UGA Spring Heat Index
G-Day has come and gone. Georgia won the game. But also lost the game. Hence the nature of spring scrimmages. Some players have shown out, others have not. It’s our last bit of football before getting into the doldrums of late spring and early summer. The good news is the draft is next week, the summer enrollees from the class of 2022 show up in June, and then SEC Media Days is half way through July. Then the race is on. But, today we are going to take a look at some guys making moves and getting us stoked for the football season.
Arik Gilbert, TE — Easy decision here. He looks like a man amongst boys out there. It’s been a long time coming, but Gilbert is showing it was worth the wait. Put him out there with Darnell Washington, Brock Bowers, Arian Smith on the other side, and Kenny McIntosh in the RB slot? Holy cow. Arian draws a double, all those TEs with one on one coverage, Kenny Mac with room to run or catch the ball out of a backfield? If I was a defensive coordinator in the SEC, I would be up all night having nightmares. If Arik does in the season what he did in the spring game, he will be one and done in Athens and probably go in the first round of the draft next year.
Daylen Everette, CB — He shouldn’t be this good this early. He’s a true freshman. He’s only with the 2s. Yet he’s out there making noise. If he keeps progressing like this he will wind up with the starters by the end of the season. Him playing well helps with fears around the secondary.
Arian Smith, WR — It’s never been a matter of talent. Talent has always been there. At this point it’s a matter of remaining healthy and playing the games. If he does, he unlocks our offense. He opens up the middle of the field for either our running backs to get five to eight yard chunks per tote or our tight ends single covered against linebackers who can’t run with them or defensive backs who don’t want to tackle them. Or Arian is going to run by every one and catch some tuds.
Trezman Marshall, ILB — Trez has been hurt his entire career at Georgia. He finally looks healthy. We will need him to be considering what we’ve lost. He looked good in coverage. At worst, he will fill the role that Channing Tindall played for us in 2021. At best, he will play most of the downs like Quay Walker and help shore up the middle of a young defense.
RECAP: So let’s go over the other guys I mentioned at the start of spring camp…Brock Vandagriff looked okay, but not enough to take the backup job as Carson Beck was the one who improved greatly. Jamon Dumas-Johnson appears to have notched a starting gig at ILB (I mistakenly wrote OLB last month). Chandler Smith was hurt and not a participant and Shone Washington didn’t quite make enough noise. Oscar Delp looks like he will feast when he is out there much like Brock Bowers did last year. And the thunder from down under Brett Thorson seems as advertised.
