The quarterback situation for Georgia football in 2017 is reminiscent of the situation from 2002-to-2004 with David Greene and D.J. Shockley.
Jacob Eason is back in the lineup for Georgia football leaving the Bulldogs with two quality yet unique options at quarterback. Eason is the tall pocket passer, while Jake Fromm is the shorter and more athletic of the duo. This should sound familiar because it’s exactly like Georgia’s quarterback situation from the early 2000’s.
In 2002, the Bulldogs had the incumbent starter David Greene. He was recruited and signed by Georgia’s previous head coach Jim Donnan. Greene was known for standing in the pocket to pick apart defenses.
That year also saw D.J. Shockley shed his redshirt. Mark Richt recruited Shockley at Florida State and he flipped his commitment when Richt took the head coaching job at Georgia. He was shorter than Greene and was more athletic. He had the ability to sit in the pocket, but fans mostly know Shockley as a dual-threat quarterback.
Georgia won games with Greene under-center. He led Georgia to a stunning upset in Knoxville and seven other wins in Richt’s first season. He passed for 2,789 yards with 17 touchdowns. Greene was an obvious choice to start in 2002.
But Shockley wasn’t just some backup. Schools pursued him just as fervorous and he was only a year behind Greene. Plus, he was Richt’s guy. Richt wanted him to come to Florida State when he was their offensive coördinator and he got Shockley to follow him to Athens.
How would Richt handle this situation? Start one and bench the other? Not at all, instead, he tried something different. Greene was the clear starter because of his proven leadership. But Shockley was just as talented and so different that Richt didn’t dare waste his talent.