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Visit progressive.com after this episode to see if you could save Progressive Casualty Insurance company and affiliates. Potential savings will vary depending on not available in all states. Indiana can can sort of cement itself as we are no longer this team that's going to be fighting for six wins anymore. Malachi, Tony, is he going to be ready? Dante Moore, he showed improvement.
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Better command. What's going on y'?
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All?
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Bud Elliott here of the COVID crest and this is summer school and school is in session. That's my man Jordan Hill joining us once again to break down all things Georgia. Great writer dogs 247, your source for everything Georgia. Jordan, how you been man?
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Doing great, Bud. I always look forward to this time of year. It's also a good chance for me to kind of go through my notes. Hey, let's not miss anything. Let's check all the boxes and it's a nice pillar for the offseason. I know that we're getting it started and going to do it right for sure.
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And if you're an SEC fan out there or you're a Georgia fan, maybe want to hear about a couple of the opponents we will have by conference playlist on our YouTube channel as well this year. So you guys can kind of binge those if you want to. It'd be cool if we could actually put together something where it's like, all right, Georgia fans, here's your preview. Plus the exact teams you play, you know, not. Not quite there yet. Making 70 playlists would be. Would be quite a bit. But by conferences is certainly doable and an accomplishment, I think, if we can get it done. Speaking of accomplishments, last year, another pretty strong year for Georgia. I know the expectations in Athens are sky high, but, you know, 12 and two overall, seven and one in the SEC. SEC champions again. I know there's been some. Do we want to play that game or not? But if you're going to play it, you might as well win the thing. And they certainly did. What's kind of the general feel in Athens right now?
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I think people are excited about the upcoming year, but I will say that I think the fan base is a little bit frustrated because last year played out very much like the 2024 season where Georgia goes, they win the SEC, they get the first round by in the playoff. They. They go to the Sugar Bowl. I mean, it was like step four step and then you lose. And I think this one was a little bit more frustrating because it was a team Georgia had already beaten. They lose to Ole Miss. An Ole Miss scene without Lane Kiffin. You know, an Ole Miss team that had spent the month pretty much before that game having to answer questions about, okay, Lane Kiffin's not here, you know, which coaches you even have for this game. And then Trinidad Chambliss has a fantastic game and they find a way to beat Georgia. So I think that the fans are frustrated to see it play out the way it did in consecutive years, but I think there's still an understanding that this is still the team to beat in the sec, that this is a team that's in a really good position. I think defensively, with what they bring back, they've got playmakers on offense. They just need some guys to step up and they need their quarterback, Gunnar Stockton, to rise to the occasion. But I think that people see this as a championship caliber team again. They just want them to get back to that stage. I don't know if they'll go to New Orleans for the third straight year, but to make it further and to truly compete for another national title and
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I think that Sugar bowl too, didn't Georgia have a bunch of DBs go down? So it was like Trinidad has just like the game of a lifetime. And then weren't they down a bunch of DBs too? Like in the second half? I was trying to think, like, with injuries and stuff.
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Oh, I think the biggest issue was pass rush. They go into that game and Gabe Harris had gotten hurt in the bull prep. He was the starting defensive end. And it just seemed like, you know, they weren't able to stop that run game. And really, more than anything, but just the DB struggled to slow down those receivers. And the way that game ended, to me, it was kind of fitting because of how Ole Miss had had success the whole day. They get. I think it might have been Harrison Wallace called an explosive pass to get into field goal range. And it was just. It was a weird situation. As someone who's covered Georgia the last few years where there have been games that they kind of been in it, and you see a moment where you think it swings in Georgia's favor. And for me, that was in the first half when Dalen Everett ran a fumble back for a touchdown. And I think all of us, you know, really everyone on the beat kind of thought this is sort of the point where Georgia takes over. To Ole Miss's credit, they did not panic. Trinidad kept making plays again, the secondary struggle to stop those Ole Miss receivers. And. And then you had the end of that game, which, you know, with the. The Fumble Ruski and the, you know, pitchy Woo trying to keep that game alive. But Ole Miss earned it. And I think Georgia is going to try to learn from it, especially the secondary, some of those pieces they have
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coming back for sure. All right, so speaking of coming back, you know, all the coordinators are back for them. You mentioned pass rush in that game. So we'll kind of dive into this from a scheme perspective. First 20 sacks last year. I know sacks are not the, like, the be all, end all as far as affecting the quarterback. And obviously Saban has preached that Kirby off the saving tree, but I'm sure. Echo that, but. But they don't want to be last again in. In the SEC, in. In sacks with just 20. Have they talked at all about, like, different ways to affect the passer? I. I mean, maybe it's just lip service with, yeah, we got to affect the passer, but, like, has that been something that you've heard about?
