Dawgs Central Blogs

1. 

   The Players' Lounge

   A blog by Graham Coffey in The Players' Lounge

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   Recent Entries

   • UGA football star Jalon Walker joins The Players' Lounge to recap G-Day and talk 2024 goals
   • Malaki Starks, Miles Thornton on UGA football's National Championship Aspirations
   • UGA Basketball star Silas Demary sits down with former Bulldog Carlos Strong

   

   Latest Entry
   

   UGA football star Jalon Walker joins The Players' Lounge to recap G-Day and talk 2024 goals

   UGA football linebacker Jalon Walker joins teammates Jacob Hardie and Terrell Foster on TPL Georgia to recap G-Day, his versatile role on defense and what he expects in 2024. 

   You can watch the full conversation here!

    

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2. 

   Field St Forum

   A group blog by Dawgs Central Staff in Articles

   • 95
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   Recent Entries

   • July/August Commit Dates and Quick Hitters
   • June Recruiting Review
   • GameDay Central - UGA vs South Carolina
   • Gameday Central - UGA vs Ball State
   • UGA vs UT-Martin PFF Grades

   

   Latest Entry
   

   July/August Commit Dates and Quick Hitters

   By Jason Brassell, July 11, 2024

   July/August Commitment Dates:
   
   S Jaylan Morgan (7/8) - Will be surprised if it isn't UGA.

   WR Phillip Wright (7/13) - Visited UGA, but we are full unless your name is CJ Wiley.
   
   WR Travis Smith Jr (7/13) - Believe Tennessee has been the most consistent here and built the strongest relationship.
   
   S Rashad Johnson (7/14) - Will be surprised if it isn't UGA.

   S DJ Pickett (7/17) - Dawgs in top 4 (probably 4th). Watch Oregon.
   
   IOL Cortez Smith (7/20) - Will be surprised if it isn't UGA.
   
   OLB Byrce Davis (7/20) - Has been All-Dawg for a while. Have heard from more than one place (including Graham reporting here) that we won't have room. I kind of want to bet against those odds here 🙂
   
   ILB Christian Gass (7/20) - This one is the most interesting. I'm going UGA if we have room. Will try to find out more as we get closer. This will include seeing if anything happens with Jadon Perlotte's commitment before this date.
   
   S Lagonza Heyward (7/28) - Not UGA. Not a take.
   
   S Anquon Fegans (7/29) - I don't believe we've been consistent enough. His brother transferred to Auburn. Going with the Tigers here.

   OL Juan Gaston (8/2) - Still love where UGA stands here. Tennessee will push hard. Also don;t discount Oregon the way they've been recruiting. But I'm definitely sticking with my Georgia prediction and with confidence.

   CB/DB Jontae Gilbert (8/10) - We were off and on with him in the beginning because he wanted CB and we wanted S. He worked out in June in Athens and we started recruiting him as a corner. More than one person has told me to watch UGA here.

   OL Josh Petty - (8/12) - Not a take at UGA, too small. I actually like him better as a defensive end. FSU looks like the team to beat, with his sister already in school there.

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3. 

   UGA Football

   A blog by Jason Brassell in Articles

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   Recent Entries

   • On Fathers, Family & Football

   

   Latest Entry
   

   On Fathers, Family & Football

   BY GRAHAM COFFEY

   This piece was first written in 2022. It has been updated and republished here for Father’s Day…

   Those of you who have followed my writing at past stops may know a little bit more about my background than some of you who have not. With that in mind, I wanted to use Father’s Day as an opportunity to reflect on both why I am passionate about college football, and why I believe in what we do here at DawgsCentral.

   On the eve of the 2019 season, I tried to make sense of why UGA fans get excited for football season year after year. After all, the prior seasons had brought the following results…

   - Terrence Edwards dropped pass versus Florida in 2002 to give UGA its only loss of the season and cost it a title shot

   - A 2003 team full of talent lost 16-13 to a bad Florida team and 17-10 to eventual national champions LSU on a last minute pass, erasing the jubilation of a miracle 91-yard TD pass on a screen to Tyson Browning

   - The 2004 Dawgs got revenge on the defending champs by putting a 45-16 woodshed job on Nick Saban’s #4 LSU Tigers in Athens (still maybe the loudest day I remember in Sanford Stadium). The Dawgs were up 24-0 before 20 minutes of game time had elapsed. This coronation lead to a 19-14 collapse the next week against a Tennessee team quarterbacked by true freshman Erick Ainge... Tennessee 19 - Georgia 14

