ATHENS — Georgia players have been working hard throughout the offseason on conditioning and drills, but now the “real football” is about to start on Thursday.
Coach Kirby Smart enters his 10th season at the helm with two national titles, three SEC Championships and seven SEC title game appearances behind him.
Smart has identified 54 percent of his roster as first- or second-year players, making a point of the team newness.
Quarterback Gunner Stockton is a fourth-year player but a first-year starter, with only one start behind him and plenty of questions to be answered.
It will take a season’s worth of games before any conclusions can be drawn — Stockton and his teammates will be developing and evolving each game — but it’s worth a guess of how things might turn out.
That said, the Ingles “On the Beat” Show provided an opportunity to weigh-in with some predictions:
Most likely to convert third-and-7
It’s probably not going to be a run play, so this is where Stockton has to consider giving the UGA player with the highest valuation — USC receiver transfer Zach Branch. If Branch has a value of more than $1 million, the Bulldogs are going to expect him to earn it.
SEC Preseason Group Rankings
Most like to sack the QB on third-and-7
Chris Cole might not have a designated position yet, and we might not be sure when and where he will line up, but Georgia is going to use the player who is arguably the best overall athlete on defense to get after the quarterback.
Most attractive Red Zone target
Oscar Delp had seven catches in the last three games of the 2024 regular season, and four of them were for touchdowns. The Georgia veteran tight end might not be flashy, but he’s involved in the run game and that sets him up to slip off a block and find space in the end zone to set up for a TD catch.
Fan Favorite, Offense and Defense
On offense entering the season it has to be Stockton, the home-grown quarterback who waited three years to get his shot. Stockton will stay in this space as long as he keeps winning, which will be no easy task in September with a road game at Tennessee on Sept. 13 and a home showdown with Alabama on Sept. 27.
Defensively, there are plenty of candidates, but the dynamic, play-making KJ Bolden gets the vote here. Who doesn’t like to see a 185-pound safety take down 225-pound running backs in the open field on one play and pick off a pass over the middle on the next?
Fantastic Freshmen, Offense and Defense
Receiver CJ Wiley has a 6-foot-4 frame and some play-making skills to go with it. Wiley might not be the leading receiver, but he’s a target with big-play ability who is sure to make the highlight reels.
Defensively, Elijah Griffin has been all the rage since arriving, drawing great compliments from outgoing veteran Warren Brinson. When Smart start gushing about Griffin at SEC Media Days, it was time to pay attention.
Here’s the Monday night On the Beat Show, where more players and preseason predictions were made with co-host Cody Chaffins weighing in on his picks.
