A.J Green's Bittersweet Symphony

The choice no one seems to know or be talking about is the choice A.J. Green DIDN'T make.

To me, it was the greatest of all.

When Green was one of the most heavily recruited wide receivers in the nation, every SEC team, hell every NCAA team, foamed at the mouth of the chance of seeing number 8 in their colors.

The teenage sensation from Summerville, SC could have gone anywhere. The day Urban Meyer visited his school to surely offer the wide receiver a chance at wearing that ugly blue and orange and play under his dynasty, A.J. Green skipped. He didn't choose to be at school that day. Why on earth would someone turn down the opportunity to compete for a national championship?

Red and Black. Athens. Mark Richt. Between the Hedges.

These are the reasons A.J. missed his calculus class that day. These are the reasons A.J. now lines up every Saturday for the Bulldog Boys. That gesture right there speaks volumes about the kind of passion A.J. has for taking his team to the promised land.

But it's bittersweet.

Without ranting too much about the failed expectations of last year's team, let's just say the SEC leading receiver got his chance to prove his worth, on New Year's Day against a Big-10 opponent.

This year, the results look just as grim; but i'm not here to predict our season. What I am here to predict is another gold talent like Green being handicapped by a QB, who (God bless him) is starting to prove me wrong with character: He can't make the throws that A.J. needs for his weekly reservations of six in the corner of the end-zone.

What was so great about the man last year was that at 4th-and-goal, we all knew what was going to happen. The ball was going to be thrown up to number 8.

This year, be it that the opponents know it too or that the passes just aren't there, we have only seen that a few times. While he is still making the yards and catches game in and game out, they all usually have one quality about them: Most of Green's 428 yards have come from throws behind him.A.J. is having to prove himself even further with a QB who's arm may not be Matthew Stafford caliber.

While A.J. is still putting up gaudy numbers, it is sour to watch.

That's not to say every single ball thrown Green's way makes the receiver turn around and stretch out acrobatically. What is saying is this: How much could the sophomore put up with say, Colt McCoy, Sam Bradford, or Brian Mallet throwing to him?

This isn't a rant about Cox's ability, more of a wonderment about what Green's numbers would look like. As a Bulldog fan, I hope I eat every word I type. I hope by November, A.J. has already surpassed 1,000 yards, 20+ TD catches, and I hope Cox was a part of it.

But as of right now, watching Green makes me eerily reminiscent of a Mr. Calvin Johnson, when he had to catch "passes" from University of Georgia Hall of Fame QB Reggie Ball.

This is Green's symphony, let's hope the conductor doesn't screw it up.