   - UGA’s 2005 team started off 7-0 behind Heisman Trophy candidate DJ Shockley. Against a bad Arkansas team, Shockley injures his knee and is forced to sit out for the Florida game… UF 14 - UGA 10 (Bonus points here for losing to Auburn 31-30 the next week on a 63-yard pass from Brandon Cox to Devon Aromoshadu on 4th-and-10)

   - Georgia was the hottest team in the country the last month of the 2007 season. They didn’t play for a national championship for four reasons: 1) A 16-12 loss to South Carolina at home where Tony Wilson dropped a go-ahead TD pass on the goal line late. 2) UGA lost to Tennessee team 35-14 in a game where they simply never got off of the bus. 3) Kentucky blew multiple chances to seal a win versus Tennessee that would have put Georgia in the SEC Championship over UT. The Wildcats had FG’s blocked and blew a late lead over the Vols, leading to a triple-overtime loss. 4) Kirk Herbstreit openly lobbied against Georgia playing for a national championship because he believed a team that didn’t win their division shouldn’t be allowed to play for a title. (This was particularly rough for UGA fans because Herbstreit openly lobbied for Michigan to go to the title after losing to Ohio St in 2006. He also was a proponent for a non-division champ to play in the title game when LSU and Alabama faced each other twice in 2011.)

   - The pre-season #1 Georgia Bulldogs started off 2008 looking like they deserved their ranking. Then they decided to breakout their black jerseys for a Top 5 primetime matchup versus Alabama, but their world was torn asunder in one half. The Tide went up 31-0 late in the second quarter. Georgia’s national title dreams were over.

   - The 2012 SEC Championship loss at the buzzer on Murray’s tipped pass that was caught by Chris Conley. I saw grown men cry. It felt like Georgia would never be back in that position again. 

   - “The Prayer at Jordan-Hare”

   - “The Treon Harris Game” ends in Florida winning 38-20 while rushing for 418 yards on 7 yards per carry. Florida attempted 6 passes in a blowout, and the loss kept a talented UGA team from having a chance at playing in the first CFP.

   - 2016 UGA wasn’t winning any big prizes, but against undefeated Tennessee the Dawgs went up on a Jacob Eason bomb to Riley Ridley with 5 seconds left. An ill advised celebration penalty was followed by a poorly executed squib kick and Tennessee was left at midfield with one play left. Josh Dobbs hits Dejuan Jennings, and Georgia fans everywhere got nauseous

   - 2nd & 26

   - UGA is handling an Alabama offense that was one of the most explosive in SEC history during the 2018 SEC Championship. Georgia was getting so much pressure on Heisman candidate Tua Tagovailoa that he gets knocked out of the game and Jalen Hurts rolls in for a chance at redemption. Hurts gets his Disney movie ending, and Georgia gets another blown 4th quarter lead to the Tide. 

   Those are the major disappointments, but mixed between them were many other what-ifs. As the 2019 campaign approached, it was fair to ask if Georgia was cursed or doomed. You only get so many chances to win it all in college football. Georgia had come close so many times that it felt fair to wonder if they would get over that hump. If not, then it seemed worthwhile to examine why so many fans showed up with the same unbridled enthusiasm year after year.

   Here is part of what I wrote at that time…

   “At some point this fall I’ll get on a plane and fly east for four and a half hours. I’ll leave the town where I live with the woman that I love and our dog that we love. I call that place home. I won’t fly far enough east to get to the town I grew up in where parents I love live down the street from the sister and nephew that I love. I call that place home too. I’ll land in a big city and drive about a hour, traffic permitting. I’ll see family, and I’ll see friends that have become family through so many shared experiences over the years. These are the people who double the joy of a win and halve the pain of a loss. I will tailgate in their company and we’ll meet new friends. Some of them may become family too one day. We will eat pimento cheese sandwiches, fried chicken, deviled eggs and many more Southern things. I will not feel alone.

