No team in the country has to replace as much high-end talent as the Georgia Bulldogs. A total of 15 players from last season’s team were taken in the 2022 NFL Draft, a record-breaking haul. Many of those came on the defensive side of the ball, as Georgia produced five first-round draft picks.

Yet despite the departures, expectations remain high for the Bulldogs. They came in at No. 3 in both the AP and Coaches Poll, behind only Alabama and Ohio State. Georgia has recruited as well as any team in the country in recent seasons, with freshmen such as Dillon Bell, Malakai Starks and Oscar Delp already making plays in camp.

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Add in what Georgia brings back on the offensive side of the ball, the Bulldogs are expected to once again be a team that is in playoff contention. ESPN dropped its bowl projections for the upcoming season and both Mark Schlabach and Kyle Bonagura have Georgia back in the College Football Playoff this year. Both writers had the same four playoff teams in Georgia, Alabama, Clemson and Ohio State.

“The losses are especially heavy on defense,” Schlabach said. “Under Kirby Smart, Georgia has reached a level where it simply reloads, but there might be some early growing pains. Still, it would be difficult to find a regular-season opponent that can beat the Bulldogs.”

While Georgia does have turnover on the defensive side of the ball, the Bulldogs also bring back very talented players in Jalen Carter, Nolan Smith and Kelee Ringo. All three were Preseason First Team All-SEC players this preseason.

One common refrain from Smart this fall has been that he wants more leadership from that side of the ball. Smart was not thrilled with what he saw from the group after the first scrimmage. But this past weekend, Smart gave some more positive feedback to how the group has done this fall.

“Jalen Carter has done a great job. Pop has done a great job,” Smart said. “Trezmen Marshall has, Kelee Ringo has, Kamari Lassiter has. There are several guys that have stepped up and really taken on that responsibility. Even Robert Beal. He’s not a guy of many words, but he has certainly been around here a long time like WIlliam Poole.

“We’ve got a lot of guys that know how to do it and have seen it done right. They haven’t been the featured player, but they understand how to lead and have seen it done the right way.”

Helping Georgia out this season is its schedule, with the Bulldogs set to play only two ranked foes this season. One of those is the first foe of the season in the Oregon Ducks, who start the season as the No. 11 team. The Ducks have a new coach in Dan Lanning, Georgia’s former defensive coordinator.

The Bulldogs will begin transitioning away from the camp mindset this week and starting prep for the game against the Ducks. The two teams will meet in Atlanta on Sept. 3, with the game starting at 3:30 p.m. ET.

“We will start working as coaches on Oregon in the next couple of days, but not with the players until later in the week,” Smart said. “We will work on some future opponents we got before the off week in the coming days just so we have a little bit of history there when we get ready to play them.”

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