewpoint is simply not realistic. Now, personally, I don`t feel comfortable publicly speculating whether or not a kid will fail academically or behaviorally, so the additional attrition for my analysis will be limited to those players that might decide to test the NFL draft waters.

First, let`s take a look at the offense. Those eligible for early NFL entry would include: Murray, Orson, TKing, MBrown, Burnette and Carlton Thomas. Of those, I believe only 1 would realistically consider the jump, that obviously being Orson. While I think OC7 would grade in the first two rounds, I believe he will come back for his senior year. Call it naivety if you must, but I just believe Orson will feel like there is unfinished business in Athens, and he doesn`t seem the type to leave his business unsettled. As for the graduating seniors, we lose Figgins and White who have been steady in their time in Athens. I think we have solid depth at both the FB and TE positions, so their loss, while certainly not without impact, will be absorbed. The major question mark will be on the offensive line. This group seemed to be our achilles heel earlier this season, but Coach Friend has whipped these boys into shape and they have improved each and every week. Justin Anderson is battle-tested, Cordy Glenn is a first round talent and Ben Jones has been a steady, All-SEC caliber anchor at center. Luckily, Watts Dantzler has seen the field this year, and big things are expected of incoming freshman John Theus, as well as redshirting freshmen Xzavier Ward and Zach Debell. There`s no doubt the tackle spots will take some time to gel, but the talent is there to quickly get up to speed. At center, the drop off should be minimal. Jones had a rough start this season, but has rebounded to earn SEC Offensive Lineman of the week against Florida and Auburn. The good news is that true freshman David Andrews has seen the field and routinely draws rave reviews for his play in practice. He should be able to step right in and become the anchor we`ve enjoyed for the last 4 seasons with Ben.

On to the top 10 nationally ranked defense. The list of eligible NFL early entrants on this side is significantly longer: Jenkins, Geathers, AJones, CWashington, Jarvis, CRobinson, Gilliard, Commings, BSmith, Rambo and SWilliams. Clearly, I do not believe all of those players will bolt, but I do believe at least 2 will. Personally, I believe all of these players need another year with CTG to put themselves in the best position possible to succeed in the NFL. However, we all know the lure of a big professional contract is a strong pull and cannot be ignored by most. I believe Rambo will definitely leave early, so that leaves 1 additional player to meet my prediction of 2 early entrants. The scariest scenario for me would be that Shawn Williams joins Rambo and leaves an already thin safety group dangerously bare. My homerism simply won`t allow me to really consider that situation, so I`m going to predict the most unpredictable of the bunch - Kwame. His family history is rife with seemingly ill-advised early jumps to the NFL, so the precedent is certainly there. I think I read recently that Kwame`s father has stated that they would not be considering the draft this year. Even so, for the sake of this exercise, I`m counting him as an early entry.

So, after reviewing potential attrition, UGA`s 2012 potential two deep might look something like (career starts are approximate because I just guessed for the rest of this season):

Looking closely at each position group, everything looks very strong with the exception of offensive line and safety, as I mentioned earlier. Of the projected starters with no career starts on offense, Zander Ogletree and David Andrews are certainly capable of handling a starting job and have contributed significant minutes thus far this season. The only other projected starter on offense with no starts is true freshman to be John Theus. This projection is based purely on talent, though I think Watts Dantzler, Austin Long and Xzavier Ward could all three push hard for one of the vacated tackle spots. Switching over to defense, there are only two projected starters with no career starts, Garrison Smith and Corey Moore. Smith has played significant minutes in each of the last two seasons, and we should see little, to no drop off with him holding down an end spot. Moore has the talent to be an all conference player and has seen game action in most games this year.

The reason I almost jump out of my chair when looking at this two-deep is that every single name is very talented and most have a significant amount of game and starting experience. The offensive line certainly lacks experienced depth, but in no way, shape or form do they lack talented depth. The biggest area of concern in my mind is safety. Shawn Williams is solid and I believe Corey Moore has the potential to actually eclipse his predecessor Rambo - but depth is definitely a concern. Deas has played sparingly, and Cootie Harrow made everyone jump out of their seat with his hit against Auburn. But I`m not completely sold that either of those guys are really ready to contribute significant minutes. We could move Commings, but that creates a hole at corner. For that reason, I`m thinking one of the talented youngsters currently at cornerback (Chris Sanders or Nick Marshall) will move over to safety in the spring. I chose Marshall simply because he`s bigger and Sanders is coming off surgery.

The 2011 season is already a championship season (SEC East, at least), but, perhaps even more exciting is the outlook of sustaining a championship level. Here`s hoping we get everything started by taking care of the North Avenue Gnats this weekend, and then taking the Dome by storm in December! Go DAWGS!