ATHENS, Ga. — Kirby Smart has made it clear: Don’t talk about a three-peat. The message was clear even in the moments after winning the second title when a Georgia staffer was caught on camera going around So-Fi stadium holding up one finger, then two, then a third. Smart immediately tracked down that staffer …
Oh, wait, that was Smart who held up the three fingers. Emotion gets the best of everyone. And even Smart, ever aware of messaging within his program, has talked to his players about the Michael Jordan three-peats and what it took for those to happen. But the emphasis has been more on avoiding complacency than on history.
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“I know everybody wants to talk about the three-peat, but that’s not what we’re focused on,” senior receiver Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint said this month. “We’re just focused on ourselves and getting better.”
It’s a nice feeling for Georgia to be in this position when just two years ago the talk was about ever getting over the hump. And it’s a good thing Georgia did when it did because the changes in college football are about to make winning the championship, much less three-peating, so much harder: a more difficult SEC thanks to expansion and scheduling and a 12-team College Football Playoff that will make it easier to get in but harder to win.
Still, Smart always has said his program was about consistency. The message after the first national championship appearance — a loss to Alabama — was “Georgia isn’t going anywhere.” The message after beating Alabama to finally win it was “Georgia is built to sustain.” And the message after the second title, betrayed in that emotional moment on the field, was there was no reason the Bulldogs couldn’t do it again.
And there isn’t, especially with a schedule that sets up Georgia to build experience and depth.
As the season arrives, here is a comprehensive look at this year’s team, starting with a projected depth chart, some predictions, a schedule ranking and a final prediction about this season.
Carson Beck is set to make his first start at quarterback for Georgia against UT Martin. (Brett Davis / USA Today)Who will play?
Note: Multiple depth chart spots for some positions are used because Georgia shuttles in so many players, so there are more than 11 “starters” on offense and defense. But as always, if Georgia does try to use more than 11 players the officials probably would notice, so don’t fret:
Georgia 2023 depth chart
| Position | First team | Second team |
|---|---|---|
QB | Carson Beck, Jr. | Gunner Stockton, R-Fr./Brock Vandagriff, Soph. |
RB | Daijun Edwards, Sr. | Andrew Paul, R-Fr./Roderick Robinson, Fr. |
TE | Brock Bowers, Jr. | Pearce Spurlin, Fr. |
TE | Oscar Delp, Soph. | Pearce Spurlin, Fr. |
WR | Ladd McConkey, Jr. | Arian Smith, Jr. |
WR | Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint, Sr. | Dillon Bell, Soph./Rara Thomas, Jr. |
Slot | Dominic Lovett, Jr. | Mekhi Mews, Soph. |
LT | Earnest Greene, R-Fr. | Austin Blaske, Jr. |
LG | Xavier Truss, Sr. | Jared Wilson, Soph. |
C | Sedrick Van Pran, Sr. | Austin Blaske, Jr. |
RG | Tate Ratledge, Jr. | Micah Morris, Soph. |
RT | Amarius Mims, Jr. | Chad Lindberg, Jr. |
DE | Mykel Williams, Soph. | Tramel Walthour, Sr./Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins, Soph. |
DT | Nazir Stackhouse, Jr. | Warren Brinson, Sr. Soph. |
NT | Zion Logue, Sr. | Christen Miller, R-Fr./Jonathan Jefferson, Soph. |
OLB | Chaz Chambliss, Jr. | Marvin Jones, Soph./Damon Wilson, Fr. |
ILB | Jamon Dumas-Johnson, Jr. | Jalon Walker, Soph. |
ILB | Xavian Sorey, Jr. | E.J. Lightsey, R-Fr. |
Star | Tykee Smith, Sr. | Kyron Jones, Fr. |
CB | Kamari Lassiter, Jr. | Nyland Green, Jr. |
CB | Julian Humphrey, R-Fr. | Daylen Everette, Soph. |
S | Javon Bullard, Jr. | David Daniel-Sisavanh, Jr. |
S | Malaki Starks, Soph. | JaCorey Thomas, Jr./Dan Jackson, Sr. |
P | Brett Thorson, Soph. | Noah Jones, Soph. |
PK | Jared Zirkel, Jr. | Peyton Woodring, Fr. |
Other injured players who will contribute when healthy:
RB Kendall Milton, Sr. (hamstring): Co-starter
TE Lawson Luckie, Fr. (ankle): Second team
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ILB Smael Mondon, Jr. (foot): Starter
ILB Raylen Wilson, Fr. (knee): Reserve
NB Joenel Aguero, Fr. (hamstring): Second team
Other players not listed who should contribute right away: RB Cash Jones, Jr.; WR Anthony Evans, Fr.; WR Tyler Williams, Fr.; WR Jackson Meeks, Jr.; WR Yazeed Haynes, Fr.; DT Jordan Hall, Fr.; ILB C.J. Allen, Fr.; ILB Darris Smith, Soph.
