Surprise!
We were able to view approximately 20 minutes of practice today.
Here's what we saw:
We've got numbers for the newcomers! I'll try to update our site roster Friday.
1 Trevor Etienne
1 Ellis Robinson IV
2 Nitro Tuggle
4 KJ Bolden
9 Colbie Young
12 Ryan Puglisi
13 Michael Jackson III
15 Demello Jones
16 London Humphreys
16 Justin Williams
18 Chris Cole
18 Sacovie White
22 Jake Pope
23 Jaden Reddell
28 Kris Jones
33 Chauncey Bowens
33 Quintavious Johnson
51 Malachi Toliver
52 Michael Uini
58 Marques Easley
61 Nick Reeves
70 Daniel Calhoun
79 Nyier Daniels
82 Colton Heinrich
92 Jordan Thomas
94 Xzavier McLeod
95 Nnamdi Ogboko
99 Joseph Jonah-Ajonye
Here's what I saw:
...First Team Offensive Line: LT Earnest Greene Jr., LG Micah Morris, C Jared Wilson, RG Tate Ratledge, RT Xavier Truss.
Second Team Offensive Line: Jamal Merriwether, LG Dylan Fairchild, C Drew Bobo, RG Daniel Calhoun, RT Monroe Freeling
...Watched Trevor Etienne for a little bit. He's listed at 205; actually thought he was a tick smaller, but he looked great. He's definitely the No. 1 guy. Didn't catch any pecking order, but Roderick Robinson, Andrew Paul, and Chauncey Bowens.
...New running back coach Josh Crawford was wearing a helmet during drills. Thought that was interesting.
...Mykel Williams was working with the outside linebackers when we were out there.
...Forgot how shrill Coach Coley's voice was. Other than Kirby, he's the easiest to pick out.
...Physically, all the freshmen skill players and DBs looked in great shape. The freshmen linemen still have work to do, but that's expected at this early stage. Second-year defensive lineman Jamal Jarrett looks outstanding.
...Ryan Puglisi is listed at 212 pounds, but looks bigger.
Quoting Kirby Smart: "We're going to do the Anthony Evans drill. If you don't have the ball, go block somebody."
We've got MUCH, MUCH more coming.
JED MAY
I spent the media period looking at the secondary and both groups of linebackers.
The first two outside linebackers were Chaz Chambliss and Sam M'Pemba. They were followed by Gabe Harris and Damon Wilson (I think it was Wilson - the guy on the field was wearing 35 but Wilson was listed as 10 on the roster we got. Maybe using last fall's practice jerseys?).
With those outside linebackers, Chidera Uzo-Diribe was telling them that this was about getting themselves into shape.
Mykel Williams spent the last couple open periods working with the OLBs. No major shock there. But joining him from the D-line group was freshman Joseph Jonah-Ajonye. JJA is listed as an inch shorter and 10 pounds heavier than Williams, but the staff wants to try and develop that EDGE skillset all the same.
With no Smael Mondon out there, the inside linebackers were led by CJ Allen and Raylen Wilson. Terrell Foster and Jalon Walker went next, followed by Justin Williams and Chris Cole. Williams, the top linebacker in the 2024 class, looked great.
There were a couple of interesting notes from a coaching perspective in the secondary. Travaris Robinson was commanding the stars/safeties. At one point he called out Joenel Aguero for not keeping his eyes up out of a break.
Donte Williams, meanwhile, was wearing a helmet while working with the corners. It looked like it was a drill where they were defending back shoulder passes. Why was he wearing a helmet? Your guess is as good as mine.
Daylen Everett, Julian Humphrey, and Daniel Harris appeared to be the top three corners rotating in and out. Harris is sporting a new number 7. Chris Peal was running about fourth as well, best I could tell.
Like Williams, freshman corner Ellis Robinson already looks like he belongs out there.
With no Malaki Starks, the top two safeties appeared to be Dan Jackson and David Daniel-Sisavanh. Justyn Rhett and Jake Pope were in the next wave, followed by Joenel Aguero and JaCorey Thomas.
Thomas got called out by Smart on the microphone a couple different times today.
There was one point where both halves of the secondary were working on route combinations next to each other. At that point, Aguero was working at star next to Daylen Everette. Kyron Jones worked at star on the side with Julian Humphrey. I would THINK that means Aguero would be the number one star, but that's purely speculation.
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DAYNE YOUNG
A few of Georgia’s soon-to-be draftees stayed in Athens and attended today’s practice. I saw
Ladd McConkey and
Tykee Smith, in particular.
In terms of current Bulldogs, I focused on defensive line and tight ends.
The defensive lineman I saw going through drills (with order meaning very little in these kinds of drills)
Nazir Stackhouse
Jordan Hall
Nnamdi Ogboko
Jamaal Jarrett
Warren Brinson
Jordan Thomas
Christen Miller
Xzavier McCleod
Joseph Jonah-Ajonye
Mykel Williams
Tray Scott’s mantra during the first shuffle drill was “eyes up, chin up, neck on your brace.” They later did another shuffle in a PVP pipe contraption that looked like a big cube. It was around six foot in height. Players had to shuffle from side to side and stay low.
