What We Are Hearing
ATHENS - Dean Legge updates Dawg Post members in the latest edition of What We Are Hearing.
The second announcement of a commitment of the Demetris Robertson saga will take place Saturday. On Monday a Kyle McRae, Cal’s Associate Director of Athletics Communications for Football confirmed a few things.
When I asked if Robertson had been given a release from Cal he responded:
“I will have to check. I believe so, yes. We can confirm that he is no longer with our program.”
Then I asked if Cal was aware if Robertson has applied for a waiver to play in 2018:
“I don’t know what his situation is as far as a waiver is concerned. I just know he’s making an announcement this weekend.”
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My understanding is that it would be unlikely that Robertson would play this fall. Keep in mind, too, that the Savannah native only played in two games last fall… North Carolina and Weber State.
According to reporting from USA Today: “The NCAA’s current eligibility model allows athletes five years (after beginning full-time college enrollment) to play four seasons, but in order to qualify for a redshirt season, a player must not participate in any games in a given season.”
So if, for whatever reason, Robertson tried to recapture his sophomore season from Cal and gain the ability to play three seasons in the next four years, he would likely have to get a waiver form the NCAA for that. I’m not sure it is clear that’s something he’s going to ask for. But if he did he would likely have to get clearance on that from the NCAA.
That could mean, could being the key word, that Robertson would be asking for two waivers rolled up into one. The NCAA typically doesn’t “do” waivers.
But the organization say that waivers are possible:
“A common circumstance is a student-athlete facing a serious medical issue or other personal hardship.”
We don’t know what or why Robertson is leaving Cal. He simply stated that he was leaving Cal “due to personal matters”. What those matters could be or are we can’t know, but it doesn’t “sound” like it would be medical.
In talking with someone who knows the landscape at Alabama, they wondered if the Tide wouldn’t be overwhelmingly interested in the former 5-star player because of his turning his back after committing to Alabama during his high school days.
“You know what though? Everyone who recruited him, Kirby, even Lane (Kiffin) they are all gone expect Saban,” they said. “Obviously it would be up to him. You can’t coach speed.”
If Robertson were to arrive in Athens this fall and play next fall he would be catching passes from two very good quarterbacks - Jake Fromm and Justin Fields. One quarterback guru, and former SEC head coach, said that Fromm probably wouldn’t be replaced this fall “because Kirby loves his moxie, but that Fields is a generational quarterback.”
He went on to add that Fields and Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence were as good a prospects at the position he has seen in his decades of watching and coaching in the league.
No pressure fellas...
That Michael Chigbu was no included in the 2018 roster in the new media guide is not a surprise to those closely following the program. That moves Georgia's scholarship number to 82 heading into the season, so the Bulldogs have some room to play with as the summer goes on.
On the recruiting side of things, there is about two weeks left in the dead period before Georgia's big recruiting weekend. The big thing to remember is that it's still only July. Flips and decommitments will happen down the road like always, but there's still plenty of time for this to turn into a top five or even top three class.
Dawg Post is still expecting numerous commitments to happen in July and August with multiple targets like Warren McClendon and Jermaine Johnson making their commitments "soon".
One target that has been talked about quite a bit is defensive lineman Travon Walker. There has been some rumblings about him and South Carolina recently, but Dawg Post doesn't believe it's too serious at this time. Yes, the Gamecocks are doing a great job and head coach Will Muschamp has somewhat taken over his recruitment, but Dawg Post has a hard time believing Walker will sign with the Gamecocks over the Bulldogs in the end. It's great to have momentum in July, it's better to have it in the fall and December.