ATHENS — Georgia safety J.R. Reed says the Bulldogs Havoc Rate is “out the roof right now” rolling toward the team’s second scrimmage of fall drills.
“How so?” Reed asked rhetorically. “The interceptions of the last scrimmage and the turnovers of this last scrimmage, we’ve never had that in the last two years, so that’s a big jump.”
Reed didn’t know exactly how many turnovers the defense produced in Scrimmage One, “but I know when I looked at it and compared it, I thought ‘we haven’t had this in a while,” he said following Thursday’s practice.
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The Havoc Rate has been a point of emphasis for Georgia in the offseason, as Coach Kirby Smart wants to increase the number of “disruptive” plays such as tackles for loss, interceptions or PBUs and forced fumbles.
Reed said the Bulldogs have a deeper secondary this season than last season and have added some young playmakers.
“All of them are really fast, and they really compete well, that’s something you can’t teach,” Reed said. “The way they compete, and the way they run to the ball, and their football IQ and knack to make plays is something I see out of them.”
Smart talked about how much better the communication is with Reed and Richard LeCounte returning at safety after playing a season together.
“I feel a lot better about if one guy goes down, we have someone to plug in, in all areas,” Reed said. “Everyone can really play anywhere on that field. It’s not only depth, we have people that know what to do, even the freshmen.
“I think it’s part of those guys early enrolling. When they early enrol,l it puts them a step ahead and it helps them a lot.”
Georgia had three early enrollees in the secondary, freshmen Tyrique Stevenson and Lewis Cine, along with junior college transfer DJ. Daniel.
“The depth is better, the athleticism is there,” Reed said, comparing this season’s secondary to last year’s. “I’d just say the knack for the ball and the guys’ big-play ability is there, a lot more than we had last year.
“The havoc rate is out the roof right now.”
Stopping the run, however, remains at the top of the list for the defense.
“We have goals, set goals, we have havoc, stop the run, and those are things we focus on, it’s not one above the other,” Reed said.
“Stopping the run is THE priority, and then we talk about havoc every day, we talk about those two things every day in our defensive meeting room, I kid you not, literally every day, we stand up, we chart how many yards we give up, and we talk about havoc every day.”
Georgia safety J.R. Reed
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