Georgia’s top five draft picks in the 2024 NFL Draft all have something in common. The quintet of Brock Bowers, Amarius Mims, Ladd McConkey, Kamari Lassiter and Javon Bullard all missed time with injury during the 2024 season.

Bowers and Mims both had TightRope surgery during the season to repair ankle injuries. McConkey missed five games due to back and ankle injuries. Lassiter played in every game but was routinely limited in practice due to a foot injury. Bullard missed two games due to an ankle injury as well.

But while those injuries hurt Georgia during the 2023 season — none more so than in the SEC championship game — it does give us a very good idea about who will fill in for those departed stars.

Tight end Oscar Delp got plenty of snaps last season, independent of Bowers. He’s the new TE1, even if his usage will look a little different than Bowers.

They’re different players with different strengths.

“Oscar’s really physical. He does things his way,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “He’s not Brock. He doesn’t try to be Brock. He’s a quiet leader, similar to Brock, but he’s really physical. He’s tough. He knows the work ethic it requires. The guy’s taken a lot of reps since being here. He’s been durable. He’s doing a good job leading in that room, as well as Luckie is and the two young kids.”

Georgia also brought in Stanford tight end Benjamin Yurosek to help replace the receiving production lost by Bowers. He’ll compete with Lawson Luckie to complement Delp in the Georgia offense.

As for Mims, Georgia has a veteran option and a younger option. Xavier Truss took Mims’ spot during the 2023 season when he went down with an injury. He returns for Georgia this season and got the start at right tackle during the spring game.

The younger selection would be Monroe Freeling. He’s entering his sophomore season and while he’s behind Truss on the depth chart, expectations are still very high for the young offensive tackle.

“Monroe’s definitely made a big jump,” offensive tackle Earnest Greene said. “We were just talking about the transition from high school to college could be a little bit challenging. Just coming, he had to get comfortable in his own body. He’s been looking a lot better this spring.”

Like Mims before him, Freeling will rotate in at tackle along with Truss and Earnest Greene. It worked for Mims, as he landed with the Cincinnati Bengals in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft.

Wide receiver Dominic Lovett looked plenty capable of replacing McConkey in the spring game, as he finished with 7 receptions, 104 yards and a touchdown. McConkey is perhaps the easiest to replace for Georgia among those drafted in part because it has always relied on a wealth of wide receivers.

It won’t just be Lovett taking up McConkey’s receptions, as Dillon Bell, Rara Thomas and others are primed to step into a bigger role.

As for Georgia’s two defensive backs, the safety and cornerback positions are two of the top position battles to watch for Georgia entering the fall.

Julio Humphrey and Daniel Harris are competing to start alongside Daylen Everette. With Lassiter missing practice time last season, Humphrey got plenty of snaps.

Had he not injured his shoulder against Ole Miss, he’d likely be a much more known entity.

“There was a lot of available reps for Julian. He did a great job,” Smart said. “He worked hard. He picked things up. He had to increase his toughness. He has always been able to run. He has always been able to cover. His issues came from knowing exactly what to do in motion, things change. I thought last year he did a great job at that.

Georgia was without safety Malaki Starks this spring due to a shoulder injury. That gave new safeties coach Travaris Robinson a chance to look at Dan Jackson, JaCorey Thomas, Jake Pope and KJ Bolden.

Those four, along with David Daniel-Sisavanh, will compete to replace Bullard. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Georgia rotate at safety through the early part of the 2024 season.

Because Georgia is so deep, it is able to withstand draft losses better than most. The Bulldogs have had 49 players taken in the past five NFL drafts, more than any other program in the country.

The Bulldogs have had to replace the likes of Travon Walker, Jalen Carter and Andrew Thomas in the past. While difficult, Kirby Smart and company have proven capable of doing so and will likely do so again in 2024.