   I will walk into Sanford Stadium and head towards those same seats. People I haven’t seen for a year will nod in familiarity and smile. With some I’ll exchange a hug before the game. With the rest I’ll exchange hugs after touchdowns and sacks. They won’t ask where I’ve been because we don’t do that here. They’ll see the right color on my shirt and that will be all they need to know. 92,746 people will gather together in the year 2019 and agree completely on something, a substantial miracle. A single trumpeter will stand in the southwest corner of the upper deck, and belt out the first 14 notes of The Battle Hymn of the Bulldog Nation. I will swallow hard and tears will start to form in the corners of my eyes. A video will come on narrated by Larry Munson, and when I hear his voice I’ll think of the parents I love and how their own life choices gave me the gift of Georgia Football. I’ll cry a little harder. I will be in Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia. I call that place home. There will be twenty-two men on 120 yards of perfect grass laid out below me. Eleven in that beautiful shade of bulldog red, and eleven more in a shade that no decent God-fearing person would ever wear, at least not on this day. These men will have a brown oblong sphere, a rubber bladder covered in cowhide and stitches. How and where they move it will control the sounds we make. In-between the snaps of the ball that start the movements of those twenty-two men, and the whistles of the officials that end each play, the normal limiting patterns of our minds will not exist. We will transcend.“

   Where time passes differently

   I went to my first college football game on a rainy night in September of 1996. Jim Donnan was in his first season as the head coach at Georgias, and the Dawgs were staring down their first 0-3 start since 1979. Texas Tech came calling in a torrential downpour. The Red Raiders were lead by a Heisman candidate in RB Byron Hanspard, who churned out 214 yards on the ground that night. Georgia looked lost on offense for almost the entire game. Quarterback Mike Bobo had a fumble and an interception on UGA’s first two trips to the red-zone, and was booed on and off for much of the night. The Bulldogs started the 4th quarter down 6-0.

   It was a boring game until it wasn’t.

   Early in the final period, a Bobo sneak gave UGA a 7-6 lead. Hanspard ripped off a 47-yard TD run less than a minute later, but UGA snuffed him out short of the goal line on the two-point conversion.

   Down 12-7 with 3 minutes remaining, Georgia got the ball back 97 yards from the Red Raiders end zone. Bobo hit Hines Ward for a 28-yard gain to get UGA out of the shadow of its own goalpost, and all of a sudden the Dawgs had moved the ball to midfield. A half-full stadium started to gasp and groan, getting progressively louder all the while. People around us who had been casually chatting all game stood up and focused on the field, but the drive started to stall. A few quick incompletions later, and it was 4th-and-10. Georgia was all but done. One more play, and they’d be gone. Then it happened…

   Juan Daniels broke open and Bobo hit him for a 30-yard gain. Suddenly people were hugging and jumping and it was louder in than any half-empty stadium has the right to be. Just a moment later, Bobo targeted Daniels in the back of the end-zone. Despite having a defensive back hanging all over him, Daniels went up and grabbed the ball for a TD. Improbably, the Dawgs were up 13-7.

   The next play is the one I remember. Donnan called a Fake Option End-Around on the two-point conversion try. Hines Ward took the pitch while racing from his WR position, and headed to the far pylon. Ward had one defender to beat, and took off into the air at about the 3 yard-line. He did a flip into the end-zone. Everyone hugged so quickly that I found it confusing, but my Dad grabbed me and lifted me into the air. If I close my eyes, I can still see Ward being “flipped upside down” on that rainy September night. 

   Everyone would hug again when Texas Tech’s tying FG attempt sailed a little bit wide at the buzzer. I was just seven years old on that night, but I fell in love with college football then and there.

   The Georgia teams of my youth weren’t very good, but I loved how the game brought all of my extended family together. My Dad and I had a ton of great times traveling to football games together as I grew older. I was fascinated at that age by how time seems to pass differently in the space between snap and whistle, and I still am today. 

   The great unifier

   My early-twenties didn’t go according to plan. A lot of bad things happened in my life, and I didn’t respond well to them. I withdrew from friends and family, and I struggled to find ways to relate to other people. I was in emotional pain and I didn’t know how to tell anyone that or what to do to fix it.

   I felt like I lived in one reality and everyone else lived in a different one. That wasn’t true of course, but grief and depression can play tricks on one’s mind. It can feel like our challenges are terminally unique, and that only tends to separate us further. I developed unhealthy habits while trying to change the way I felt, but the things I did to try and forget my problems only made them worse. I moved a lot, bouncing around from place to place. What I found was that the whole world is a house of mirrors- No matter where you go, there you are.

