JP: Do you think Joe Cox will have a D.J. Shockley-type season? Can he lead this team to the SEC championship?

KK: While I think Joe Cox will make the most of his chance to be the starter, he lacks D.J. Shockley’s skill set and game experience. Cox hasn’t taken a meaningful snap since the 2006 Ole Miss game and he doesn’t add a new dimension to the offense the way Shockley did. Anyone who is counting on Cox to be Shockleyesque is apt to be disappointed.

Fortunately, Cox doesn’t have to be Shock to get the job done. He is a respected leader playing behind a veteran offensive line. He knows the offense inside and out. He can’t fling it downfield the way Matthew Stafford could, but, given how many of those long bombs ended up in the grass, I don’t know that this is a bad thing. I wouldn’t count on Cox to lead the team to victory in the final two minutes with no time outs, a four-point deficit, and 80 yards of real estate in front of him, but he will not make the same sorts of boneheaded mistakes Stafford was good for at least once a game.

Cox is a game manager in the David Greene mold who will not lose a game through stupidity. With the level of improvement Georgia is likely to see on defense, he won’t have to be D.J. Shockley; it will be enough if Joe C. just turns out not to be Joe T.

JP: Obviously, Logan Gray will backup Cox. The idea is that he’ll come in and change things up for opposing defenses. Does Gray have a future as a starter or will Aaron Murray or Zach Mettenberger leap ahead of him?

KK: Those of us who came of age as football fans in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s still are having a hard time adjusting to the notion that quarterbacks come from someplace other than Valdosta. When a high school all-worlder like Joe Cox can get lost in the shuffle in Athens, we’ve upgraded our talent level under center by leaps and bounds.

I genuinely have no idea who will be starting at quarterback for Georgia in 2010, but I know three things about him. First, he will have earned the position by beating out some stiff competition. Second, he will be well-trained by Mike Bobo, as well as by a head coach who has produced two Heisman Trophy recipients, the winningest quarterback in Division I-A history, and a No. 1 NFL draft pick. Third, he should have his ring size measured and published in the media guide, because he isn’t leaving Athens without some championship accessories.

JP: Georgia has three guys (Caleb King, Richard Samuel and Carlton Thomas) who will see time at tailback. Who emerges as the starter?

KK: At this point, it’s Richard Samuel’s job unless he fumbles it away. While I’m not yet prepared to throw Caleb King atop Jasper Sanks upon the scrapheap of discarded Bulldog tailbacks who failed to pan out, he certainly entered the offseason as the heir apparent and did not make the job his own when given the opportunity. While Carlton Thomas shows promise, his size makes him more likely to be a situational back rather than an every-down performer.

I don’t know that any of these guys is going to be a 30-carry-a-game runner for the Red and Black, but the ‘Dawgs did all right in 1983 using a running-back-by-committee approach following the departure of Herschel Walker. Right now, though, Richard Samuel is first among equals; the question is whether, having been installed as the starter, he can become the finisher. I’m much more interested in who gets the tough yards in the fourth quarter than in who gains them in the first quarter.

JP: Who benefits from the attention that A.J. Green will receive from defenses this year?

KK: Most immediately, it will be Michael Moore, who profited handsomely down the stretch from the double-teams drawn by A.J. Green and Mohamed Massaquoi. The problem is that Massaquoi’s departure, despite being overshadowed by the losses of Stafford and Knowshon Rockwell Moreno, forces every other receiver in the rotation to step up his game by one notch. There is a lot of talent, but also a lot of inexperience, behind Green and Moore, which means every pass-catcher on the roster has the opportunity to benefit from the focus placed on A.J. Green. The question is which receiver will make the most of it . . . and my best guess in that respect appears as the answer to your final question.

JP: There are some big question marks on the defense. We have two or three very good tackles, but we’re weak on the ends and in the secondary, outside of Rashad Jones. How does this defense stop Oklahoma State or Florida?

KK: I think you’re underselling the defense considerably. There’s no “or” about it; Georgia has three very good tackles. The Bulldogs aren’t weak at end; they lack depth, but the guys at the top of the depth chart are first-rate, even with Justin Houston serving a two-game suspension to start the season. The linebackers are solid and I have growing faith in Bryan Evans and Prince Miller, who should turn out to be Bruce Thornton-like in their development as upperclassmen in the defensive backfield. As critical as I am of Willie Martinez as a coordinator, he is a good position coach.

