Emptying The Notebook: Georgia preseason camp confidential

Welcome back to the notebook. After some time off this summer, we’ll be emptying this thing every Friday for a few months and we’re as fired up about it as anyone. Georgia is over a week into preseason camp with Clemson on tap in 22 days. I’ve seen and heard enough to go position-by-position and share some intel and opinion on each. Let’s get started.

Georgia QB rundown…

I might as well go in order. “ Carson Beck is Carson Beck,” is what I have been getting when I asked about the second-year starting quarterback. I don’t get that verbatim but that quote is the gist of it. Beck is having a great camp. He’s in total control of the offense and he is one of the look-to leaders of this Georgia team. That’s all stuff you love to hear but it’s not surprising.

I have heard that Gunner Stockton is having a really good camp as well. He’s getting almost all of the No. 2 reps right now and even some with the ones. Sources tell me Stockton is much more comfortable in the offense and it looks like that the game has slowed down some. When it comes to arm strength, the Georgia sophomore is working with less horsepower than Beck or even Stetson Bennett, but I’m told that he has been really good with the deep ball during camp.

Jaden Rashada and Ryan Puglisi have a lot to learn per everything I’ve heard thus far. Rashada is a talented passer. He’s accurate with a quick release and the ball kind of jumps out of his hand, but it’s going to be a little while before he’s ready to operate a significant portion of this offense.

Stock up: Georgia running backs

Based on what I’ve heard these past few days, I think Georgia fans should be very excited about the running back room. Trevor Etienn e has been impressing since the spring. Roderick Robinson appears to be in tremendous shape and I keep hearing good things about him from Sunday’s practice.

Branson Robinson is not only practice but doing so without a brace and impressing. His availability changes the complexion of that room so much. Then Nate Frazier simply moves at a different speed and will, at some point, be a significant factor in this offense. It’s a good-looking group right now. I know someone is going to ask but I haven’t heard much on Chauncey Bowens or Dwight Phillips yet.

The tight end transition

We’re starting to pick up on some Ben Yurosek buzz a week into camp. I didn’t hear much about him early on but in talking with sources who have seen practice recently, the former Stanford tight end is making plays in competitive portions of practice. I’m also told that Oscar Delp is having a tremendous camp. It has been quiet on the rest of the group to this point but I do know that Lawson Luckie has been getting a ton of first-team work with Delp. He’s definitely a big part of the plan.

Concerns at wideout, maybe? No.

The more I think about it, the more I think the loss Rara Thomas hurts Georgia more than many realize. I don’t think it knocks the receiver room down a peg or anything like that, but it creates some challenges. Dillon Bell is going to be Georgia’s No. 1 X-receiver and I think that’s a good fit. Bell has the quickness and power combo to beat press coverage. He’s twitchy and has the potential to be a great route runner. That’s something he has been working on. I have no concerns with Bell.

But when you start to look at depth there, it’s Colbie Young and that’s about it. The X-receiver position is important in every single offense in America and I don’t like Georgia’s depth there at this point. I believe London Humphreys will be taught that spot. We’re hearing more and more about him lately.

I also believe Georgia should and likely will find ways to get Arian Smith and Anthony Evans on the field together. Also, after hearing that Michael Jackson III was struggling for most of the spring, I’ve been told a few times now that he has put together some good practices this preseason.

Georgia trenches – Offense

Based on everything I’ve been able to gather to this point, I don’t have much concern at all about Jared Wilson and game one of the season. I would be very surprised if he’s not out there when Georgia tees it up against Clemson. We’ve been piecing together the info and it sounds like he’s dealing with a foot ailment but it’s not considered to be serious.

As for the rest of the offensive line, almost everything is going like we all thought it would. Georgia has three tackles, three guards, and all six of those dudes are going to play a ton. Tate Ratledge is getting a ton of work at center with Wilson out. I say almost everything because it sounds like Bo Hughley , who has gotten his weight up to nearly 300 pounds, is having a strong camp and has earned a lot of left-tackle reps. Jamal Meriweather made all the waves late this spring. He’s also working at left tackle with the twos and is getting some guard work in, too.

I think Georgia fans kind of brushed those two guys off after signing that class of mammoth tackle prospects in 2024, but I’ve had more than one person tell me recently that Hughley and Meriweather will both be starters in Athens. Hughley is one of those guys where his ranking trended down as the process went on, but he started out ranked really high for a reason. He’s a tremendous athlete and the concerns over his frame are fading pretty quickly

Georgia trenches – Defense

Rolling over to the defensive side of the ball, I’ll start with Jordan Hall . I’ve been working on this for over 24 hours and all I know at this point is that he experienced a setback, he wasn’t a Thursday’s practice at all, and that he’s almost certainly going to miss the start of the season.

