Georgia Fall Camp News and Notes
By: Anthony Dasher - UGA SportsSmart gives his take on wide receiver corps
Even with RaRa Thomas no longer part of Georgia’s wide receiver room, depth should not be a problem for the Bulldogs this fall.“We've got a lot of guys that are pass catchers back. We've got a lot of guys that have played in Dillon Bell, Arian (Smith), and Colbie Young for another team (Miam). Dom (Lovett) has been very successful and got a lot of catches,” Smart said. “We have depth at the top. I think we've got to find more guys who can contribute in that room. Maybe they haven't had their opportunity. Maybe they're talented and pick things up quickly. We have several guys that came in from the portal with Mike Jackson and London Humphreys, so I'm looking forward to seeing the opportunity that each one gets to grow and get better, and it starts today.
“I'm fired up about that group because we got a good group of protectors around them, a good quarterback to get them the ball, and a good group of tight ends.”
Smart also likes the potential he sees from sophomore Anthony Evans III, who caught a touchdown against Florida State in the Orange Bowl.
“Camp is going to be critical for him to show toughness. You can't play the position he plays on offense without establishing physical toughness, and he's shown the ability to stick his face in there and do things,” Smart said. “He's going to compete to be one of our returners. So, we need him to have a successful camp, and that doesn't come through wanting to have a successful camp. It comes through the mindset of what it takes to be physical and do your job every day, which will be key for him."
Smart said he also likes what he saw this spring from his three transfers - Young, Jackson, and Humphreys.
Per Smart, the three had no problem picking up Georgia’s offense, and from that standpoint should be ready to go this fall.
“They've done great. They've done an awesome job. I don't think that would be a concern,” Smart said. “They're very bright kids. All three of those kids have played in systems that are similar to ours and very bright, adjustable, and can play multiple positions. No concerns there.”
Establishing depth at defensive line will be key
There’s been a lot of talk about Georgia’s defensive line and how effective that position will be for the Bulldogs.Smart doesn’t necessarily disagree.
To have success in the SEC, your defensive line needs to be a strength.
So, how does Smart feel about the group heading into fall camp?
“Well, they have been here a long time. I'm pleased with where they are in terms of when Warren (Brinson) is dealing with a little nagging injury that he's dealt with, and he'll push through that. Naz (Stackhouse) has been great,” Smart said. “But we got to get the young guys ready to play.”
Georgia made the position a priority while recruiting the current class.
Now, it’s a matter of getting them ready to play.
“You never have enough defensive linemen, so just from the jump street, we got some big bodies in that room, but we got some inexperienced big bodies,” Smart said. “It's really important that we establish depth, that we're looking at a potentially longer season. We have, I want to say it's four or maybe five new guys, meaning first year with us, because that includes a portal transfer (Xzavier McLeod) and four high school guys, that are 300 pounds or greater that haven't played a snap for us.”
Fall camp for building toughness
Smart said the Bulldogs will have over 120 players in camp. Moving forward next year, teams will be relegated to 105 per roster.“Our meeting last night was about why do we have a training camp. What is the purpose of a training camp?” Smart said. “It’s to build the toughness within our team.”
Count right guard Tate Ratledge as someone who’s raring to go.
“I look forward to it; it’s football, it’s the fun part of what we do. We aren’t out there running. We aren’t out there swinging weight around,” he said. “It’s football. We get to go play football. It’s what we’re here for, it’s what we do. I think that is something to look forward to every year, and as you get older, you kind of learn that and think, ‘these younger guys are going to figure that out at some point.’ It took me some time to figure that out.”
This and that
• The ability to have unlimited coaches on the field is one of the new rules Smart is happy to see.“Well, we'll use more coaches now and have the ability to maybe move some coaches around in terms of if you've got one drill going on, you've got another person that’s an allowable coach that maybe has really good experience coaching or knows our system to be an extra set of eyes, ears, and coach guys,” Smart said. “We're excited about that. I'm excited for some of the special teams periods. We're going to be able to take kids that aren't in special teams where we had a lot of our coaching dedicated to special teams. We have people on the outside now that may be able to do special teams and free our coaches up to give a little time to guys that aren't in, like skill development.”
• Smart on tight end Oscar Delp: “He's a kid that's taken a lot of reps here, so everybody will want to compare him and say he's filling Brock Bower's shoes,” Smart said. “That's not happening. We're not asking anybody to fill Brock Bower's shoes.”
• Regarding Stanford transfer Ben Yurosek, Smart had this to say. “It's a hard question because I really hadn't got to see him. Most of these guys I saw through the spring, so the new arrivals of late May, early June, he would be included in that,” Smart said. “I'd be remiss if I could tell you really what he can do and what he's going to do because outside of some summer workouts, I hadn't got to see him do a lot. I'm excited. He's very intelligent, very conscientious and I love the way he's kind of approached our team. I see him meeting guys all the time, talking to guys. He's not like just here for a one quick season and roll. He's invested. He wants to be part of something special.”
•Freshman five-star safety KJ Bolden is not feeling any pressure.
“I don't think there's any pressure in terms of hype as a recruit. He may put that on himself, but we don't. We don't pick kids and say, well, this guy's got pressure, this guy doesn't. I think we've got to prepare him day to day with intensity,” Smart said. “Each day is an opportunity for him to grow and get better. Sometimes freshmen can't rise to the occasion that number of times, and they have these off days because they've never had this intensity. He's going to be able to handle that well.”
