Sometimes G-Day is a good indication of what is to come.
Carson Beck threw for 211 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions while completing 72.2 percent of his passes last April at the Georgia football spring game. He then helped the Bulldogs to an unbeaten regular season and a 13-1 finish.
The leading tacklers in the intrasquad scrimmage were linebacker Xavian Sorey and cornerback A.J. Harris. They transferred out following last season after limited roles and are now at Arkansas and Penn State, respectively.
Still, G-Day is a chance to catch a glimpse of the new look Bulldogs who have most of their No. 1 recruiting class already on campus and a half dozen players plucked from the transfer portal.
Here are five things to watch for Saturday’s Georgia spring game:
Georgia’s quarterback pecking order after Beck has been pretty much set this spring with redshirt sophomore Gunner Stockton and true freshman Ryan Puglisi.
Stockton left a good impression with his showing in the Orange Bowl, but coaches still pursued a transfer quarterback and briefly had a commitment from UNLV’s Jayden Maiava.
Stockton said coach Kirby Smart has said he wants four scholarship quarterbacks on the roster.
“Heck, that’s probably what it should be at the University of Georgia,” Stockton said.
Stockton admits his practice performance this spring has been up and down.
“It started off really hot,” Stockton said. “I think the first padded practice, I didn’t throw an incompletion. Just going from there and trying to build. I mean everybody has their bad days. I’ve had them, but keep trying to build and finish it the right way.”
Stockton completed 12 of 19 passes for 148 yards and two touchdowns against Florida State in the bowl game.
“He has gotten better,” Smart said. “He is getting a feel for our system. He is a really good athlete. He has, every now and then, a mistake that you can’t have at that position. The good thing for him, you can ask him after the play, I always ask him, ‘What did you see? What was the coverage?’ He always gives the right answer. He is seeing the right things. He has to continue to develop and grow.”
G-Day is another opportunity.
“I want to show everybody that I can play,” Stockton said.
Arian Smith was nearly a forgotten guy in the wide receiver room after the addition of three transfer wide receivers: Colbie Young from Miami, London Humphreys from Vanderbilt and Michael Jackson III from Southern Cal.
Not to mention returning receivers Dominic Lovett, Dillon Bell and Rara Thomas.
Smith, a redshirt senior from Bradley, Fla., has flashed as a big-play receiver but injuries kept him off the field.
“I think we’ve made a concerted effort to spend more time on developing Arian,” Smart said. “When he decided to come back, I said to him, ‘Look, I want there to be a purpose with you coming back.’”
Smith’s abilities to get by defensive backs and make plays downfield has always been apparent.
“He’s incredibly fast, can catch the ball, is a threat deep, is a threat short,” wide receiver Cole Speer said.
Even with those traits, Smith has just 20 catches for 539 yards as a Bulldog, but six of those catches have gone for touchdowns.
“I’m pleased with where Arian is,” Smart said. “I hope he keeps getting better and keeps rolling in trying to be an explosive playmaker for us.”
Several defensive backs will make their Georgia debut with fans in the stands at G-Day.
They include Alabama safety transfer Jake Pope, five-star safety KJ Bolden and five-star cornerback Ellis Robinson IV.
Julian Humphrey and Daniel Harris are competing with returning starter Daylen Everette for starting cornerback jobs. Humphrey flirted with transferring but was convinced by Georgia coaches that he was a big part of the future in Athens.
“I like Daylen Everette a lot and I think me and him are going to do great things,” Humphrey said.
Humphrey practiced with the starting unit often last season because Kamari Lassiter was limited during game weeks due to injury and Humphrey had a breakout game against Missouri before a collarbone injury ended his season a week later.
.”He has always been able to run, he has always been able to cover,” Smart said. “His issues came from knowing exactly what to do in motion, things change. I thought last year he did a great job at that. He picked all that up. He played really big in our Missouri game and covered people well..”
Joenel Aguero, another former five-star, is among those competing to replace Tykee Smith at the Star nickel back spot.
Safety Dan Jackson called Aguero “a very physical player.”
Said Smart: “We have good competition going on at corner. We don’t look at it as two corners. We look at it as if there are four corners that can play, one of them is going to also play STAR. They will all play.”
Georgia brings back some veteran, key pieces on the defensive line from last year in Nazir Stackhouse and Warren Brinson while Christen Miller and Jordan Hall could be ready to take the next step.
The Bulldogs still may lack the type of dominant player that it had while cranking out first round draft picks in 2022 and 2023.
“I would not trade our group for any group in the country, in terms of defensive line groups,” Smart said. “As a collective whole, we have got a group that can get the job done. They are going against one of the best three or four offensive lines to ever go against all season each and every day. Iron sharpens iron.”
Mykel Williams has shifted more to outside linebacker from defensive end. Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins is sidelined this spring with a foot injury. Freshman Joseph Jonah-Ajonye from Shenandoah, Texas, is one to watch on G-Day.
Georgia’s top two rushers who handled the bulk of the load last season are gone so G-Day is a chance for Roderick Robinson (6-foot, 240) and Andrew Paul (5-11, 218) to take on bigger roles.
They likely will be counted on heavily against Clemson in the opener as well with a suspension to Florida transfer Trevor Etienne seeming likely due to a DUI and reckless driving arrest.
Freshman Chauncey Bowens adds depth to the position.
Georgia lacked explosive runs in the first scrimmage.
Spring games aren’t usually a showcase for big runs.
The longest run by a running back last year was 11 yards at G-Day, but certainly that’s a focus when the games are real.
“If you don’t have explosive runs, you are either not blocking down field well, or you are not making people miss,” Smart said. “That is kind of an M.O. for us. Last year, it was kind of the same way.”
