So It Was Jake Fromm's Fault UGA's Offense Struggled?

ATHENS - So Jake Fromm was the problem with the UGA offense last year?

That’s the argument you’ll hear now, after Fromm was taken in the fifth round of the 2020 NFL Draft by the Bills. Next thing you know Jamie Newman will be a Heisman Trophy candidate… wait. 

This is what we do. We take one data point and make sweeping generalizations from it. Fromm’s play regressed last fall. I’m not sure if that is up for debate, but I can go back through the numbers and prove that to you, or we can just accept that as reality and move on. 

But that Fromm went backwards was not the exclusive reason for the Dawgs’ failure offensively last season. If that was the case Kirby wouldn’t have sent his offensive coordinator packing in January. 

Fromm was overvalued by most folks heading into the 2019 season, so if the argument is that he didn’t perform up to his previous standard, and that’s the reason why UGA struggled on offense - that’s one point - not a slam-dunk case. 

Georgia’s offense struggled last season for a lot of reasons. There were a lot of reasons the defense was the best in the nation. The offense went from a slew of experienced pass catchers to unproven ones. It went from two provable, reliable running backs to D’Andrew Swift and guys who hadn’t played much or at all. There was a learning curve at running back to some degree. That wasn’t a major thing, but every little thing adds up. 

And, as noted above, UGA’s offense went to an offensive coordinator who continued to delivered medium results that he did in the past when he was in that spot at other schools. But, for the headline’s sake, we must go for shock value. That’s what happens because that’s what works. One single talking point - a bumper sticker slogan for a wolrd that loves that. 

The truth is that Jake Fromm went backwards in 2019 vs. his 2018 performance. The truth is, too, that he also played pretty damned well in some big games - vs. No. 7 Notre Dame, vs. No. 6 Florida and vs. No. 7 Baylor. 

It is possible for two or even three things to be true at the same time. Example: I love my wife. I wish that she would hustle up a little quicker when we are leaving to go places - both are true. It is possible that Fromm regressed, the offense didn’t score as many points and that Fromm isn’t the “only” reason why UGA struggled. 

But acknowledging that involves something moving towards critical thinking, and we don’t do that well right now as a sports society… we never have.