Random thought
This has been a recurring theme the past few years, but look at all the ballyhooed freshmen who aren’t on the immediate depth chart: OLB Samuel M’Pemba, OLB Gabe Harris, T Monroe Freeling, T Bo Hughley, CB Daniel Harris, ILB Troy Bowles … this list could go on, and we can throw in some notable members of the 2022 class.
That points to depth and experience. Georgia has a bunch of players who have at least been around for the two national championships and can step into bigger roles. The schedule will allow younger players to get experience while not exposing the starters to more injuries.
Player projections
• Carson Beck will pass for fewer yards than Stetson Bennett did last year (4,127) but has more touchdown passes (Bennett had 27 but also rushed for 10). Beck’s relying more on his arm makes the touchdown number an easy call, and the passing yards will be more a product of Georgia’s schedule and desire to let Brock Vandagriff or Gunner Stockton get reps.
• Milton will stay (relatively) healthy and lead the team in rushing. Milton had the best yards per carry of any of the team’s top four tailbacks last year, so it’s all about the injuries, and to be fair, he only missed two games last year (but six in 2021). This year, he has had a groin injury in the spring and a hamstring injury in the preseason, but maybe he’s getting it all out of the way before the season begins.
• Brock Bowers will become the first Georgia player in 21 years to have at least 1,000 receiving yards. This might seem like an easy call, but Bowers, as great as he was as a freshman and sophomore, also had 15 games each year and didn’t hit 1,000 yards. So why would it happen this year, when he doesn’t have Darnell Washington around and he could be asked to block more? And why would it happen when Georgia is deeper at receiver, thus giving Beck more options to spread the ball around? Honestly, I’m talking myself into saying it won’t happen … but ultimately the prediction is it’s Bowers. He probably will have three or four 150-yard-type games, and that’ll be enough to push him over the top.
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• Though six defensive players were preseason first-team All-SEC selections, “only” half of those will end up that way: Jamon Dumas-Johnson, Malaki Starks and Mykel Williams. The second team will include Nazir Stackhouse, Mondon, Kamari Lassiter and Javon Bullard. That’s a prediction, not a statement on who I think will actually deserve it.
• Starks will lead the SEC in interceptions, which gets him on the All-SEC first team, but Bullard is actually the more dependable and effective safety, sort of like Shawn Williams and Bacarri Rambo during the 2011-12 seasons.
• Mykel Williams, who led the team with all of 4.5 sacks last year, will double that and lead the team again. (The team had a respectable 35 sacks as a team, it just dispersed them pretty evenly around the defense. And once again a reminder that sacks are an overrated stat anyway.)
• Jones will finish among the team’s top four leading rushers. Smart has talked up the sophomore from Texas, who already has g0tten playing time: He had a 36-yard rushing touchdown against Vanderbilt last year. The injury to Branson Robinson has caused the staff to examine some options, whether it’s giving Bowers a few more carries or seeing if someone else could get snaps there. (Receiver Dillon Bell has gotten a look, as DawgsHQ reported on Saturday.) But the staff also likes what it has in Jones and fellow walk-ons Sevaughn Clark and Len’Neth Whitehead, the latter of whom was a scholarship running back at Tennessee in 2021. They can at least solidify the depth in the backfield, but Jones may do more than that.
