ATHENS — There’s always a great curiosity to see how the newest members of the Georgia football program look. Especially when so many of them come in as hyped as they do at Georgia.
The Bulldogs brought in the No. 1 ranked signing class in the 2024 recruiting cycle. Georgia welcomed in five 5-star recruits and 10 top-100 recruits from the 2024 signing class.
Some have already made waves during fall camp, like running back Nate Frazier or safety KJ Bolden.
With how those two have looked, combined with Georgia’s depth concerns, there’s a chance Georgia gives those two plenty of run in a huge game against the No. 14 Clemson Tigers.
“I think looking into the future, I think he’s got a really, really bright future,” offensive lineman Dylan Fairchild said of Frazier. “He’s a really good football player, and he’s got a great personality to go with it. I’m really glad we have him on our team.”
But Georgia won’t just be relying on those two against Clemson. Because of the annual roster churn — where the Bulldogs lose double-digit players to both the NFL draft and the transfer portal — Georgia finds itself where it has to get freshmen ready to play quickly.
That’s easier at some positions than others. Usually, the farther away you are from the line of scrimmage, the more seamless the transition is from high school to college.
Which is why players like cornerback Ellis Robinson and wide receiver Sacovie White will be worth watching over the early parts of the season. Robinson was Georgia’s top-rated signee, while White was a lesser heralded prospect out of Cartersville, GA.
That both are in a position to help Georgia early speaks to the new world order of college football.
“They need to play football. They need to go out there without coaches and execute,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said of White and wide receiver Nitro Tuggle. “They’re talented football players but I don’t know if they’re 100 percent reliable right now. We have to get more reliability out of them.”
There will be plenty of attention paid to which players start immediately, but one only needs to look back to last season and what happened with CJ Allen to see the importance of getting freshmen ready.
Smael Mondon and Jamon Dumas-Johnson seemed to be locks as starters for the Bulldogs. But Dumas-Johnson suffered a season-ending injury against Missouri, which thrust Allen into a starting role.
He handled it well for the most part, but there were some growing pains for him and fellow freshman Raylen Wilson. Most notably in the game against Alabama.
“I would definitely say it’s definitely slowed down a lot,” Allen told reporters last week. “It was fast the first year, but it’s slowed down a lot.”
Injuries have hampered the Georgia defensive line this fall, with Jordan Hall and Xzavier McLeod likely to miss the season-opener against Clemson. That’s going to put more on the plate of the likes of Joseph Jonah-Ajonye, Jordan Thomas and Nasir Johnson. Georgia won’t ask them to be every-down players like veterans Nazir Stackhouse and Warren Brinson, but the yearly roster reset will have Georgia asking them to contribute.
Georgia has never had a problem with playing freshmen. From Andrew Thomas to Allen just last year, the Bulldogs have often lived by the motto that if you’re good enough, you’re old enough.
The Bulldogs hope that the grueling month of August will have prepared Georgia’s 29 newcomers for what lies ahead. Not just the first game this Saturday against Clemson, but the full season, which will feature plenty of bumps and bruises.
“The build-up in your offseason program, there’s truth to that,” Smart said. “We’ve had signs sitting in our locker room and our weight room with how many days it is to kickoff. Not only do you get to count it down, it’s Clemson. And that catches peoples’ eyes and gives us a little extra adrenaline rush for each and every practice and lift we have.”