As far as what I think based on what I’ve heard, I’ll share a few things. It sounds like Hall had a second procedure on Thursday that was similar to the first one. I had one source tell me that they aren’t positive that it’s the same leg as before. Our standard at DawgsHQ is that we confirm with at least two sources before we go blasting information out as news. I haven’t confirmed these two things with multiple sources just yet, but it’s what I’m hearing from people we trust.

I have not heard anything on a timeline for a return but my opinion here is that Hall will likely miss the month of September. It’s also my opinion that it’s a big blow for that Georgia defensive line. Hall was a known commodity coming into the season. They knew he was going to play a ton. He has the potential to be a difference maker and Georgia may be without him for a third of the season, if not more.

The good news here is that I believe Jamaal Jarrett has gotten off to a very good start in camp. A good enough start based on what I’ve heard thus far that I think he might be able to give Georgia 15-plus snaps per game this year if he’s able to keep it rolling. Christen Miller is also off to a great start in camp. Nasir Stackhouse has changed his body some, getting leaner and moving better. Warren Brinson is working his way back in from an achilles injury. So it’s not all bad for the defensive line.

We’ve also heard good things at different points about Jordan Thomas , Nasir Johnson , and the young defensive ends. Speaking of defensive end, Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins is a name I keep hearing when I talk to people about the Classic City Collective practice last Sunday. One source told me they had him with three tackles for loss against the ones or twos during the 11-on-11 team periods.

One more thing on the trenches as a whole. For years we talked about Georgia’s offensive and defensive lines of scrimmage as the former benefitting from having to deal with the latter on the practice field. I feel like the script has flipped a little with this group and that the defensive line is now getting sharpened by the offensive line. I’m told that there have been some absolute WARS between those groups already.

Set the EDGE

I was speaking with an NFL scout recently who had an interesting take on Mykel Williams . I casually mentioned that I didn’t think his days of playing defensive end were over and the scout agreed with me in a “well, yeah, duh” type of way. Then he explained why he’s even more certain about that than I am. Apparently Williams is viewed in the NFL scouting community as a top-level two-gap player despite not being a 300-pound human. Those guys are hard to find. The comparison given to me was Chris Long, which made a lot of sense to me after I thought about it. I just thought that interaction was interesting and wanted to share.

I’m not hearing much about this position. I know Chaz Chambliss was banged up in Tuesday’s practice. It could have been a situation where he was just missing out on individual drills and did more later. Quintavius Johnson ‘s name has popped up here of late. We’re told that he’s a really physical football player and is gaining confidence.

Loaded Georgia ILB room

Smael Mondon is back on the practice field after not participating at all in Sunday’s practice. He’s participating in drill work and is getting some 11-on-11 reps as well. Raylen Wilson , CJ Allen , J alon Walker , and Troy Bowles have all gotten first team looks as well.

I had one source who saw practice earlier this week tell me that Chris Cole and Justin Williams look like “bash brothers” out there. That source mentioned how the guys wear numbers 18 and 19, they’re often lined up beside each other, and they just run around and hit people. I’m going to be very surprised if these two aren’t major special teams players for Georgia this season.

Secondary taking shape?

Everything I’ve heard from the Georgia practice field suggests that four out of the five positions in the secondary have looked basically the same thus far. Daylen Everette is working at one of the cornerback spots with Malaki Starks and Dan Jackson at safety and Joenel Aguero at STAR. The other cornerback spot has changed over some between Daniel Harris and Julian Humphrey . I’ve heard the most about Harris during camp to this point.

I still consider STAR and safety the biggest concerns for this defense. Jackson is a good player and I think he’ll be solid if not good for Georgia this fall. My concern is mainly over the link between the two positions. They’re heavily-tied-together spots and they communicate a lot. Great defenses have minimal mental mistakes. That has been one of Georgia’s most elite traits under Kirby Smart .

So with the safeties in Georgia’s defense often holding the role of “fixer” for the rest of the defense, including fellow defensive backs, I think KJ Bolden ‘s role is one to keep an eye on. He’s too good and has worked to hard to keep off the field but he’s going to be experiencing a lot of things for the first time.

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