2022 Pass D

Josh does another statistical deep dive into what Georgia’s secondary will be looking at production-wise from opponents’ passing attacks.  Here’s what is coming back from the FBS teams the Dawgs face:

As Josh notes, those stats suggest “Georgia’s inexperience in the secondary will have a chance to find its legs.”  (My one little quibble is that Tennessee’s numbers probably look more formidable if you take Joe Milton out of the mix.  But, yeah, given the quality of the opposition, there’s definitely room to grow with experience.)

That all being said, he posted another chart that makes me wonder if our concerns about pass defense might be better suited to focusing on another position group.

Passes targeted:  Four players in the NFL draft — 93; Returning players — 29.  Not exactly optimal, is it?

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Athlon’s 2022 preseason All-SEC teams

Their list is here.

The tl;dr summary:

Athlon has four All-SEC teams and the Bulldogs have 13 selections. Alabama has 18. Texas A&M is third, with 12. Tennessee is the only regular-season opponent with double-digit selections (10), while Kentucky, Auburn, and Mississippi State have nine each. For reference, last year the Crimson Tide had 16 players on the list with 16 Dawgs making one of the four teams. This year there are five UGA players on the first team, four on the second team, two on the third team, and two on the fourth team.

Sophomore tight end Brock Bowers and redshirt sophomore left tackle Broderick Jones made the first-team offense while the defensive first-team includes junior defensive tackle Jalen Carter, senior outside linebacker Nolan Smith, and redshirt sophomore cornerback Kelee Ringo. Senior running back Kenny McIntosh, junior center Sedrick Van Pran, and senior safety Chris Smith made the second-team offense and defense, with wide receiver Kearis Jackson being named a second-team specialist as a punt returner. Junior right tackle Warren McClendon and senior outside linebacker Robert Beal were the third-team selections, with sophomore wideout Adonai Mitchell and redshirt sophomore tight end Arik Gilbert being selected to the fourth-team offense. In all, Georgia has seven All-SEC selections on offense, five on defense, and one on special teams.

No Stetson Bennett there.  Quelle surprise.

What will be a legitimate surprise is if Gilbert finishes the season as merely the fourth best tight end in the conference.

By the way, Florida has six names total on the list, none on the first team.  The Gators sure could use a coaching genius on the sideline to offset that.

TFW Todd Monken sees a defense selling out to stop the run

Gawd, was this a fun play to watch unfold live.

88 yard play for 88 days! #GoDawgs pic.twitter.com/u36KygJ2pR

— We Are Dawgnation!🐶🔴⚫️ 🏆🏆🏆 (@We_R_Dawgnation) June 8, 2022

The play design is awesome.  Watch the player covering Bowers off the line bite on the underneath action.

By the way, UAB wasn’t half bad defensively last season.  They finished 31st in defensive SP+, which was better than Florida, Tennessee and Kentucky.

Oh, yeah.  This was the game Stetson finished with a 422.43 passer rating.

You know it’s the offseason when…

Chip Towers actually goes to the trouble of debunking the latest chatter about uniforms.

Georgia traditionalists can relax, however. While all-white “unis” were a hit with recruits, the Bulldogs specially ordered only a handful of them specifically for use during recruiting visits and have no plans to wear them this season or anytime soon.

Asked about the chances of Georgia playing a game in the all-white uniforms, a person familiar with Bulldogs’ football operations responded with an all-cap text: “ZERO.”

This isn’t a reflection on Chip so much as it is on a portion of the fan base that gets itself wired up on the possibility that this will be the year that Georgia starts going Oregon with its team gear.  Not gonna happen.