This will be a planned Sunday feature where DawgNation can show the path between the nation’s top-rated recruiting class for 2018 onto the playing field. The 43-29 win against Missouri was a chance for the contributions of a few key redshirt freshmen Bulldogs to be clearly identified.

Potential + Preparation = Playing Time

Eric Stokes celebrates after blocking a punt with his face, scooping it up and scoring an 8-yard return of a blocked punt for a touchdown. (Ed Zurga/Getty Images)/Dawgnation)

The focus for today: Redshirt freshmen like Eric Stokes and Isaiah Wilson. As the season clicks along, those two showed against Mizzou that they are valuable parts of the team. When does Wilson’s number every get called as a first-year starter at RT? That’s a good thing for the former 5-star from Brooklyn.

The Eric Stokes stat line: 1) 4 tackles (T-4th on the team); 3 passed broken up (1st on the team); 1 blocked punt; An 8-yard blocked punt return for a TD.

The obligatory recruiting ranking review for Stokes: Despite blinding track speed, the 3-star prospect out of Eastside HS (Covington, Ga.) was seen as a raw recruit. The 247Sports composite rating listed him as the nation’s No. 63 cornerback prospect, the 65th-best recruit coming out of Georgia that year and as the nation’s no. 668 overall recruit.

How many freshmen played (true or redshirt): 16

Who started (all freshmen): P Jake Camarda; CB Tyson Campbell; OT Isaiah Wilson

The 14 who played (true freshmen): Camarda + Campbell and:

Who played (redshirt freshmen column):

  • CB Eric Stokes
  • OT Isaiah Wilson (starter)

Which freshmen (redshirt or true) made the 70-man roster but did not appear on the final participation report: OLB Robert Beal Jr.; OL Jamaree Salyer

Position breakdown for true freshmen who saw action against Missouri:

  • DB: 3
  • ILB: 2
  • OLB: 2
  • OL: 2
  • P: 1
  • QB: 1
  • RB: 1
  • TE: 1
  • WR: 1

The 12 true freshmen from the 2018 class who have played in every game:

  • OLB Adam Anderson
  • P Jake Camarda (3 starts)
  • CB Tyson Campbell (3 starts)
  • RB James Cook
  • OLB Brenton Cox
  • QB Justin Fields
  • TE Luke Ford
  • OL Trey Hill
  • OL Cade Mays (1 start)
  • ILB Channing Tindall
  • ILB Quay Walker

Justin Fields came into the game when:  The freshman QB entered the game with 11:59 left to play in the first half. That was just after Tae Crowder’s 50-yard interception return down to the Missouri 7. He ran for three yards and Fromm was quickly re-inserted back into the game.

Fields stat line: He played just that one snap and finished with one rushing attempt for three yards. It was the smallest amount of playing time he has received all season.

Big takeaway stat from the game: This isn’t specifically tethered to freshmen, but it was very interesting to see Drew Lock only complete just six passes to one of his wide receivers on Saturday. Lock finished with 23 completions, but 17 of those were to his backs and tight ends.

PICTURE THIS, PART I

Justin Fields takes off for a three-yard gain on his only snap against Missouri. This freshmen-laden visual also shows freshmen tackles Cade Mays and Isaiah Wilson in on the action. (Ed Zurga/Getty Images)/Dawgnation)

True freshmen players who did not make the 70-man travel roster: WR Tommy Bush; OL Owen Condon; DT Jordan Davis; OL Warren Ericson; TE John FitzPatrick; OLB Azeez Ojulari; RB Zamir White (out for the season); DB Divaad Wilson (likely out for at least 4-5 more weeks.)

2017 signees who did not make the travel roster: R-Fr. DB Tray Bishop; R-Fr.DB Latavious Brini; R-Fr. OL Netori Johnson; redshirt junior OT D’Marcus Hayes; ILB Jaden Hunter; R-Fr. Matt Landers

2017 signees who made the 70-man roster but did not show up on the final participation report: DB Deangelo Gibbs; ILB Monty Rice (*MCL injury leading up to the game)

PICTURE THIS, PART II

The forced fumble here by Tyson Campbell was one of the biggest plays of the game for the Bulldogs. (Curtis Compton/AJC)/Dawgnation)

The freshmen flashes:

1. The biggest freshmen flashes of the game had to go to Campbell and Stokes. Those two freshmen DBs both came away with scoop-and-score touchdowns. Campbell provided the first point of the game when he stripped giant Mizzou TE Albert Okwuegbunam and raced 64 yards for his the first touchdown of his Georgia Bulldog career.

2. Stokes blocked a punt and also contributed mightily to that tight pass coverage on Lock’s receivers downfield. It was also evident how well and how often Stokes played after Campbell left the contest for stretches due to two reported ailments (shoulder, stomach bug) that were reported after the game. He was in the game to block that punt after the shoulder injury suffered by Tyler Simmons earlier in the game.

3. Camarda finished with two punts for 82 yards and currently ranks 3rd in the SEC in gross yards per punt (46.27) in 2018. The Norcross High School product also has the third-longest punt in the SEC (65 yards) in 2018 despite the third-fewest number of attempts. He has also only allowed one punt return for seven yards this season. His future is very bright.

4. While they are playing in every game, it does appear that Anderson, Walker and Tindall are making their contributions right now on special teams in SEC play. That falls in line with the usual progression for highly-rated players during their first season of college football.

5. This probably got glossed over a lot in the postgame recaps, but Georgia went the balance of this game with a redshirt freshman RT in Isaiah Wilson and a true freshmen LT in Cade Mays. The Bulldogs did not allow a sack. The degree of difficulty in doing that in the SEC probably will not get the attention it should. Wilson’s name is really called in the game and that’s a good thing for an OT. Mays also continues to play a very physical brand of football.

Freshman stats you might have missed: Cook, like Fields, also saw his smallest batch of playing time for the season. He finished the contest with one catch for 10 yards. That screen grab was good for a first down in the first quarter. Freshman OLB Brenton Cox also broke up a pass, but did not record a tackle.

(Redshirt and true) Freshmen of distinction: Wilson (offense); Campbell and Stokes (defense); Camarda (special teams)

The Missouri contest was a game where the major imprint on the game included a couple of major redshirt freshmen contributors for Georgia. Eric Stokes was clearly one of those redshirts who had a day in Georgia’s 43-29 win. (Curtis Compton/AJC)/Dawgnation)

THEY SAID IT about a (redshirt) freshman: “First of all, he’s a great competitor. I told the team after the game, ‘here’s a guy who got beat out. He never whined, never cried, never pouted, he just worked. And when you work, you get better.

“He’s not even a starter on punt return. He didn’t even get to take reps to do that block. He went in because he paid attention to the guy that was in front of him, executed it for Tyler Simmons perfectly and really played well today. It didn’t surprise me because he practices well. I told you he had a really good camp and it paid off for him today.” — Kirby Smart on redshirt freshman CB Eric Stokes on Saturday.