There are only four scholarship tight ends on this roster during the spring with Pearce Spurlin having to take a medical disqualification. Benjamin Yurosek is on the way, but will not arrive until summer. The practice order for tights ends:
Oscar Delp
Lawson Luckie
Jaden Reddell
Colton Heinrich
Cooper Johnson
Luke Collins
Todd Hartley had Lawson Luckie redo a sled drill and told him to “get in the weight room.” Later, Hartley did a drill where player get slapped with pads as they leave their stance. They run five or so yards and take a quick break right. After five more yards, they break right again and must catch the football. “Feet, hips, hands…in and out,” Hartley said.
Oscar Delp ran it to Hartley’s liking on the first try, but heard Hartley remind subsequent tight ends to go “full speed.” Delp retorted: “I did go full speed.” Hartley was quick to praise him and let him know he wasn’t the target of any criticism for that rep. “That was really good, Delp!”
Mike Bobo was correcting form.
“You are chopping your steps, Cole (Speer).”
“You’re walking, Dom (Lovett)!”
Carson Beck threw a beautiful ball to
Dominic Lovett in one of the drills where each quarterback is throwing to a skill guy with four footballs in the air at a time. Beck looked to be Georgia’s biggest quarterback, definitely in height, but also in total size.
Sacovie White had a ball escape his hands. He tried to tip it to himself, but it landed on the ground.
I saw
Travis Etienne make a nice, exaggerated catch in an open-field catching drill.
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LANCE MCCURLEY
I mainly got to watch the defensive, and man, I was blown away by some of the size and speed of these guys.
Nazir Stackhouse and Jordan Hall were the first two through on the defensive line drills. Then, as Dayne said, it was freshman
Nnamdi Ogboko and
Jamaal Jarrett. UGA Athletics has Jarrett listed at 350 pounds, but it looks like it's mostly muscle. He can move, too.
Tray Scott commented on how well he moved off the line of scrimmage.
As far as safeties go, it was
Malaki Starks,
Joenel Aguero, and
KJ Bolden. At cornerback, it was
Julian Humphrey and
Daylen Everette. Safety
JaCorey Thomas was getting worn out by the eye in the sky,
Kirby Smart.
Donte Williams was very involved today in practice, mostly helping out the younger defensive backs when they were working on a drill in which the players had to switch directions quickly.
Travaris Robinson was throwing passes to the safeties, who were cutting on a dime and reversing their momentum to make an athletic interception. That's where Bolden and Starks really shined.
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PATRICK GARBIN
Practice had a little larger crowd than most other times we’ve observed. There seemed to be a good many recruits. I also spotted a few former Georgia players who participated in yesterday’s Pro Day. Both
Ladd McConkey and
Tykee Smith were chatting with recruits. At one point, McConkey ran out on the field to retrieve something, prompting a staffer to holler, “Ladd, get off the field. You don’t play here anymore.”
When our observation started, Kirby Smart called the initial drill the “Anthony Evans Drill… If you don’t get the ball, go block somebody!”
Primarily observing the quarterbacks and wide receivers, I heard a familiar voice in
James Coley coaching the receivers. He fired out a string of expletives after a few receivers apparently didn’t run far enough past a cone to catch an incoming pass. Coach Coley is back.
On a handoff drill, the order of the quarterbacks (newcomers with jersey No.):
Carson Beck—
Gunner Stockton—
Ryan Puglisi (No. 12)—
Collin Drake—
Sam Bush. The top-5 running backs in order were
Trevor Etienne (No. 1)—
Cash Jones—
Andrew Paul—
Roderick Robinson—
Chauncey Bowens (No. 33).
For a passing drill, the quarterbacks (minus Bush) threw to 3 receivers-1 tight end, involving the top three sets: 1)
Dominic Lovett—
Dillon Bell—
Arian Smith—
Oscar Delp; 2)
Colbie Young (No. 9)—
Anthony Evans—
London Humphreys (No. 16)—
Lawson Luckie; and 3)
Cole Speer—
Sacovie White (No. 18)—
Michael Jackson III (No. 13)—
Colton Heinrich (No. 82).
Young, the transfer receiver from Miami, looked impressive in the drill catching the ball. He made a particular diving sideline reception, which prompted a “Good God!” from the crowd.
- Stockton throws a nice ball to Bell along the left sideline
- Puglisi throws about a 30-yard strike down the middle to Luckie
- White with a great over-the-shoulder catch of a ball thrown by Beck
- Lovett caught two long balls on back-to-back reps—one thrown by Beck, the other Stockton
- Nice sideline catch made by Anthony Evans, who did a good job of tight-roping down the sideline for a few extra yards
- Bell catches a screen from Drake and weaves in and out with the quickness
In a one-on-one drill involving a receiver and a defensive back, Bell got the better of Daylen Everrette, promptly new UGA assistant
Donte Williams to say, “You don’t have to be too low.”
In a snatching-ball drill, Arian Smith made a nice snag. Most impressive was
Nitro Tuggle No. 2), who had a nice one-handed snag.
Finally, the best for the last, what we heard from Smart at the very end (we couldn’t see to who): “If you’re a prospect, and you’re looking at your phone, that shows me you don’t care about my practice!”
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