Brock Bowers has 119 catches and 20 receiving touchdowns during his two years at Georgia. (John Adams / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)Ranking the schedule
From hardest to easiest games (regular season only):
1. At Tennessee (Nov. 18)
It’s so hard to predict what each team will look like that late in the season, but this is clearly Georgia’s biggest speed bump.
2. At Auburn (Sept. 30)
This isn’t to say Georgia is on upset alert. But let’s say an easy September has the Bulldogs softened up for an Auburn team playing at home and reinvigorated under Hugh Freeze. Georgia’s scare at Missouri last year came in Week 5; this is Week 5.
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3. Kentucky (Oct. 7)
There’s a reason Mark Stoops seems to always hang closer to Georgia than others but can’t finish it: a good physical team that can grind most of the time with the Bulldogs, but when you’re a mini-version of a team without the same talent and depth, it’s hard to finish it off.
4. Ole Miss (Nov. 11)
Lane Kiffin should know how to put up points even on Georgia’s defense, but his own defense has too many holes.
5. Vs. Florida (Oct. 28)
The neutral site and timing of the game — late enough in the season for Billy Napier to have his team on the upswing — are what make this a potential pitfall.
6. South Carolina (Sept. 16)
Shane Beamer’s team has enough back to make this interesting but only if Georgia provides some help.
7. At Vanderbilt (Oct. 14)
The Commodores quietly became respectable last year, going 5-7, and should be again in Clark Lea’s third year. But Nashville hasn’t exactly been a tough place for Georgia to play, especially when its fans take over nearly half the stadium.
8. Missouri (Nov. 4)
Revenge whupping is forthcoming.
9. At Georgia Tech (Nov. 25)
Brett Key is a competent coach, but there’s a long way to go in rebuilding his program.
10. UAB (Sept. 23)
11. Ball State (Sept. 9)
12. UT Martin (Sept. 2)
Final season prediction
In breaking the tradition of always picking Georgia to go 11-1, this year the prediction is a perfect regular season. But what about the postseason?
There are good reasons to not pick the three-peat: Georgia’s defensive line isn’t as strong (on paper) as the past few years, Beck will have to show he has the same clutch gene as Bennett, and there are legitimate concerns about complacency and offseason distractions.
If the choice was Georgia or the field, take the field. But it’s hard to answer the question: If not Georgia, then who?
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Michigan is No. 2 in the national polls, but until I see something different, the Wolverines seem like too much of a mini-Georgia, built similarly but with not as much talent. USC will have the best offense in the country, but until we see the defense has changed, it’s hard to see a game against Georgia going down to the wire. There’s a temptation to pick Clemson to have a sneaky rebound year or Florida State’s hype to pay off. But their rosters still seem a tick or two below what Georgia would trot out. LSU has the best returning quarterback in the SEC, a very good coach and many other potential stars. But the overall depth, beyond the starters, might not be enough to knock off Georgia, if they met.
That leaves me with the two usual suspects: Alabama and Ohio State. Those were the two teams Georgia did not want to face in the Playoff last year because they were the only two who could match up talent-wise with the Bulldogs, and that remains the case. This year, Alabama has a huge question at quarterback plus two new coordinators. Still, a source in Tuscaloosa says Nick Saban is still the coach, so no one would be surprised if the Tide end up being the team to knock off the Bulldogs, either in Atlanta or the Playoff.
Ohio State, however, is the pick here to do it. The Buckeyes are also working in a new quarterback, but the annual caliber of that offense dampens the concern there. Marvin Harrison Jr. is back. The defense could be improved. And we’ve already seen the Buckeyes nearly beat the Bulldogs. The prediction here is if they meet again, either in a semifinal or championship, this time it’s the Buckeyes winning a classic.
Georgia will not three-peat. There you go, Kirby. Save that for your speech in January.
(Illustration: John Bradford / The Athletic / Getty Images)
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