According to this website, Kirby Smart walks in the door at Georgia to find more talent waiting for him than any other new head coach in the country, including Southern Cal’s Clay Helton.
Smart was the coordinator of a lot of great defenses at Alabama, and he will take over a unit with several productive players next season. The Bulldogs ranked No. 14 in our overall defense grades this season, and while star outside linebackers Leonard Floyd and Jordan Jenkins will depart, there is a lot of returning talent.
The entire secondary will be back, led by cornerbacks Malkom Parrish and Aaron Davis, and there are several young linebackers who earned positive grades on limited snaps this season, including Roquan Smith, Natrez Patrick and Davin Bellamy (who recorded an impressive 16 total pressures, including four sacks). Nose tackle Trenton Thompson looks like a potential 2016 breakout player after grading very well as a true freshman.
The offense will require more work, but the Bulldogs’ three top-graded linemen return along with playmaking wide receiver Terry Godwin, and the running back tandem of Nick Chubb (No. 5 in PFF grades last year, who missed most of this season due to injury) and Sony Michel (No. 40 in PFF grades this year) should be one of the best in college football.
Richt is third on the list, by the way, so he’s traded down. Boom isn’t in the top five, which shouldn’t come as any surprise.
(h/t)