Hot Reads (4/5)

I know that one story seemed to dominate the Georgia news this week, so it might have been hard to keep track of everything else that was going on. But fear not -- for those of you who were strictly concerned with the injury to walk-on running back Kalvin Daniels and missed everything else, allow me to fill in the blanks with this week's Hot Reads.

1.) Damon Evans is sly like a Fox. It came out of left field -- much like I thought it might -- but Georgia finally landed its basketball coach. After a frantic 24 hours in which it appeared Mike Anderson might be headed to Athens, Damon Evans finally announced the real hire -- Nevada's Mark Fox. Fox has a strong basketball background, but he's not exactly the big name many fans were expected. Nevertheless, he has a big opportunity and a lot of work ahead of him, and his success or failure will cast a long shadow over Evans' tenure as athletics director.

2.) More problems at D-End. Georgia's depth chart at defensive end got even more shallow this week. First, Demarcus Dobbs injured his foot last week and underwent surgery on Tuesday. Then, Jeremy Longo injured his shoulder and will miss the rest of the spring. That left Georgia with just two healthy scholarship DEs, meaning coaches had to try a bunch of crazy options, including Darryl Gamble spending some time rushing the passer and two walk-on tight ends moving to D-end just to get through the spring. Of course, by the summer, Georgia should have plenty of weapons at the position (along with a bevy of other returners ... although one lineman won't play at all next season) but even now, one of the two remaining defensive ends has managed to make a splash.

3.) Diamond Dogs have highs and lows. The week started off with some big honors for Georgia slugger Rich Poythress, who is having a big season so far. Then the No. 1 ranked Georgia baseball team swept a home-and-home series with Clemson. But when LSU came to town, things got a bit more difficult. Georgia dropped two of three in front of some stellar crowds at Foley Field.

4.) QBs find some consistency. The offense belongs to Joe Cox now, and he has shown he's ready for the job. He has also taken Georgia's two freshmen quarterbacks under his wing this spring. While rishing sophomore Logan Gray continues to develop in hopes of nailing down the No. 2 job behind Cox, freshmen Aaron Murray and Zach Mettenberger are making some noise of their own. Mettenberger's numbers haven't been great, but his coaches are pleased with his progress. Murray, on the other hand, has been the star of Georgia's two scrimmages thus far.

5.) Competition heats up as spring winds down. With just one week of spring practice remaining, head coach Mark Richt is hoping to get his starters all working on the same page. Some battles, such as the job of starting running back, haven't offered much in the way of progress. Caleb King has been hot and cold, while Carlton Thomas has been the more impressive runner. Heck, even Fred Munzenmaier has gotten in on the action. At wide reciever, A.J. Green remains a star, but the Bulldogs are wondering who will step up to take some of the pressure off of their big-time receiver. Regardless of who ends up landing the jobs, developing some vocal leaders remains a top priority.