I agree with Paul Westerdawg that the tackles and linebackers should be able to prevent the Cowboys from running up the middle, so the question is whether the ‘Dawgs can generate a pass rush and defend the perimeter. That’s an enormous “if,” but, given the attention paid to this game (and particularly to Oklahoma State in the national news media), I don’t doubt the maligned Bulldog defenders will be ready to prove themselves. While Martinez has demonstrated his deficiencies on a week-to-week basis, he generally prepares well for season openers and bowl games, the first 16 minutes of the West Virginia Sugar Bowl notwithstanding.

Finally, the key to beating any of the potent offenses on Georgia’s schedule is to be found in a word Vince Dooley used to use: “takeovers.” Not turnovers, takeovers; turnovers are what the other team gives away, but takeovers are forced fumbles and interceptions obtained through smart play. In Boise State’s 2005 season opener between the hedges, Jared Zabransky demonstrated that he was not yet ready to be a prime time player. Oklahoma State is looking to assert itself on the national stage; if the ‘Dawgs can turn the Pokes’ sky-high emotions into an early turnover, the Cowboys can be rattled, and controlled aggression by the Georgia D can make matters snowball from there.

JP: Speaking of Florida, why are you are picking Georgia to win that game?

KK: Why am I picking Georgia? Let me count the ways. Since the SEC was founded and the Cocktail Party was moved permanently to Jacksonville, the two teams have traded precise 19-year cycles of dominance: Georgia was 15-3 over Florida from 1933 to 1951, Florida was 13-5-1 over Georgia from 1952 to 1970, Georgia was 15-4 over Florida from 1971 to 1989, Florida was 16-3 over Georgia from 1990 to 2008, and now it’s time for the pendulum to swing back the other way.

Moreover, Steve Spurrier proved the importance of the open date prior to the trek to the St. John’s River, and that scheduling benefit favors the ‘Dawgs this year, as does the fact that Georgia has gone 7-1 against defending national champions (including 2-0 against the Gators) since 1965. You know the Sunshine State Saurians are going to lose one somewhere along the line---for all the team’s talent, Florida hasn’t gone undefeated since 1911---and, with Lane Kiffin drawing Urban Meyer’s ire towards Knoxville, the Red and Black are waiting in the weeds.

Georgia may go 2-9, but the Bulldogs are beating Tennessee Tech and they’re beating Florida. Count on it.

JP: Does Willie Martinez come back next year?

KK: Unfortunately, yes. Burnt Orange Nation’s Peter Bean recently compared Mark Richt to Mack Brown, which is a fair analogy in many respects. Both are good recruiters, good men, and consistent winners who have struggled to reach the mountaintop despite being good for ten wins a year.

What Peter pointed out was that, for years, Longhorns fans have thought the upcoming season was the referendum on Texas offensive coordinator Greg Davis that would force the head coach to make a change. Brown never has, and Richt is in the same mode with Martinez. Unless Richt finds himself on the hot seat---and we are a long, long way from such a prospect even being on the horizon, despite what Paul Finebaum and similar rabblerousers would have you believe---Martinez has a job on Richt’s staff as long as he wants it.

JP: Do you think Rennie Curran is the most valuable player on defense?

KK: It’s a tough call between Rennie Curran and Jeff Owens. I’d probably go with Curran on the field and Owens on the sideline, but both of those are by whisker-thin margins. I’m going to defer to Mark Richt’s mantra that, this year, the star is the team. The Bulldogs need all eleven guys on the field to be the most valuable player on defense.

JP: Who will be the breakout player this year?

KK: Tavarres King is ready to become a household name. He had a solid debut in a Bulldog uniform---his first career catch covered 25 yards, and he followed that up with a 41-yard reception at Arizona State---before being given a medical redshirt. King, a four-star prospect and the son of former Clemson tight end Anthony King, has added 20 pounds to his frame since arriving in Athens and he has upgraded his work ethic in recent months. He is ready to step up to the plate and become a consistent playmaker for the ‘Dawgs.