Morning, y’all!
Thank you to everyone who sent me their thoughts on the most athletic/impressive plays they’ve seen a Georgia player make. I may end up compiling those and featuring them in the newsletter one day, so stay tuned.
I’m hoping to do a quite a few more of those “themed” days, and it seems like folks are liking them so far. I’ve been stockpiling ideas, but if there are any you’d love to see, you can always shoot me an email. Rest assured, I love hearing from y’all and welcome your thoughts.
Let’s kick off today’s newsletter with a story about two key young Georgia players from my co-worker Connor Riley:
National media expects Georgia football to get immediate contributions from two freshmen
Georgia wants to build its program through the high school recruiting ranks. Only Notre Dame signed more blue-chip recruits in the 2026 recruiting cycle, while the Bulldogs added the fewest number of transfers in the SEC this offseason.
With so much new incoming talent, a few are bound to break through right away. It happens every season — with Dontrell Glover, Elijah Griffin and others making an impact for the 2025 team. All of those players are entering their second seasons at Georgia this fall.
Even with so much talent on the roster, Georgia is going to see a few freshmen help out right away this season.
Brad Crawford of CBS Sports circled two freshmen on the offensive side of the ball who can help the Bulldogs. In tabbing the top incoming freshmen, Crawford labeled tight end Kaiden Prothro and offensive guard Zykie Helton.
“Helton brings SEC-ready size, physicality and a nasty edge that Georgia starters routinely model in the trenches,” Crawford said. “For a team with national championship expectations, finding immediate production from Helton provides a significant boost to the offense.”
Helton wasn’t some hyped recruit, as he was the No. 486 overall player in the class per the 247Sports Composite rankings. Yet he was a two-monster for Carrollton High School, one of the best programs in Georgia.
He arrived at Georgia well prepared. That showed up this spring, as he was a starter for the offense at right guard on G-Day. Helton earned the starting spot because of how well he performed in the previous 14 spring practices, according to coach Kirby Smart.
“He’s a worker, he’s tough, he practices hard. He’s a bright kid to be around. He loves practice every day,” Smart said of Helton this spring. “He’s always smiling, it’s a joy to be around. And just have a lot of respect for what he’s been through as a kid to grow and mature, and he’s seen some things people haven’t seen. And he’s hopefully gonna be able to help us when he’s fully developed and ready to go.”
Prothro was also a G-Day star, as he led Georgia in receiving yards. The talented pass catcher also hauled in a touchdown pass, showcasing his tremendous athletic ability.
Prothro was listed as a tight end and that will be his position long term at Georgia. But the Bulldogs believe he can help immediately by working out of the slot. Per DawgNation’s tracking numbers, 42 of his 45 snaps came out of the slot on G-Day.
“That’s kind of the only place he played because we wanted him to grow in that position,” Smart said of Prothro. “We think he’s a mismatch. He’s really an elite catch radius guy. He put that on display today. And that kind of summed up his spring in his ability to go make plays on the perimeter. He’s a matchup problem.”
Georgia does have holes to fill on both the offensive line and out on the perimeter. Offensive guard Micah Morris was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles, while London Humphreys is the team’s only returning pass catcher who had more than 15 receptions last season.
The Bulldogs will need someone to replace that production. Helton and Prothro have the talent to do so, even if they don’t yet have the experience in an SEC program.
Trivia section
Herschel Walker holds the top three spots in Georgia’s record books for most rushing yards in a season (1,891 in 1981; 1,752 in 1982; and 1,616 in 1980). Which two Bulldogs are tied at No. 4?
(Answer at the bottom of the newsletter).
Entertainment district concepts are popping up in SEC towns. Could UGA follow?
UGA athletic director Josh Brooks is keeping an open mind in regard to the creative usage for open land near the University of Georgia.
Brooks, operating in his sixth year as the Bulldogs’ AD, has taken note of planning for entertainment districts — some inspired by The Battery at Truist Park — at other SEC schools.
The Battery generated approximately $137 million in revenue in 2025 — including $97.4 million in revenue for the Braves — with a total of nearly $40 million in tax revenue, per the Marietta Daily Journal.
Tennessee, notably, recently released plans for a $280 million entertainment district planned between Neyland Stadium and its nearby Food City Center basketball arena.
The Vols’ district, per a Knoxville News Sentinel report, will generate a guaranteed base rent of $1.5 million for the university.
Tennessee will also collect between 3% and 5% of gross operating revenues exceeding $25 million annually from entertainment, condo and hotel spaces.
There are other SEC schools with ongoing entertainment district-related construction and planning, including Oklahoma, LSU, Ole Miss and Kentucky.
Georgia is not yet on that list — and there are no immediate plans for that to change, Brooks said — but UGA remains open to possibilities.
“It’s still far away right now; I don’t think we have anything immediate,” Brooks said. “There’s nothing (space wise) in the footprint of Sanford Stadium. That area is very tight, and it’s in the middle of our campus.
“I don’t think (an entertainment district) fits like it does in some of the places where they’ve done more, that are more closer to the cities.”
That said, Brooks notes the school does have land south of campus where it has developed a $59.8 million, 37-acre state-of-the-art track facility across the street from UGA’s Jack Turner Softball Stadium and Turner Soccer Complex.
“We’ve always opened our minds as we look at land usage and continued to develop on South Milledge Avenue, always asking the question of what’s possible,” Brooks said.
“I’m a never say never kind of guy, but you have to be respectful of your campus and community in terms of seeing what fits.”
The entertainment districts are an example of the nontraditional fundraising efforts schools are turning to in the challenging times of providing money to secure elite talent in football programs while maintaining women’s and Olympic sports programs.
Trivia answer
Garrison Hearst with 1,547 rushing yards in 1992 and Nick Chubb with 1,547 in 2014
