WATCH: Controversial DawgNation Georgia football team draft sparks No. 1 debate

ATHENS — Perspective is a wonderful thing, and like opinions, everyone has their own.

This is especially true when it comes to sports, and there’s nothing that triggers passion like SEC football.

At Georgia, it’s all about Kirby Smart and his Bulldogs 365 days a year. Not even the coronavirus pandemic can dampen the excitement building around this current squad.

Many of these Georgia players were on display in a dominant 26-14 Sugar Bowl win in New Orleans that closed a season that saw UGA go 5-1 versus Top 25 teams.

If was 19-0 at the half before Matt Rhule could hit “send” on his new Carolina Panthers head coach agreement.

Nine of the 11 starters off that Georgia Sugar Bowl defense are returning, along with five of the 11 offensive starters from the tone-setting victory.

So when the DawgNation staff huddled last week to pick their 5-on-5 backyard football teams, there was no shortage of candidates for the No. 1 slot.

DawgNation recruiting expert Jeff Sentell went first, and Richard LeCounte was the first man off the board.

Sentell is as good as they come evaluating talent, and he had no problem defending his pick, explaining how LeCounte “checks all the boxes.”

“Number One, Pro potential; Two, Former 5-star; Three, Veteran; Four, Great leadership skills and Five, physical ability,” Sentell notes. “The clincher here are his 27 career starts. Monty Rice is the only returning Bulldog on this roster who has more than 20 career starts on his player resume.”

Indeed, LeCounte was a pick everyone liked, but maybe didn’t agree with in that No. 1 slot.

Did receiver George Pickens, the Sugar Bowl MVP with his mind-bending 12-catch performance, have a better case to be the overall No. 1?

Or should the DawgNation Team have handed the No. 1 overall pick to top-five Heisman Trophy favorite Jamie Newman? The quarterback position will, after all, likely prove pivotal to Georgia’s national championship hopes.

Perhaps it wasn’t so surprising that the controversy and debates over player draft order continued throughout the draft, right down to choosing the top four assistant coaches!

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