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It's been a talking point. I think last year, Kirby tried his best to sort of tiptoe around it without just calling guys out, but they understood. It was strange that the 2024 season, it didn't seem like the Pass rush was really all that effective and then it took a step back last year and was even less so. And they go into this year and I think that they feel pretty good about what they've got. And I look at the outside linebacker room and I start with the position coach Larry Knight comes in. Chidera. Uzo Daribay is off to the Dallas Cowboys. I think Chidera was a good outside linebackers coach, but I kind of just feel like it might be good just to have a different voice in the room. And you've got Larry Knight coming in. He comes from West Virginia, but he spent last season at Arkansas State and they were tied for the Sunbelt lead in sacks. They had eight in a single game against Troy. And he's an Augusta guy. He knows Georgia well. He's coached at Georgia Tech and Georgia State, so I think that that helps. But when you look at that room, I just think another year is going to suit that room well. Quintavious Johnson, I'm convinced, Bud, this is going to be a breakout guy for Georgia. Kind of beyond just Georgia fans knowing him, that SEC fans will have a chance to watch him. He's going to be a junior this year. He'll be the starting outside linebacker. Chase Linton, a second year outside linebacker. They're expecting him to step up. They've also got Isaiah Gibson, Darren Akinig, Bond, and then a freshman, Kamari Brooks. And then, you know, mentioning Gabe Harris a few minutes ago. He's kind of one of those key guys with the pass rush and it's something that I really underrated. Going into the Sugar bowl, we knew that he was going to be out and the way he had been playing in November and then the SEC title game against Alabama, I thought he and Quintavious Johnson had taken a step forward in terms of pass rushing. And it's sort of one of those things after you watch that Ole Miss game of man, this would have looked different had Gabe Harris been available. So he did not practice in the spring, but they're expecting him to be back. He's going to be a huge piece of that. And I think just the combination alone of Gabe Harris and Quintavious Johnson, that bodes well for this pass rush to be better. But they got have to go out there and put it on display and it does hurt. They went and got a Morris Williams from Auburn, but he suffered an ACL injury during spring practice, so very likely not going to play this season. That was a guy they were counting on to be out there on third downs. To be able to help rush the passer, that's a pretty huge loss. They're going to have to have other guys step up without him.
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Definitely someone monitored for Georgia, you know, C.J. allen off to the NFL. Raylon Wilson, though, returns. Fairly confident about the inside linebacker group here, or do you have questions?
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The two positions at this point that I just don't question with Georgia is inside linebacker and tight end. And I think that that's the case again this year. And I think, you know, when I look during the off season a couple different times, I rate the position groups as far as my confidence in them pretty much every single time. Tight end, inside linebacker are the ones I'm most confident in. Inside linebacker. You mentioned Raylan Wilson. I thought he was a guy that was probably going to go pro because I think when he does go pro after this year, he's going to go to the combine and just put ungodly numbers and he decides to come back. Huge win for Georgia, especially with CJ Allen moving on. You got Chris Cole coming back. He's been their most consistent pass rusher and he's going to help with those guys we were just talking about. Justin Williams, I think, has made major strides. At one point he was the number one linebacker in the country as a prospect, so they're expecting big things from him. Satan Walker, a guy that has gotten a lot of comparison to Jalen Walker. No relation, but he's been. He was a very effective pass rusher as a freshman last year. So, yeah, Glenn Schumann is in charge that inside linebacker room. And I swear, Bud, there was a string there in recruiting where they would sign two or three guys and I would look to the next class. It's like, well, they're just not going to be able to keep stacking these guys because they're not going to play in time. Well, they just do it anyway. And I think that's a. You see that in this year's inside linebacker and they are still loaded. And that's not even to talk about the three freshmen they've gotten who probably aren't going to play a ton. But you got to keep an eye on just because of how they develop the position.
