Georgia Football: Is Greyson Lambert the Answer at Quarterback?
What will Greyson Lambert bring to the Georgia football team when he arrives in Athens?
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What does Greyson Lambert bring to Georgia football? More questions.
Kyle Kensing of todaysu.com says as a freshman, Lambert arrived in Charlottesville the answer to the lingering Virginia quarterback problem but left as just another in a line of Cavalier migrant quarterbacks. Lambert is the seventh quarterback to transfer out of the Virginia program since 2011.
“Lambert’s play for Virginia was erratic at best,” said Kensing. “He threw more interceptions (11) than touchdowns (10), and completed just 59 percent of his pass attempts. His up-and-down play resulted in his benching in favor of Matt Johns at various times in 2014.”
But was the problem Lambert or was it Virginia?
He’s from Georgia and he never really lost that
Matt Johns replaced Lambert many times in games during 2014. Was Lambert looking over his shoulder?
“In some ways yes and some ways no.” said Brad Franklin of CavsCorner, in an interview with Anthony Dasher and Radi Nabulsi of UGAsports.com , “They were going through some tumultuous years with their quarterbacks. It was kind of a revolving door so I think that experience played a role.”
“[Lambert and Matt Johns] were kind of I-A and I-B. The staff never really made a change as far as the depth chart but they would consistently play Matt whenever Greyson would struggle.”
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Franklin suggested to UGAsports.com that something was wrong between Lambert’s ears. “He didn’t seem like his normal kind of jovial, confident self in the few times I got to talk to him in the spring. He still answered every question, he was good with all the media folks, but it just seemed he had an edge.”
Johns overcame Lambert to claim the top quarterback spot coming out of Virginia’s 2015 spring practice.
Jerry Ratcliffe of the Charlottesville Daily Progress told Seth Emerson of the AJC.com’s ugasportsblog, “The majority of his interceptions were killers that cost a team wins that it couldn’t afford to lose.” Lambert arrived at Virginia with a lot to learn about passing reads and progressions and Ratcliffe believes that decision making is still an issue along with inconsistent accuracy.
Virginia’s lack offensive skills is well documented. The running game was ineffective, the line was young, and downfield threats were absent. In speaking with Emerson, Ratcliffe still places responsibility for poor play squarely on Lambert’s shoulders. “Lambert was not surrounded by the kind of talent that he will likely have at Georgia, he still underachieved at times in the grand scheme of things.”
Brad Franklin was more generous when speaking to UGAsports.com. “I don’t think he was put in position where he could really ever go downfield a lot and that was something that I don’t think played to his skill set.”
Franklin sees the Virginia program as a partner in Greyson’s failings, saying to UGAsports.com, “UVA didn’t have a lot of experience on the offensive line. They had some experience at running back but they didn’t have many playmakers so in an effort to kind of jumpstart the offense, they did pretty much everything out of the shotgun.”
Still, Lambert’s interception problem is undeniable. “He’s a lot of the tools, but sometimes he doesn’t trust what he’s seeing.”
There is no denying that Lambert is a big quarterback with a big arm and is a very smart young man. For Lambert to help Georgia, he must clear his head of the Virginia past, learn the offense, and be accurate.
Then there is this, said Franklin, “He’s from Georgia and he never really lost that element of himself even though he was a ways from home.”