Georgia football had eight different players make Preseason First Team All-SEC. None of them came on the offensive side of the ball.
The Bulldogs placed four defensive players on the first team and had a clean sweep of the special teams positions.
But the lack of high-end talent only further shows the questions that the Georgia offense faces answer entering the 2025 season.
“You can’t really look too much into it,” quarterback Gunner Stockton said of the doubts around the Georgia offense. “I know we’re going to have a great season, and we’re excited for it, and we’ve been working hard this offseason, just trying to get closer and become a tight-knit group.”
Tight end Oscar Delp landed on the second team, while running back Nate Frazier and offensive lineman Earnest Greene both ended up as representatives on the third team.
Wide receiver Zachariah Branch did land on the first team, though that was as a return specialist and all-purpose player. He was one of two wide receiver transfers Georgia added this offseason, in part to boost the offensive talent around Stockton.
The other addition was Texas A&M’s Noah Thomas. He has real experience in the league, having led the Aggies in every receiving category a season ago.
It will be tough for Thomas to become a First Team All-SEC wide receiver given the statistical benchmarks those players usually hit. But Georgia has been very impressed with how Thomas has integrated himself into its culture.
“He worked extremely hard,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “He is a guy that’s now starting to show his personality and you get a little more leadership out of him day in and day out. He’s got tremendous size. He’s a great kid from a great family and you know, we’ve embraced him.”
Georgia’s offense doesn’t project to be carried by one or two star players in 2025. The hope is to win with wave after wave of talent, even at tight end and running back.
Lawson Luckie actually had a better statistical season than Delp did a season ago and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see that be the case once again in 2025. That Georgia has both players should make things much easier for Stockton.
Frazier is one of the more exciting running back prospects in the league. He led Georgia in rushing last season, finishing with 691 rushing yards while splitting carries with Trevor Etienne.
Yet Georgia once again went into the transfer portal to add help at the running back position. It landed Illinois transfer Joshua McCray in the spring window.
He rushed for 601 yards and 10 touchdowns a season ago.
“As far as the running back room, I’m excited as hell about the running back room,” Smart said. “I think we’ve got a good running back room.”
The one key to all of this though, may be on the offensive line. At the end of the 2024 season, Tate Ratledge was Georgia’s lone First Team All-SEC representative. He is now playing for the Detroit Lions.
Georgia has to replace three draft picks from last year’s offensive line as well as multiyear starter Xavier Truss.
The Bulldogs have some veterans they can lean on to replace those draft picks. But Greene is the most experienced of the three and will be tasked with restoring Georgia’s offensive line play to its past standard.
“I think our offensive line is going to be key,” Smart told ESPN’s Chris Low. “We have a lot of new parts there, and obviously [Stockton] playing well and distributing the ball will be key, but we have talented players around him.”
Georgia tied Texas with 13 selections on the three All-SEC teams. The Bulldogs were picked to finish second in the league this year, behind the Longhorns.
How the offense comes together will go a long way in determining if Georgia can end the season as the No. 1 team in the SEC, which it did a season ago.