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Georgia's in a nice spot here in the secondary, at least. You know, from an outsider's perspective. You get bold and back. You get Ellis Robinson and they took four defensive back transfers. That, that surprised me a little bit with how well they recruit the position at a high school. How do you see the rest of this room shaking out? Obviously, those are Two great pieces to start with, certainly.
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I think you got to start with the strong safety spot, the other safety spot opposite of kj Because KJ is coming into this year, I wouldn't be surprised if he's a preseason all American, probably a lock among the preseason all SEC selections, but they got to figure out that safety spot and they got a few different guys that they're looking at there. Khalil Barnes, the Clemson transfer, he had a fantastic spring. I think he did a really good job of showing his experience and showing that he deserves to start, whether it's there or whether it's at the nickelback position. And then Jamar Lee Riddle, East Carolina transfer, a guy that they're very excited about. It wasn't able to do a ton in the spring because he got hurt in East Carolina's bowl game, but I think he's going to be in that competition too. Throw in Rayshawn Dinkins, a guy who played made his first start in the SEC title game, and I cannot imagine what that was like early in that game. But he played really well, hit or miss in the Sugar bowl, but he's a guy they're still very excited about. And it's interesting, the last couple years, two years ago, the win got three safeties out of the portal. They really want an experience and really none of the three hit. This year, they go get two safeties, Barnes and Riddle, and they go get a couple of cornerbacks, Gentry Williams, Braylon Conley, and I think those two corners are more for depth. Ellis Robinson is going to be a starter. I think he. I mentioned Quintavious Johnson earlier. I think Ellis Robinson is ready to have a very big 2026 season. And then they've got De Melo Jones, who played. He did not start last year, but he played quite a bit.
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And.
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And then by the end of the year, he was a guy they really relied on. I think those are your two starters, but Gentry Williams, Braylon Conley going to compete and. And do their part to play as well. Gentry coming from Oklahoma, Braylon coming from usc. Braylon had a really strong G day with Ellis Robinson and Demelo Jones not able to go. So I think they feel really good. They wanted to really bolster the experience in that room because again, they've signed some really interesting freshmen. The guy, I gotta say, is Tyreek Green, a kid from Buford who. He gets comparisons to KJ Bold. And they both played at Buford, very talented safeties, but I think Tyreek is a freshman. If there's a freshman who breaks out in the secondary is Tyree Green. He is going to be a guy whenever KJ Bolden moves on. Pay attention to Tyree Green. He's going to be a big time player for the next few years.
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So you might have just given the answer in your prior response, but I always ask us both sides of the ball. So for defense, it. Is there a guy that maybe, you know, you or the staff doesn't really expect to hit their ceiling this year. But, you know, I, I kind of think about this going back the days when I was on the issue beat, right? Like, Jamis arrived a year early. Everybody was thinking 20, you know, 2014. He was like, no, it's 2013. It's now like, is there a guy on defense for like, if over the next five months, you know, or even into September or whatever, all of a sudden light comes on and he's playing like full potential now that it really kind of changes how you think of this Georgia defense.