   For a few months of the year, I would participate in a group activity called college football. I would have contact with friends I hadn’t talked to in awhile. I found a sense of connection in the rituals of football season and the shared joy/misery of Saturday afternoons. To be part of them, I was forced to ground myself in some small way. It helped me stay tethered.

   As I got older I learned how to ask for and accept help. I started to heal from the events that caused my life to take an unplanned detour. During that time, I sought to rebuild a relationship with my parents. I should mention here that my folks are great people. They never did anything but love their children. I just didn’t know how to relate to them at a certain point, and I didn’t know where to start.

   It was suggested to me that I try calling them every Sunday to say hello.  Those early conversations were hard, and they were sometimes filled with awkward silence. When that silence would hit, my Dad and I almost always turned to college football. There lied a neutral ground where neither of us were short on opinions or words to say. We’d share the latest news from the coaching carousel, or talk about the latest commitments on the recruiting trail. Before long, we were making plans to attend games together. Not long after that, my Dad became a best friend.

   Time moved on and I fell in love with my now wife. When I got married in August of 2021, my Dad stood beside me as my best man. Our Sunday evening phone calls have gone from an awkward 10-15 minutes of surface level chatter to hours long conversations about everything happening in our lives. I still live thousands of miles away from my parents, but we are closer now than ever before.

   College football is magical to me for this reason. It has the power to tear down barriers and bring people together. In one of the most divisive times in human history, our sport is a great unifier. Fathers and sons are likely to disagree at times. On a fall Saturday, they’re going to agree that the referee is blind. They’ll nod knowingly as one says, “We need to hold them to 3 here,” while glancing at the other.

   What brings us back to this sport year after year are all the ways it keeps old friends in our lives and introduces new ones. We gather around tailgates every fall for informal family reunions. Those who have passed feel a bit closer when the band plays the fight song in the dying light of a September evening. It gives us a reason to gather with generations of our own family.

   I wear the analyst hat much more than the fan hat these days. The internet, NIL and the transfer portal have drastically changed college football since Hines Ward “flipped upside down” on that rainy night in September of 1996. Still, the most important thing remains true…

   22 men are on a field with a brown leather ball. What they do with that ball creates emotions that are strong and simple enough to bring us together in spite of ourselves. Those emotions can be enough to remind us there is a place where we belong. They can be enough to build a relationship on. They can be enough to remind us to spend time with one another.

   There is something magical about that.

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4. 

   Comin Down the Tracks

   A blog by Alec Smith in Articles

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   Recent Entries

   • Alabama Preview
   • Tennessee Preview
   • Ole Miss Preview
   • Florida Preview
   • Vanderbilt Commodores Preview

   

   Latest Entry
   

   Alabama Preview

   The Georgia Bulldogs (-5.5) vs The Alabama Crimson Tide

   3:30 P.M. (EST) on CBS

   Broadcasters: Brad Nessler (Play by Play) and Gary Danielson (Color)

   	UGA	UA
   Head Coach	Kirby Smart	Nick Saban
   Record at School	93-15	205-28
   2023 Record	12-0 (8-0)	11-1 (8-0)

    

   36-0 in three consecutive regular seasons… my friends, do not forget to relish in these times. 29 wins in a row (SEC Record), 25 players selected in the ’22 and ’23 NFL Drafts, two national championships, All-Americans, award winners, the list goes on. In a time of college football where competition has never been so good and where roster maintenance has never been so difficult, Kirby Smart has built a self-sustaining ecosystem in Athens. The likes of Smart’s immediate success are uber rare and they should be marveled at by Georgia and college football fans alike.

   It is very important to realize that we are currently in The Golden Days of Dawg football, but this dynasty has been built upon forward thinking and the refusal of complacency. Ahead lies #8 Alabama and a trip to the College Football Playoff. In my opinion, no conference will get two teams in the playoffs, meaning this would be a de facto elimination game for the two SEC giants. This matchup has played host to so many classic finishes, and I think we are in for another knife fight on Saturday. Here are some of my insights on The SEC Championship Game.

