Georgia Football Breakout 'Players' for 2020: No. 2 — OC Todd Monken
Okay, so he's not a player, but he's the new offensive architect through which breakouts will break out.
After a 2019 Georgia football season criticized for a lack of offensive production, Bulldog faithful celebrated the hire of recently departed Cleveland Browns offensive coordinator Todd Monken in January.
Unafraid of spreading receivers outside the numbers, he brings a true spread offense to Athens and, either despite the losses of former starters or because of them, has the chance to implement his own offensive philosophy with the few mainstays, the former rotational players, and new recruits.
As a reminder, the Dawgs have to scheme offensively after having lost the following contributors:
- Quarterback Jake Fromm (draft, Buffalo Bills)
- Tailback D’Andre Swift (draft, Detroit Lions)
- Tailback Brian Herrien (graduation, signed with Cleveland Browns as undrafted free agent)
- Tackle Andrew Thomas (draft, New York Giants)
- Tackle Isaiah Wilson (draft, Tennessee Titans)
- Guard Solomon Kindley (draft, Miami Dolphins)
- Utility lineman Cade Mays (transfer)
- Receiver Tyler Simmons (graduation, signed with Houston Texans as undrafted free agent)
- Receiver Lawrence Cager (graduation, signed with New York Jets as undrafted free agent)
- Tight end Charlie Woerner (draft, San Francisco 49ers)
- Tight end Eli Wolfe (graduation, signed with Baltimore Ravens as undrafted free agent)
That’s a long list of empty starting positions.
The Dawgs did however welcome graduate transfers for positions of need in Wake Forest quarterback transfer Jamie Newman and in Florida State graduate transfer tight end Tre’ McKitty. Georgia has an annual influx of tailback talent and almost always has at least one true freshman contributing, and while replacing four offensive linemen is a tall task for any OC, the Bulldogs have recruited well enough on the line in the past five years to where that should be a next-man-up sort of situation in 2020.
McKitty will be the featured tight end in 11 personnel and has the strength and size to block in 21 personnel, though expect to see him occasionally line up as a true receiver in 10 personnel. During his sophomore and junior seasons at FSU, he hauled in a total of 49 passes for 497 yards.
As a runner, Newman's speed and vision could have made him the best tailback on the Demon Deacons' most recent roster, and his offensive line had little to do with that. As a passer, his cannon of an arm was never properly showcased as a result of the all-too-consistent pocket collapse. The high-profile grad transfer looks to become Georgia’s first legitimate dual-threat starting quarterback since D.J. Shockley in 2005 and will work under the perfect coordinator to further boost his draft stock.
Todd Monken is a very adaptive coordinator, a master of minor adjustments. His playbook is thick and he schemes based upon the personnel he has available, never staying rigid; something’s not working or an injury happens mid-game and he’s not afraid to change his game plan around it. Semi-related: Monken has so much four and five-star talent at his disposal that he’s not just able to keep the defense guessing as to who’s getting the ball, he’s going to be able to spread the ball around, lighten loads, and prevent fatigue for all involved.
Monken’s offenses have a higher pass-to-run ratio than Georgia fans may be used to, about a 60-40 split compared to Georgia’s ratio of roughly 40-60 over the last four seasons under Kirby Smart. With available speedsters Dominick Blaylock, George Pickens, and Demetris Robertson playing in more space with a veteran quarterback, I could see the Dawgs approaching an even 50-50 offense in the upcoming season.
That would hypothetically lead to a dip in time of possession for a team familiar with controlling the clock, but the change would unlikely be drastic unless Monken calls plays as he did with Brandon Weeden and Justin Blackmon when Oklahoma State won the 2012 Fiesta Bowl.
His passing game has historically operated as follows: getting the ball to the best players in space results in chunk yardage after the catch, even if just falling forward for a few extra yards. There’s a completion for eight yards followed by a completion for thirteen yards followed by a completion of six yards, the defense bites down and plays a bit closer, at which point he dials up a deep route to his best receiver in a one-on-one situation and his team scores on a quick strike.
If the deep ball isn’t there, a good bit of his redzone play design is based on drawing double teams to his biggest goal line receiving threats, who in Monken’s inaugural season will likely be Pickens first and McKitty second.
Imagine George Pickens in a spread offense playing in more space when he’s not attracting double coverage. Now, imagine a 1200 yard sophomore season.
Monken is a heavy proponent of utilizing running backs as receivers in short-yardage situations and doesn’t shy away from motioning the back out to form an empty set. Tailbacks James Cook and Kenny McIntosh, adept at catching out of the backfield, are prime candidates to occasionally move up to the line of scrimmage for short routes.
It's worth noting that Jamie Newman ran quarterback counters with great success out of empty backfields while at Wake Forest, something that Matt Luke displayed a liking for during his time as the head coach at Ole Miss.
Because of his flexibility, the new offensive coordinator should have little trouble establishing a new offensive identity for the Bulldogs despite the nearly blank slate of (presumed) offensive starters. It may not be the air raid we’ve seen from him in the past, but Todd Monken looks to take Georgia’s offense further into modernity.
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