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Well, I'll shout out another guy. Terry Green definitely fits that build. But Valdon Sohn, a defensive tackle, they got a very interesting background. A guy originally from Sweden that kind of bursts onto the scene and PPI had kind of got him into. You know, they do a great job getting international recruits and putting them in front of college football teams. And Georgia signed a few of those guys. Now J.J. hanna, another guy, defensive end that they signed a few years ago. But Valdon son wound up being their top rated signee. And it sounds like he's had a really good spring. We had guys even before spring practice started. Joseph, Jonah, Johnny, one of the older defensive linemen was saying, I mean, Valden, I think he said Valden's like 20 pounds heavier than he was and just absolutely outrunning him. You know, when they were out there going, so Bowden's a guy that, I think he grew up playing soccer. He's still relatively new to football. I imagine that he was really put through the ringer during spring practice, you know, learning. And I'm sure fall camp is not going to be any easier. I think he probably got off a little easy, Bud. During the spring, it wasn't quite so hot in Athens, Georgia. I think once we're in July and August, it's going to be a different story. So he may not play a ton right away, but they're super excited about Valdon Sohn. And once he learns, you know, being a part of that defensive line group, I mean, even if he just watched Elijah Griffin, that's the only guy he watched. I think he's going to be better for it. And you know, he may not play a ton early on, but pay attention to him. Eventually he's going to be a big time player on that defensive line for sure.
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All right, we'll hit our first break here. On the flip side, we'll break down Georgia's offense, go over the schedule and get more from Jordan Hill. Dogs247
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Hey guys, welcome back here to summer school on the Covertree podcast. It's my man. Jordan Hill always does a great job breaking down Georgia for us here. Dogs247 your source for everything Georgia Georgia so obviously Mike Bubba back is the OC Gunner Stockton Heisman finalist, returning starter SC title game MVP. Is there a next step he can take in his development that you know can help carry this offense even more than he already was?
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Well, I'll make sure and say he wasn't a Heisman finalist thing he finished like seventh. Oh shoot. So but but he's somebody that I think is going to go into this year and be a Heisman front runner. People think that he can take his game to that level, and I think that he's totally capable of doing that. And I think he's got a few things. You know, Gunner is a very. He gets brought up a lot over on the junkyard. Let's say that the. The Georgia fans feel very strongly one way or the other about Gunner, and I think he is capable of taking Georgia where they want to go, which is to win another national title. But for me, he's got three areas he's got to improve in. One, he's got to be more willing to take deep shots and count on his receivers to make the play. I think that, you know, being a guy that last year was his first full season as a starter, I think he was a little bit more hesitant. You know, he wanted guys just running wide open, and that's just not going to happen in the sec, and I think he did a better job when it comes to that over the year. Secondly, he's got to be more willing to throw across the middle of the field. That's very scary. I understand. You know, there's a lot of very talented, athletic linebackers that can pounce on those plays. But, you know, mentioning earlier, I talked about inside linebacker, I talked about tight end, but this tight end room is ridiculous. I mean, they could, if you took off the top three guys, they would be okay with what they've got because of the talent in it. But I think the last two years and last year, Gunner being it being Gunner's first year as a starter, they just have not made the most of the tight ends in the passing game, and they just can't do that again. With a group of Elias Williams, Lawson, Lucky, Ethan Barbour, Jayden Riddell, and then three freshmen are probably going to be in the mix, too. They have to do a better job of utilizing those guys and making the most of them. So Gunner's got to do that. And then one. You know, my last thing that Gunner has to grow in self preservation. This is a guy that he's earned the respect of his teammates by being willing to take hits, and that's great. And you need a guy that's tough. If you're not tough in the sec, you're just not going to last. But there are times where you just saw him. I'm thinking it might have been like the Charlotte game. You know, he's diving for first downs. This is in November, and everybody's like, whoa, like, all right, that's not that's not necessary right now. And to Gunner's credit, I think he learned the hard way. Okay, there's. Sometimes you just got to eat it. You got to throw the ball away. You might have to just fall down and take a sack rather than take big hits. Because I think by the time they got to the Georgia Tech game last November, that SEC title game against Alabama, I think he was feeling it. So I think if he does those things, he will take a step forward as a passer and yeah, he's going to get a lot of Heisman buzz going into this season. I don't think he's going to be a finalist or really be up for that award. But again, I think he is good enough that he can lead Georgia to a national title. They were awfully close against Ole Miss in that Sugar Bowl. They drove down and had a chance to take the lead and they have to settle for a field goal. So he's right there and I think that he's fully capable of taking this Georgia team where they want to go.
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I got some flack for my top 10. I forgot where I had in my top 10 quarterback list. I was like, look it, it's not a slight to think the guy is somewhere in that kind of like 8 to 14 range, you know, like, I mean there's guys who are probably more physically talented, but also he's like super productive, you know, I. And with how loaded Jordan, I agree with you, man. Like he doesn't have to be number one overall pick type potential to to take Georgia where they need to go. I also think like two of your points really kind of play into each other. You know, the middle of the field thing and utilizing the tight ends like the tight ends are oftentimes going to be kind of your hash to hash guys, you know. So if you can get more comfortable throwing the middle of field, that probably helps the utilization of those tight ends a lot. You mentioned trusting the receivers down the field. This one. I. I'm so glad I have you on because I'm. I'm unsure about this. They return. They lost like 70% of their snaps from the receiver position. Branch set like the Georgia record for what catches or yards. I mean a lot of manufactured touches obviously, but still, I mean quite a bit of volume went to him. They bring in what Isaiah Cannon and then London Humphreys is back. How does this receiver room shake out and. And do you think Stockton like should he have confidence though and deep to these guys interested him?
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Yeah. Zachariah Branch set the record 81 receptions in a season that is a program record. And yeah, I mean, I think the conversation too, bud, is a lot different about this receiver room coming out of spring compared to March 1st before they had hit the practice field, because that was that and offensive line were the two rooms where I needed to see some kind of progress or just hear how things were going. Because when you just count wide receivers, we're not talking tight ends. They lost four of their top five pass catchers from last year, London Humphreys being the only exception. You mentioned they go get Isaiah Canyon. They got some really talented receivers. They signed three freshman receivers, and I would say Craig Dandridge is the one of those freshmen that's probably got the best chance to make an impact year one, but they got guys that they're really excited about. So Kobe, White, Helton, he's one of those guys I know Georgia fans love. He's from Northwest Georgia and this is his third year and he's bided his time. You know, they recruited Zachariah Branch over him out of the portal last year, and we talked to him this spring and he said, you know, I could sit there and pout about it or I could try to make the most of it. And he's going to be your slot receiver. I think they're excited about him. London Humphreys, who we mentioned, he's a vet at this point. You know, he's been through the ringer, and he's the one who made the catch against Tennessee that helped Georgia tie that late in the fourth quarter. They're going to be counting on him. Isaiah Canyon will be your starting X receiver guy they're really excited about. And when we've talked to Kirby Smart, when he's talked about him, you can kind of tell he's a little miffed they did not go after him in high school. He's from Warner Robins and they've signed a couple guys out of there the last few cycles. So Isaiah is a guy that has performed really well during the spring. Talon Taylor, he's a guy that he may not start. He's going to play a lot, and he's got a chance probably to be one of Georgia's most explosive receivers.
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He was great at OT7 and we had him there for like a regional in the finals. I was like, okay, yeah, this guy checks out.
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Yeah, he had opportunities last year and he had a brutal drop against Alabama during the regular season and they kept trying to get him the ball late in the year. He had a collarbone injury after that Alabama game and didn't come back till later but they're really excited about Talon, Taylor, some of the other receivers I would keep AN Eye on, C.J. wiley, probably also going to play quite a bit at the Exposition. So it's one of those rooms where they're talented but they're just very inexperienced and what I really want to see once we get into these early games, you know, they open with Tennessee State, Western Kentucky. Who are the guys that Gunner feels comfortable with because he's. He's kind of building a rapport with practically everybody but London Humphreys because they've established that. But they've got some young guys they're really excited about. I could go on and on. Landon Rolden, Thomas Blackshear, they've got a group of second year receivers I think will play a big role and I think they are positioned where we could ride in. These are the guys we're going to start. I think you're going to see a lot of rotation at receiver and I think it's going to be a good thing. They can keep those guys fresh and kind of keep defenses on their toes when they're out there.
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Who was the guy like two years ago? Lakeland kid, super fast and like really couldn't run routes but like like they would just. He would get two or three or maybe four shot play like design per game and would occasionally come down and just like, like clearly the fastest guy on the field.
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I'm trying to remember. Was that Aryan Smith?
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Yes. Yeah. I. You think like Taylor in that kind of role? Maybe.
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I don't know. I don't think he's quite that fast but I mean he's got that speed and, and he's not the biggest guy but he is a guy that I think they see explosive ability and they want to try to get him involved as much as they can. I'll say to Landon Rolden is a guy that they see with a lot of speed and a guy that is a local kid. I believe he played at North Oconee and I think it kind of went under the radar when he was being recruited and they were like no, we really like this kid. He put up some blazing 40 times. I think he's going to be a factor as far as those explosive plays too.
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If they are going to run more multiple tight end sets, obviously, which of course you would if you have, you know this kind of embarrassment of riches at the tight end position as you went over run game is going to be pretty big here obviously. I assume they're. They're pretty Set up to, you know, pound people. Is Frazier's ankle good? Like, they brought on Dowdell? Is there a freshman we need to be aware of? Like, how do you see this backfield shaking out?
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I think they're okay with Nate Frazier's ankle long term. You know, that he winds up re aggravating it at G Day. But they, they seem to think he'll be all right. And I think given that the Runway he's going to have, he'll be fine. And I think he'll be the top tailback. Him, Chauncey Bowens, who had a breakout year last year. Those are two of the top guys. But you mentioned, I think, the most underrated transfer guy that Georgia got, Dante Dowdell, 6 2, 2, 25. But I keep calling him a mercenary. He's been at Kentucky, he's been at Nebraska, he's been at Oregon. He's been around pretty much the entire country playing football. And this dude is just a bulldozer. And he had a fantastic G day. Looked very impressive to me, Was faster than I expected at his build, was running over guys. I'm sure that they were telling him, hey, these are your teammates. Let's, let's not have any friendly fire here. But I think he's going to be kind of that bruiser, that short down, short yardage back that you'll see a decent bit. Probably behind Nate Frazier and Chauncey Bowens, but really interested. They're pretty deep at running back, but you need to see just who can kind of generate these roles. Dwight Phillips Jr. One of the fastest guys on the team. He's just not a very big back. And when he's played, he's kind of had issues with staining, you know, withstanding hits and taking those hits and being able to stay out there on the field. But he is a big play waiting to happen. Bo Walker is a guy who didn't play very much as a true freshman last year, but they want to get him more involved. Very talented back that has the ability. But again, we're talking about a pretty deep room. And then I'll mention Jay Lamar from Colquitt County. They're really excited about him. Probably won't play a ton because of the experience ahead of him, but I think he's a name to know going forward, and they've learned from experience. You can go in and we can say, man, this running back room is deep. Let's, let's re. You know, let's come back to this conversation by the end of September because you're always going to wind up losing a few backs along the way. They know their safety in numbers at running back and I think, you know, the top three are very clear but they got other options they can turn to if they need to for sure.
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Offensive line wise, we got to talk about this. Obviously, you know, you lose a couple of guys off to the league. Drew Bobo, I, I thought this was a big deal in the Sugar bowl. Like, like, you know, with his injury and you know, people like a center. I'm like, he probably calls, he probably calls some of the protections as well. With gunner like that. That's, that's a big. Especially like the office coordinator's kid. Like he's going to know this offense, you know, like crazy. How is he doing for off the foot injury? And then how are we looking at tackle?
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A
I'll mention too. Just going back to that Sugar bowl, bud, a moment that I think maybe some folks don't remember. Georgia lines up on fourth down.
- [29:00]
B
The backup snap. Yes. Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to jump you, but yes, that was huge.
- [29:04]
A
That was, that was exactly. I mean he and I asked Kirby after the game because you could tell by the way everybody reacted, they did not expect him to snap it. Kirby just straight up said, yeah, he was not supposed to snap that. So to your point, yeah, they missed, they missed Drew Boa through that whole game. But if you want to just pick one play, that was the play. They missed him. He's working his way back. He did not practice during the spring. He was warming up just during the initial pregame warm ups. But you know, there was no expectation he was going to play in the spring game. But I think by the time they get to fall camp, he'll be back. And that's huge because you hit on it, bud. They trust him. And not only is he good with the pre snap communication, he's a very effective center. I mean he has done a good job. And you know, I covered his senior year at Auburn High when Mike Bobo was at Auburn's offensive coordinator. I remember both at Auburn and then when he flipped to Georgia and followed Mike, people were saying, you know, coaches kid, of course they're going to give him a scholarship. And he was the best offensive lineman at Auburn High and Auburn. Auburn High had three guys who wound up going D1. So he was legit and he's shown it since then. I'm sure he's kind of had that chip on his shoulder. But the rest of the offensive line, they. The question going into the fall is going to be right tackle. Jaw Jackson, I think, has the lead right now. Six, six, six, ten. Former basketball player, a guy who played with Bronny James at Overtime Elite. He had a really good spring. This is third year. I think it took him some time to kind of learn, which is totally understandable. He really hadn't played football, I think, since he was in middle school, but he's done a really good job. But Juan Gaston's pushing him. Michael Uni right there as well. And I'll shout out to. We talked about some of the freshmen. Zakai Hilton from Carrollton. He came in, had a fantastic winner in spring practice. He was the starting right guard. And I think someone asked Kirby after G Day, basically, why did Zaki Hilton start? And Kirby essentially said the 14 practices before G day, he earned it. He outplayed everybody. They're really excited about him. And, you know, once you get Drew Bobo back, once you settle right tackle, you got Doncho Glover playing left guard after he played right guard last year. You got Ernest Green, who has been around and played a whole lot of football for Georgia. Once they settle that right tackle position, I think they're in pretty good shape. And I do want to shout out to new offensive line coach Phil Rauscher. He was an analyst last year. NFL guy was an offensive line coach with the Jaguars, with the Vikings. From the offensive lineman we've talked to, they really like him. They really like the way he goes about his business. And I don't think you'll see anything majorly different from that front. But you do have a new voice. And I always think, you know, as. As unexpected and as unpredictable as that can be, sometimes that is good for a group to have someone new to work with and kind of lead the way.
- [31:56]
B
And I wonder, too, like, if you're breaking a new right tackle. The. You know, using the multiple tight ends might make that transition just a little bit easier. Just. Just so you're not playing, you know, open or naked to, you know, to one side there. That is. That's his second year on campus.
- [32:12]
A
This is his third. Third.
- [32:14]
B
Okay.
- [32:14]
A
Third. And I want to encourage folks, which I know this will be posted a little bit later, but go look at Benjamin Wolks Twitter from G day. He tweeted a picture of Elias Williams, who is like, six, seven.
- [32:26]
B
Yeah.
- [32:26]
A
Standing next to Ja Jackson. And he. He, you know, Jaw Jackson totally dwarfs a 6, 7 tight end.
- [32:34]
B
Yeah, we. We had him. I'm trying to remember what school this was at. There was like, a very abbreviated tour that he went on when he was like, hey, I'm gonna try to play college. He wasn't, like I said, overtime, not. Not G league. I was like, this guy looks like Jonathan Ogden, like, not playing well. Like they were trying to, like, get him to do some pass set stuff. And it was just like, extremely raw, you know, but if he got his hands on you, it was. It was night night. That's incur. Like, man, the ceiling on that guy is nuts. If he can put that together. That's encouraging, I think, for Georgia, you know, for the potential of the offensive line that he's actually there. Year three probably makes it less scary, you know, just in my mind going back, like, how raw he was, you know, at basically a high school camp, I guess, three years ago now.
- [33:18]
A
And I would say, too, to play Tennessee State and Western Kentucky to start. I mean, you know, you could. You're going to have growing pains once you get to the sec, but at least you have a little bit of Runway that they can see. Okay, this is working. This somebody can work with, or if they decide, you know, he's still got a little bit of room to grow, that will definitely be helpful.
- [33:37]
B
Well, you mentioned that schedule. Let's dive into this thing a little bit. So Tennessee State, Western Kentucky, SEC road openers at Arkansas, which is not an easy place to play, but maybe an easy team to play. You know, certainly projected to be bottom three in the SEC by all the odds makers right now. And then they kind of get into it. So, you know, Oklahoma comes to Athens, Vandy comes to Athens, the Jared Curtis, all the storylines kind of write themselves there. And then at Alabama, where Kirby won a lot of games in that stadium, but never on the opposing sidelines. We'll see if he can get revenge there. You know, Auburn at home, Florida, I had this marked as a neutral, but it's. It's in. It's in Mercedes Benz there, so I'm not really sure. That might be like, neutral plus kind of leaning home. And then, you know, back to Oxford. Host Missouri at South Carolina, which is, you know, again, a tough place play. We'll see how good the team actually is. And then Georgia Tech, Jordan, I look at this schedule, man, no Texas, no A M, no lsu, no Tennessee. It's not an easy schedule, but of the SEC schedules, I've looked at preseason expectation wise. And obviously if you're Georgia, you can't play Georgia. So that. That certainly helps your, you know, make the schedule a little easier. Expectations got to be sky high when they look at the slate like this is, this is a nice year to get this schedule with a veteran quarterback like this.
- [35:01]
A
I totally agree. And I've gotten to the point, Bud, really, when we talk about any of these SEC teams, I'm not calling for an undefeated season. I just think it's so hard to do that in today's SEC. At the same time, I think 11:1 is very much on the table for this Georgia team. To me, the stretch that is going to determine if they could go undefeated. If they go 11:1, you know where they are. If they can be one of the top seeds in the playoff. At Alabama, home against Auburn. They get the bye week, then they play Florida and then at Ole Miss. And I think really, you know, zeroing in on at Alabama, you mentioned it. Kirby's never won in Tuscaloosa. They lose at home in the regular season last year, and that broke, I think, a 33 game home winning streak. Now they get revenge in the SEC title game, which I know that they were pumped about that. And then going to Oxford, that, that game at Ole Miss, Trinidad still there. Like we talked about earlier, you know, he had a very good game against that Georgia secondary. And the last time Georgia was in Oxford, I think it was like a 27 to 10 ole miss win. And it was such a strange feeling coming out of that game where you sort of thought, okay, Georgia's probably still making the playoff, but they're not going to SEC title game. And, you know, kind of looking ahead and then like a, you know, the next couple weeks, all hell breaks loose with Alabama losing Oklahoma and Ole Miss loses to Florida and Georgia gets back in. But I say that just to say going to Ole Miss is not going to be easy, even with all the changes that that team has had. And again, you know, the, the unknown of Auburn and Florida in year one for both of those coaches, it certainly helps. Neither of those games are on the road for Georgia, but you got to be careful that, that Auburn game coming right after at Alabama. If Georgia were to win, I would just, you know, be a little wary of riding high because that, you know, everybody, whether the coaches or the players want to talk about it, they know their history with Alabama. And if you were to win that game, you know, it might be hard to get everybody's attention the next week. But looking at the bigger picture, I do really like the schedule too, but I think if I were to predict it right now, I'd go 11 and 1. I think that it's very much on the table for this team.
- [37:14]
B
Jordan, this has been awesome, man. It always is. Your coverage is auction 4 7. Everybody on the site does a tremendous job, and I appreciate the time here in summer school.
- [37:21]
A
Absolutely. Thanks, bud.
- [37:23]
B
All right, man.