   Alabama Offense

   No need to beat around the bush, I see Jalen Milroe’s legs as the biggest threat on this offensive unit. He has 126 gives for 439 yards, which only comes out to a YPC of 3.5, but Jalen has 12 TDs on the ground. He’s averaging 229.6 yards per game through the air with 21 TDs, 6 INTs, and a completion percentage of 66.4%. The Bama RB’s do get their share of the pie, with Jase McClellan leading the team with 166 attempts, 803 yards, and 6 TDs. Roydell Williams rounds out the main ball carriers with 94 touches for 497 yards and 4 touchdowns. My take on Milroe as a quarterback is that he is a pocket passer by nature but possesses the speed to cause a lot of issues. He also throws the deep ball up there with the best in football (97.9 Grade on throws of 20+), and he excels off play action. Despite my singing his praises, there are weak areas to exploit. Jalen’s PFF Passing Grade goes from an 87.8 off play action, to a 78.8 mark on straight drops. His Pass Grade goes from a 91.6 to a 51.2 on plays when kept clean vs. under pressure. Milroe also seems to struggle on intermediate throws, especially between the hashes. Of 22 attempts on intermediate throws over the middle, Jalen has a grade of 43.9, 50% CMP, and 3 TDs to 3 INTs. For comparison, Carson Beck has a 93.8 grade and a 74.1% CMP in the same area. Another comforting stat is that Milroe has only thrown the ball >30 times once this year against Texas A&M. His second most attempts in a game came against Texas where his stat line was 14-27 for 255 and 2-2. In summary, I believe Alabama will be able to put up some rushing yardage. I also feel as if Georgia can give up 150+ on the ground and still win this game comfortably. The Dawg offense itself will score some points, and I do not have a ton of faith in Milroe beating us with his arm. Kamari Lassiter has turned into a true lockdown corner that will erase whoever he is guarding. Starks and Bullard are the best safety combo in the country and rarely get beat deep.

   According to Alabama sources, lead back Jase McClellan has missed practice for the first half of this week with a lingering foot injury. It is up in the air whether he will suit up on Saturday, and that would put the bulk of the carries on Roydell Williams/ Milroe.

   Moving on to the offensive line, they have greatly improved as the season progressed. The Tide rank T-113^th in the nation with 39 sacks allowed on the year, an average of 3.25 per game. UGA is T-64^th with 25 team sacks, along with being T-98^th in TFL with 5.0 per game. 26 of the 34 sacks on Milroe came in Alabama’s first six games, while they haven’t allowed more than three in a game since week 8. Here are some grades and rankings for the Tide O-line:

   Position	LT	LG	C	RG	RT
   Player	Kadyn Proctor	Tyler Booker	Seth McLaughlin	Jaeden Roberts	JC Latham
   PFF Grade	62.5	74.4	60.2	74.9	79.3
   Natl. Rank	317th	27th	197th	23rd	10th

    

   Does anything stick out there? Kadyn Proctor came in as the #1 OT in the 2023 class and has been starting since day one for UA. Proctor is a great athlete and a physical run blocker, but he struggles against twitchy pass rushers. I would keep an eye… maybe two eyes on whoever the Dawgs have lined up over the young LT. McLaughlin at Center is another solid run blocker who struggles with speed rushing. The Dawgs front seven must take advantage of these weak spots and keep pressure on the QB.

   You may have noticed that I am just now getting around to discussing Alabama’s WR room, which is an anomaly compared to past UA teams that UGA has faced. Isaiah Bond is their leading receiver with 39 catches for 542 yards and 4 TDs. Former Bulldog Jermaine Burton is the deep threat out of the group averaging 22.7 yards per catch on 33 receptions, while also sporting 7 TDs. From there, the Tide do not have another player with more than 18 catches.

   Alabama Defense

   Keeping up with traditions, Alabama is still running a 3-4 multiple defense. UA is T-9^th nationally with 3.0 sacks per game and 33^rd with 6.3 TFL per game. Rather than Bama having their one dominant edge rusher, Dallas Turner, Chris Braswell, and Justin Eboigbe all have at least 6 sacks and 10 TFL a piece. Another former Dawg, Trezman Marshall, has been instrumental for the Bama defense at the ILB position. The unit as a whole ranks 17^th in yards allowed with 312.7, and they are sitting at 14^th in the nation with 17.9 PPGa.

