Late last week, reports started to surface that Georgia had interest in Virginia quarterback Greyson Lambert, who was looking to transfer after losing the starting job in Charlottesville. Following a visit to Athens this past weekend, Greyson Lambert has made the decision to make the transfer official, further clouding the quarterback situation for the Bulldogs.
Here’s what you need to know about UGA’s new quarterback:
1) Greyson Lambert will compete for the starting job
Georgia offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer is relishing in the fact that he now has four quarterbacks to compete for the starting job. In a nutshell, that is exactly what Lambert is being brought in to do – stir up the competition.
“You’re talking to someone who was in the NFC West the past two years playing with just two or three quarterbacks a year,” Schottenheimer said. “Unfortunately, injuries are part of the process. It doesn’t matter if it’s quarterback, it doesn’t matter if it’s offensive line, we’re trying to create competition. We think that leads to guys raising their level of play, raising their standards so that’s what we’re trying to do.”
The added competition is meant to bring out the best in all four scholarship quarterbacks, as they all look for playing time in an increasingly crowded field. Lambert may have a sharp learning curve with a new system and a new playbook, but he isn’t too far behind the others, since Schottenheimer’s system is new to everyone. If Lambert can come into summer practices firing on all cylinders, he has a real shot to supplant Brice Ramsey or Faton Bauta as the potential starting quarterback for the Bulldogs. He has a leg up on both when it comes to real game experience, as Ramsey and Bauta have combined to throw just 44 passes combined in their respective careers. Lambert started nine games last season for Virginia, completing 154 of 261 passes for 1,632 yards.
2) Greyson Lambert has 2 years of eligibility
After graduating from UVA, Lambert comes to Athens with two full years of eligibility remaining. He is also eligible immediately because he is a graduate transfer. This could make life interesting for Brice Ramsey, Faton Bauta and Jacob Park. Because Lambert isn’t just a one-year rental before he heads off to greener pastures, he could have a major impact on the dynamic at the quarterback position. If he wins the job outright, both Ramsey and Bauta would have something to think about. Is it possible that one transfers to another school where they will start after sitting out a year? Would they stick around to see if the Lambert experiment falters, ready to be the saving grace for the Dawgs? Does Jacob Eason’s potential next season factor in to any transfer decisions? Only time will tell, but I would imagine the saga continues throughout the summer.
3) Greyson Lambert can be a turnover machine
This is something that most UGA fans will not want to hear. Lambert has a penchant for making questionable decisions and turning the ball over. Many people, when they think of Matt Stafford’s time at Georgia, remember him throwing off his back foot when under pressure. For Stafford, he could generally get away with it because of his ridiculous arm strength. Greyson Lambert is kind of like your poor man’s Matt Stafford. He has a strong arm, but perhaps not strong enough for him to get away with throwing off his back foot under duress. In his career (16 total appearances), he has thrown 13 interceptions. The last thing Georgia wants is a quarterback who is careless with a defender in his face. It helps that Georgia has such a strong running game, but still, if Lambert starts, SEC defenses will do their best to try and make him uncomfortable inside and outside the pocket to force a mistake. It would take a strong offensive line and continuous coaching to minimize the mistakes.
When all is said and done, it appears Georgia wants there to be just one guy at quarterback for the season opener against Louisiana-Lafayette. When asked if Georgia would be willing to have a platoon system, Schottenheimer said: “I wouldn’t think so. We expect somebody will come out of this deal as a winner. Coach Richt and I both believe that you need to find one guy. Now we’ve gotta make sure we find the right guy.”
After so much stability at the quarterback position over the past four or five years with Aaron Murray and Hutson Mason, this is uncharted territory for the Dawgs, of late. A lot can (and will) happen between now and September 5, and there’s one thing of which Georgia fans can be certain: it’s going to be one interesting summer in Athens. Hold on to your silver britches, Georgia fans. 94 more days until kickoff!
Main Photo:
