Loading summary
Transcript35 lines
- [00:00]
Host
It is Georgia day. You don't refrain from barking. It's fine. We're talking Georgia Bulldogs heading into the 2026 season. Kirby Smart and company looking to get back to the top of college football. Before we look ahead, let's look back on how we got here, guys. Georgia goes 12 and 2 overall, 7 and 1 in conference play. They win the SEC championship, and for 99.9% of teams in the country, they would have what we would call a successful season. But unfortunately, when you're Georgia and you go to the Sugar bowl and you lose again, notably to Pete Golding and the Ole Miss Rebels, Georgia fans left scratching their heads and disappointed once again. It feels almost national title or bust in Athens. Really quickly, guys, before we talk 2026, just thoughts on how 2025 unfolded, the way it ended and how it sets up and again just creates highly competitive expectations for 2026. That feeling of, is this the year we get over the hump again?
- [01:03]
Dimitri
Boy, is it national title or bust? Is such a tough question to answer because I don't think it should be. I don't think they are going to end up being one of the three or four best teams in college football. But I don't blame Georgia fans for feeling this way. I think there are certainly ones that have gone overboard wondering why we don't talk about Kirby the way we talk about Dabo right now. I know they've got a lot in common, but Dabo can't even sniff the stratosphere that Kirby is in. That's. That's the big difference, right? I think national championship or bust is too big of an expectation, but I get why Georgia fans are there. They looked very good last year, right up until they needed to.
- [01:49]
Chris
They looked good. But there were also a lot of games that you were kind of on the brink of. We don't know what's going to happen. I thought that was really interesting for Georgia. Go back to the Tennessee game. They have to fight their way back in Knoxville. Go down to the game against Florida in the world's largest outdoor cocktail party. You make that catch, you end up losing that game, potentially. The Alabama game is a loss where if you just find Cash Jones out of the backfield, that's a win. You talk about the Ole Miss game, it went back and forth. The Auburn game, you had a call go against you. I mean, go against Auburn. That eventually helped catapult you back into the game. So, yeah, I really love the way that Kirby has been able to build this roster. And I thought last Season with a weaker version of what was Georgia football in a lot of key positions that are so strong in the rich history underneath. Kirby Smart. I, I thought that still going 11:1 in the regular season, winning the SEC title, that kind of tells you all you need to know about who Georgia is as a program and what their expectations are. It's wrong to say national title or bus because of you are. There's only one team that can ever win it. It just is that bottom line. I don't think it's wrong, however, to say it's time for you to start winning some playoff games and we got to avoid New Orleans as much as humanly possible because we can't go down.
- [03:03]
Host
Yeah, I think Georgia fans would do anything they need to at this point to avoid New Orleans and the Sugar Bowl. I mean, heck, Cole, you and I and Dimitri, we were talking about this last season. You know, you're in a. I don't know if privileged place is the right word, but you're in a very interesting place where, I mean, Georgia fans were telling me like, you know, I don't mind if I'd rather not go to the SEC title game and just have a home playoff game. I don't really want to win the sec. Although we know that's not the way Kirby Smart and that program thing, it was just interesting to hear fans say that. On that note, Kirby Smart, guys, believe it or not, he's entering his 11th season in Athens. Certainly we're not going to spend any time talking about Kirby Smart and his job security, if you will, like we do with the mothers, because he is more than safe is everything. So my question to you all is this. There's been a lot of off season conversation about this after what Kurt Signetti in Indiana did. Is Kirby Smart still the best head coach in college football or has he been dethroned?
- [04:05]
Dimitri
Well, he's got two and Kurt has one. I mean, that's, that's something to consider. I, gosh, I, I almost don't even know how we measure that in the age of all of this roster movement. Right, right.
- [04:20]
Chris
It's. It's so hard. Here's the way that I view it. If you want to put Kirk Signetti at number one, I'm not going to argue with you. The guy took the. Losing his college football program in league history and brought them to two playoff appearances and won a national title in the second season. And he did that with a bunch of scrap tape, a couple of little pieces of metal and, and sheer dumb luck and he made it work and he built it into a, into a tirade. I mean, he did that. That's elite coaching. But I look at the grand scheme of history, I look at the consistency, I look at everything that you. That goes into building a program. Sustainability, coaching metrics, coaching tree. On top of that, you go with roster retention, the ability to recruit. Still killing it in the south. Using the transfer portal for what it's supposed to be as an added bonus, not as a, as a pathway to just build a roster overnight. And Kirby still does that better than anybody else in the sport. And then you throw in the fact that he is one of two coaches that can say, I have multiple national titles in college football right now. That is why I still have him at number one. I won't fight back. But I get it.
- [05:23]
Dimitri
To your point about the, about the way they use the portal, this is something doing some work down in South Carolina I hear a lot about with the comparison to Dabo. You know, Kirby's taking nine transfers this year. That is not a lot, certainly by SEC standards. When you look at, you know, what Lane Kiffin has done first at Ole Miss and now at lsu, what Auburn is doing this year. But he is going out and finding top tier guys at positions of need. And he's, you know, speaking of Clemson, he's bringing in a dude like Khalil Barnes that's going to add a lot of talent, but may not have enough to start necessarily at at Georgia. Added Dowdle, the running back from Kentucky, who at best is going to be the number three guy on the depth chart. He is not afraid to go into the portal at all. He's just very selective about the way he does.
- [06:19]
Host
Yeah, they're gonna add the guys they want. They're not going to overspend. I think that's the big thing with Georgia.
- [06:25]
Chris
What he does is he handpicks players that fit exactly what are the necessary needs for right now for a one year rental. And. And he kills it at it. And that's, that's the beneficiary of what you use the portal for. And he does that at an elite level.
- [06:37]
Host
Yeah. For my money's worth, I think he's the best head coach still in college football. To your point, Dimitri, Two beats one. I know it's a what have you done for me lately? Business. But if I had to take one coach in the country to lead my program, I'm going Kirby smart every single time, guys.
- [06:50]
Dimitri
That being said, you need a coach to build you a program. I'll Take Kurt Signetti. If I have a coach to win me a game, I will take Kirby Smart.
- [06:58]
Chris
I don't think either there's a wrong answer either way.
- [07:01]
Host
Fair. Very fair. Guys, let's talk this 2026 Georgia Bulldogs football team because this could be the one on that note that gets Georgia back to the top and winning a national championship. Let's start with the offense. Everybody rejoice in Athens. Mike Bobo is officially back as offensive coordinator. Gunner Stockton's also back as a QB one. You've got Nate Frazier, Chauncey Bowens who are spearheading the rushing attack. Lawson Lucky back at tight end. Three starters returning on the offensive line. A lot of young talent emerging. You guys might recall there were a lot of youngsters that were thrust into action last year but they're all back. And you guys might recall a couple years ago we were talking about have you seen the Georgia offensive line recruiting class? All these guys are 673 6. Well they're all on campus now when they're all contributing. So Georgia should be stacked on the offensive front. London Humphreys brings experience back to the wide receiver room. Of course they're leaning on Isaiah Canyon out of Georgia Tech. The transfer and young players like Taylor Taylor who they're really high on. Landon rolled in Tyler J. Williams. It's a Kobe White Helton. Guys thoughts and expectations for this Georgia offense. I will start it off by saying I don't think Gunner Stockton gets nearly the amount of love that he deserves for what he did last season and I think the player he'll be this year Georgia. I think it's going to be a typical Georgia offense again. They're going to set the tone with a rushing attack. Who replaces a Zach Branch on the outside is big. Obviously we've talked about the receiver position but with Gunner Stockton at QB1, that big physical offensive line, this Georgia offense should be ready to have a big 2026.
- [08:37]
Dimitri
Yeah to your point about Stockton not getting the love that he deserves. Like I don't think Georgia and this is just Bobo's offense and what Kirby kind of dictates you're very rarely going to ask the quarterback and in this case Gunner Stockton to go out and win you games right. But Stockton had a consistently good season. If you look at throw QBR out right go by quarterback rating that's a little bit more of a scientific like this number means this kind of stat. He only had one game last year where his quarterback rating was under 110. I I think that even though you're not gonna see him ask to win a lot of games. When did he go off? He went off against the top five Ole Miss team in the reg and he went off against Texas. He went off when they needed him to go off. That being said, Chris, you're right. This is going to go through the run game and I think the three headed monster is going to be really hard to stop. Do you realize as much as Nate Frazier broke out last year.
- [09:40]
Host
Yeah.
- [09:41]
Dimitri
Do you realize that Chauncey Bowens like spelled him to the tune of like 160 to 103. Like they, they rest Frazier a lot and that is why he is able to deliver the home runs he can so consistently.
- [09:57]
Chris
Yeah. So it's interesting. It was 103 versus 173. So there was a 60 carry differential between Nate Frazier and Chauncey Bowens which makes them deadly. And then you throw in another guy who's been a starter in the past and Dante Dowell who's taking over that Josh McCray from Illinois type role. A third down back just chain mover inside the red zone. Their run game I think could be once again one of the more dangerous units in the sec. But it starts with the big boys up front. Like the big question he has. Like last season you saw Nate Frazier who was awesome and I still think is kind of slept on Average over 5.7 yards of play and he was doing that behind one of the weaker offensive lines we have seen underneath Kirby Smart in the last five years. Like, like he was the, he was doing it at such an efficient rate when offensive line play was in my opinion less than stellar. And now everyone is a year older. Everyone is a little bit more adapted. Juan Gadsden has a full year of reps underneath this belt. Drew Bobo is going to be the full time center. Dontre Glover has been in the system even if he wasn't a full time starter. He's been around the block. Ernest Green, left tackle, is a year older and they've had continuity working together as a unit, which to me means there's going to be very few question marks of understanding your assignments, understanding where the attack points and how you go about preparing for every single rep that then takes pressure off of your quarterback, take pressure off of your running back. All we have to do is make sure that we zip zap and zap and hit these corners and they're off to the races. The wide receiver room is always going to be a question mark with me. Outside of what we have seen from Lad Bikanki in The last few years has there been an elite receiver. George Pickens is probably pretty close, but he also dealt with an injury when they won the national championship that year, so bygones be bygones with that ad. Mitchell had his, like, couple moments here and there, but never really came into his own. At this point, though, if the offensive line looks as advertised and it feels cohesive and it feels like that it is trending towards being back to the level of the standard at Georgia. Who really cares what your passing attack looks like? Just run the football. Because you got a mobile quarterback in Stockton, you know, that also isn't afraid to tuck it and pick up the hard yards with his legs.
- [12:07]
Host
Yeah, Georgia's going to bully people, guys, in my opinion. I mean, there's no team in this conference that loves to get in a street fight and get their nose bloodied more than Georgia. And I think that's what they're going to do. That's how they're going to set the tone. They want to be the more physical team. They want to be the aggressor. And they've got those dudes in the front. They've got those dudes in the back that are do it. Obviously, Gunner Stockton is showing. I think he's the toughest quarterback in the league. He is certainly not scared to take a lick. And if they've got anything, and I think they will obviously be able to work off the platform play action. I think there's some young guys in the receiver room that are going to step up. We had some. Some Georgia folks that are friends of mine that were very vocal about letting us know about some young receivers that we didn't talk about maybe a couple days ago with a guy like Taylor. Taylor, they're really high on. They were very loud in the comments. But, you know, Georgia's got talent. I think it's going to be, again, one of the most lethal offenses in the sec, led by that physicality guys switching to the defensive side of the football. Speaking of physicality, you could argue this is really where the excitement is with Georgia. Glenn Schumann, of course, is back at D.C. kirby Smart and he calling all the shots. 21 defenders who played meaningful snaps at Georgia or elsewhere return this season are on that dog's defense. They're led by Gabe Harris Jr. Xavier McLeod, Elijah Griffin, Jordan Hall. They're all back up front. Quintavious Johnson's back at outside linebacker. He's looking to make an impact in the pass rush. I'd probably say the big question for Georgia, will they get to the quarterback more consistently than they did a season ago. That was something shockingly enough, that Georgia was not able to do effectively. Raylan Wilson, Chris Cole, Justin Williams, all manning the inside linebacker spots. Linebacker? You, I mean, Georgia's got just a slew of NFL talented linebackers on their roster. Ellis Robinson, the fourth, K.J. bolden, Kyron Jones all back in the secondary. Demelo Jones looks to be at the other corner spot. Demetri mentioned it. Khalil Barnes from Clemson is fighting for the spot at star. Guys, your thoughts on this Georgia defense. There's a lot of veteran talent here. There's just a lot of talent across the board. I mean, they've got to answer the question of the pass rush. But Kirby Smart has shown in years past. When there's a question from a year ago, he seems to address it. This Georgia defense looks like it's going to be lethal.
- [14:22]
Dimitri
Yeah, Kirby and Georgia have absolutely been the beneficiaries of the top tier SEC jobs wanting the headlines of going out and poaching a coach. Right. Because Glenn Schumann is more than ready to lead a top tier team in this conference. You, you talk about getting to the quarterback. I will tell you, the guy that I've been high on on this defense for two years that I think is going to factor into that more than people may think is K.J. bolden. I mean, that dude is just a headhunter and you can move him all around that defense. Disguise how he is coming at you. I think he's going to be a big part of Georgia upping the pressure numbers this year.
- [15:05]
Chris
I just look at that front seven and feel like that even though the stats aren't there, it's built like old vintage Georgia defenses. Like, remember the days of you had Jarvis Jones and you had, you had Aziz, Aziza, Jalari. Like you had that type of talent coming off of the edge, learning Floyd, being one of those guys. And it felt like the last two years it wasn't that way. Now, no fault of their own. Jalen Carter's been was a stud. You talk about what you got with Jordan Davis, you talk about with Trayvon Walker. I mean, the laundry list of names, whether it be a linebacker, safety, defensive line, they're there. But it didn't feel that way last season. Maybe it's just because of the continuity. Maybe it's just because the veteranship, the experience, more growth, the size metrics. I look at this team and I say, yep, this is vintage Georgia defense. Flight. Elijah Griffin is a vintage defensive end. That's Going to defensive tackle, that's going to put pressure on the interior and make them an obsolete one dimensional type of offense. Getting a guy like Gabe Harris, that's a guy that's going to be able to change the run game. Getting a guy like Jordan Hall, Xavier McLeod, which got the linebacker spot with Raylan Wilson, what you got with Chris Cole at the money back position, all those guys are going to make teams very one dimensional type of offensive Personas. That kind of puts you in a lot of three and out situations, gets the ball back to your offense and even if you aren't explosive, you'll be able to run the clock down and put more pressure on the opposing team to have to go back out there and kind of duel it up a little bit faster because they know the clock is against them. It's now an enemy. And that is where I think that we have seen Georgia come full circle this past offseason. You know that you have faith that this defensive line is damn good.
- [16:47]
Host
Yeah, Georgia is the poster child for the buckets award. I mean they just, they spit them out man, every single year. And this, I mean I would, I would make the prediction that a Buckus award winner is going to come from this Georgia defense yet again. They are just loaded at the linebacker spot. So guys, let's talk a little bit of special teams. We don't spend a ton of time here, but Peyton Woodring is back for his fourth season as kicker Drew Miller takes over his punter. So Kobe White, Helton Taylor, Taylor looked to replace Zach Branch in the return game. Do we have any thoughts on Georgia's specialist?
- [17:20]
Dimitri
Yeah, this is the, this is the only team in the country that replacing the punter might actually hurt them a little bit going into, into this season. But look more seriously the, the place kicking situation. Peyton Woodring is as close to automatic as Georgia has had in, in years. Do you realize last year over 40 yards he was asked to kick 11 of those field goals. I'm sorry, 10 of those field goals and he connected on eight of them. I mean he is pretty consistently gotten better year after year on the long field goals. And when you get into those matchups where Georgia, you know he could be the difference for Georgia when they are playing the top tier of their schedule this year.
- [18:07]
Chris
You want to have a stable kicker not because of necessity but just in case of anything where everyone else lets you down. You know you need a game, you know, you know, you know, you know you need a game winning kick. You know you got a guy that can Come on out there, deliver an easy clutch field goal. Peyton Woodring does that. No complaints there.
- [18:24]
Dimitri
Yeah, if you're going to Norman, to Tuscaloosa and to Oxford, I would feel a lot more confident with that dude in my back pocket.
- [18:32]
Host
Yeah, yeah, they're going to be solid in the specialist game, no question. Guys, on that note, let's keep it moving. Our overall outlook for the Georgia Bulldogs. What are our friends over at Calshe say? Well, they say Georgia's got a 78 chance to win nine or more games this season. Then it goes 64 chance to win 10 or more, 39 to win 11 or more and 17 to win 12 games. So it kind of breaks right at that 10 and 11 mark. Over, under probably about 10 and a half, which is a pretty good spot to be. I think some other books might have George at nine and a half, which I know. Demetri, you learned a couple shows. Give me the over on that all day long. As far as qualifying with a college football playoff, Georgia via Calci has a 66% chance to make the College football playoff. So really good chances and a 7% chance to win the national championship, which is actually 4% less than the Texas Longhorns, interestingly enough. Whether you agree or disagree, that's something you can let us know. Guys, 14 starters are back on this Georgia team. Six on offense, eight on defense. Let's take a look at the schedule because the schedule is an important part of the conversation, an important piece of the puzzle when it comes to Georgia. Guys, the ESPN FBI and granted your schedule in the SEC is always tough from a national perspective. But not all SEC schedules are built equally because the ESPN FBI ranked Georgia's schedule the easiest in the sec and this is what it looks like. They open up in non con Tennessee State and Western Kentucky at home. Ho hum. They open SEC play at Arkansas. Oklahoma is their SEC home opener. They then have Vandy at Alabama, of course, right there in the middle of October. Auburn at home, bye week. Florida in Atlanta. Georgia of course, in the world's largest outdoor cocktail party at Ole Miss.
- [20:25]
Dimitri
Well, not this year.
- [20:26]
Host
Yeah, true, very true. At Old Miss. Mizzou at home, at South Carolina and then Georgia Tech at home. Guys, thoughts on this schedule? The way it sets up, is it as easy, quote unquote easy as the ESPN FBI makes it out to be?
- [20:45]
Dimitri
Yes and no.
- [20:46]
Host
Right.
- [20:47]
Dimitri
They miss some of the headliners, they miss both of the Texas schools. So that ended up. And by the way, this is something that Alabama dealt with under Nick Saban. When you are the monster, of course your schedule is going to be easier than everyone else's because you can't play the monster. One thing that stands out to me here or two things that stand out to me, number one, the idea that this schedule is easy based on last year. I don't think that carries over the way it used to. Like, I think that Florida and Auburn are both going to be considerably improved this year. The other thing, speaking of those two teams, the bye week does not seem very strategic for Georgia. That, that stands out to me at a time when the conference tends to take care of the top level teams. I, I know it's tradition, but it stands out to be that there is no real strategy to this thing.
- [21:44]
Chris
I think it's because of the way we just view Georgia from a national perspective. Georgia, regardless of if they have a tough schedule, an easy schedule, they should be a playoff contender. I think until further notice, they should be viewed as a team that every single year, like it's at 66 playoff rate until Kirby Smart decides to go ahead and hang up the whistle and go enjoy life in Athens as an individual. And it should be 99%. It just should. Because that's what the expectation is there. That's the way the rosters, rosters are constructed. They have some trap games or they have some games to where you peak interest in for sure. Going to Alabama, going to Oxford, going to Norman. Like, those are games that you look at and say they're not cakewalks. But this is still Georgia. And Georgia makes all these moves in the off season meticulously because they know where their roster is built to be successful and, and where it struggles. So it's like hard for me to say. Even if you do think that Georgia may be taking a step back in one spot, you got to ask yourself, did they get better in another spot that was a weak point last year. Because if it was a weak point last year and they still got to 11:1, why am I thinking that they won't get to 11:1 or in that same range this year?
- [22:54]
Host
Yeah, I think Georgia's schedule is quote, unquote easy because they can't play Georgia. And I understand they don't have Texas on this schedule, but any other team in this conference. If I told you you play Oklahoma at Bama, Florida at Ole Miss, trap game at South Carolina, you'd still be like, hey, that's a pretty difficult slate. But when it's Georgia's schedule, you're like, well, they're Georgia, so that's not as hard for them. So it is a schedule conducive to success in a big year. Certainly wouldn't call it easy, but conducive to a big Year, no doubt. Guys, I know we got a scoot final thing. I will pose this question to you both. We all agree Georgia. It'd be more of a surprise if they're not in Atlanta than anything whether you think they're going to win the SEC title or not. Georgia is going to be a factor in the national title race if the Dogs are going to get over the hump. I'll ask both of you biggest question they need to answer to make that happen.
- [23:43]
Dimitri
Ooh, I would think it is probably going to be does somebody step up enough as that outside receiver to make that offense a little more unpredictable than it looks like? As we talk on July 15, do
- [23:57]
Chris
you still have questions surrounding the offensive line that may be a reason to where you have to trust your passing game a little bit more because if you're lucky enough to be able to be the type of team that you are expected to be, you should be able to run it with Chauncey Bowens, Dante Dow, Nate Frazier and then use the passing game as a as an extra added bonus. The other thing is how do we avoid any opportunity of playing in New Orleans this upcoming year?
- [24:20]
Host
I agree with you Dimitri. Answering the question, adding the wrinkle that is the outside passing game, the deep vertical passing game, having that outside threat is big. Also the pass rush got to be more effective getting after the quarterback this year on a consistent basis. If you can do that, do those two things, I think Georgia is going to be right in the thick of it and they are going to be in the national title race very well could end the SEC's drought of no national title. So guys, we to hear from you your thoughts on Georgia 2026 season right around the corner for the Dogs.