   UA’s defense has given up 20+ points in 7 contests this season. The most points allowed came in their week two loss to Texas. Here is what the Longhorns did right: Quinn Ewers went 24/38 for 349 yards and 3 TDs with no INTs. Texas had zero turnovers and put up 454 yards of offense with a middling run game. Bama had a very difficult time covering Texas’s TE Ja’Tavion Sanders who had 5 catches for 114 yards. If only there was a mismatch nightmare of a TE in red and black that we could utilize! Brock Bowers is undoubtedly still not at 100%, but I see very few scenarios where he stands on the sideline watching this game. Bowers is a competitor of the highest order, and I expect that he’ll be chomping at the bit to make an impact in this game.

   Quinn Ewers averaged 14.5 yards per completion with 4 connections of 30+ yards, but a lot of damage was dealt on the perimeter with swing, bubble, and tunnel screens. Terrion Arnold and Kool-Aid McKinstry are two of the better cover corners in the country, but they seemed to struggle with coming up and making tackles in the flat against Texas. Let it be known that it caused me physical pain to type out Kool-Aid in a serious manner. Another true freshman starting for the Tide, Caleb Downs is their leading tackler from the safety position. An elite run defender and hardnosed tackler, Downs has made an immediate impact; however, he has been known to get beat deep against good route runners. If McConkey or Lovett get matched up on Downs 1v1, watch out!

   Regarding the interior defensive line, Bama is missing their game wrecker that we have seen in the past. In fact, the Tide do not have one IDL defender ranked in the top 100 according to PFF. UA is 33^rd in the country in rush yards allowed per game, and they gave up 244 on the ground against Auburn last week. Only 57 yards of that 244 total came from Auburn’s QB. I see Edwards and Milton having a big game on Saturday behind a proven and experienced Georgia Oline. Assuming Ratledge is ready to go, the Dawgs will have their entire offensive line back together for the first time in several weeks.

   Prediction

   For the first time out of the past several matchups between Georgia and Alabama, I believe that UGA has the advantage at quarterback. Carson Beck has shown tremendous growth as the season has gone on, and Mike Bobo has schemed perfectly to Beck’s strengths. This game hinges on the Dawgs’ ability to respond to adversity. We saw them do it against South Carolina, Auburn, and Missouri this year. Can UGA respond if they go down two touchdowns? Can they maintain composure if they go up two touchdowns? I believe the answer to both is yes. This Bulldog offense is arguably going to be the most well-rounded unit that Alabama has seen all year. Georgia’s defense has been porous at times, but they have always turned their nose up when it counts. I am expecting a lot of points. I am expecting for this game to be decided in the fourth quarter. My final prediction is 41-31 GEORGIA.

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5. 

   Riverbend Rundown

   A blog by Craig Lawson in Articles

   • 14
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   Recent Entries

   • Georgia Offseason Portal Departure Candidates
   • A look ahead to the 2023 defensive depth chart
   • Current State of Running Back Recruiting
   • Simple Explanation for Bennett's Heisman Candidacy
   • Breaking down a 12 team playoff in 2022: The stupid parts anyway

   

   Latest Entry
   

   Georgia Offseason Portal Departure Candidates

   This list is complete speculation based on my own projected depth chart for next season. It's not meant to be taken as prediction, just a list of players who wouldn't cause a shock if they looked elsewhere.  

   QB

   ✅Brock Vandagriff - Assuming Beck returns. Stockton could look elsewhere too, but given that he's a year younger, I would guess Gunner is more likely to stick it out and compete with Raiola and Puglisi for the 2025 starting job. 

   RB

   Cash Jones - With the production he's put on tape early this season when the RB room was decimated with injuries, and the likelihood of having 6 scholarship players ahead of him next season does Jones test the transfer market? He would have 2 years of eligibility remaining.  

   WR

   Arian Smith - Looking back at the Ole Miss game he still gets on the field with the ones, but Lovett and Thomas have both surpassed him.  I'm guessing both of them return along with Dillon Bell. Outside chance that Ladd and MRJS leaving opens up a spot for Smith to be a bigger part of the gameplan, but he could be a go to option in another offense with his speed. He has some great tape making big plays in big games. 

   ✅Jackson Meeks - He's blocked really well at times this season, but has yet to record a reception in 2023. There are a lot of young receivers like CJ Smith, Zeed Haynes and Anthony Evans who could also emerge. That said, he seems pretty happy when I've watched his podcast with Javon Bullard. I could see him sticking around as well.  

   De'Nylon Morrissette - This might be premature, but in year two he seems to have been passed over by younger guys. Perhaps there is an injury there that I'm unaware of. He could also still be in the doghouse after a May DUI.

   TE

   No obvious scholarship candidates here

   OL

   ✅Austin Blaske - I mentioned him in a separate post. I'm not sure if his injury flared back up but we haven't seen much from him. He was a projected replacement level player back in August with the potential to start at LT. I would have thought he would at least be a rotational option in 2024, but I'm not sure if something has changed. 

   Chad Lindberg - The former 4 star recruit hasn't seen much action in his 4 seasons with the team, but will have at least one year of eligibility remaining. 

   DL

   ✅Jonathan Jefferson - Could just as easily see him sticking around for a 4th season. The former 4 star has been passed over by some younger talent, but Kirby likes depth on the D Line. That said, Kirby will also be checking the portal for D Linemen. 
   
   DE

   ✅CJ Madden - I almost didn't add this one. Just a gut feeling because we haven't seen much from him this season.

   OLB

   ✅Darris Smith - Wouldn't be surprised if he stuck around either, but he hasn't made much of a move this season, and also had an off-field issue that kept him away from the team for a bit. There's a lot of young talent in this room and Smith is a freak who might be a feature player on another roster.

   ILB

   ✅Xavian Sorey - The former 5 star recruit was in the rotation earlier this season, but again with the younger talent. CJ Allen and Raylen Wilson have just been too good to keep off the field. Dumas-Johnson and Mondon will likely head to the NFL, but if one or both returned there would be even less snaps to go around here. 

   ✅EJ Lightsey - Lightsey has received a lot positive reviews out of practice, but hasn't been able to crack the rotation in his two seasons. Given the emergence of younger players he could seek immediate playing time elsewhere.

   CB

   ✅Nyland Greene - This could go either way, and might not happen until after spring. Assuming Lassiter goes to the NFL it has been Greene, Everette and Humphrey battling for the #2 CB spot. Everette and Humphrey have both surpassed Greene, but Kirby has been rotating 3 corners and Greene could work his way into that spot, but he would have to hold off players like A.J. Harris and incoming 5 star Ellis Robinson IV. Might be too tall of a task when Greene is a starter level player elsewhere.

   S

   David Daniel-Sisavanh - He's proven himself as a hard hitting rotational player who can be trusted in spots, but with Starks returning and the emergence of freshman Joenel Aguero there's no clear path to a starting job here. 

   JaCorey Thomas - It's only his second season, and I'd like to see him stick around especially if DDS doesn't. He could get his chance in 2025 which would be year 4, but he's another highly ranked recruit who could probably start somewhere else. 

   Dan Jackson? - Almost didn't add this one either, but Dan would have two years of eligibility remaining and one hell of a resume. He's a graduate so he may hang it up or try to go pro, but I could see him starting at the P5 level somewhere else next season while he gets a free graduate degree. I could also see him returning to Athens and remaining in the safety rotation for the Dawgs.  

   K

   ✅Jared Zirkel - Jack Podlesny left a vacancy after last season and freshman kicker, Peyton Woodring took the job and ran with it in 2023 which relegated Zirkel to kickoff duty, a spot where he has performed admirably. He would have at least one if not two years of eligibility remaining. 

    

   This isn't an exhaustive list, and I didn't delve into walk-ons who rarely if ever get snaps during games. I'm sure some of them will leave, and there is always the threat that NIL or other outside circumstances (or both) lures a starter away to another program willing to outbid Georgia ie AD Mitchell. Let me know if I missed anyone or if any of my guesses are crazy. 

    

   Not on my initial list:

   Mehki Mews - Mews has entered the portal. He played significant snaps on offense and was the primary punt returner (presumably because Ladd McConkey was hobbled for most of the season), and he also returned kickoffs. Freshman speedster, Anthony Evans, was inserted at punt returner during the 4th quarter of the SEC Championship and had in immediate impact with a 28 yard return. Mews had some dropped punts this season and perhaps Evans insertion signified a pending change in that role for Georgia. Mews should have plenty of suitors, the former walk-on had an excellent spring game and found himself on the field a lot despite only recording 13 receptions on the season.

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