The Georgia Bulldogs are back and better and ready to take on the season with a lot of players ready to break out their skills. The team lost seven players to the NFL Draft, including Jake Fromm, D’Andre Swift, Andrew Thomas, Isaiah Wilson, Tae Crowder, Solomon Kindley, and Charlie Woerner. UGA Kicker Rodrigo Blankenship was not drafted in the 2020 NFL draft, but instead was signed as an undrafted free agent to the Indianapolis Colts. Now that these players have moved on, this leaves an open gap for new players to make their breakout this season.
Linebacker Nakobe Dean will be a defensive breakout player for the Bulldogs. He led with seven tackles and assisted in a 2-yard loss tackle in the season-opening win against the Arkansas Razorbacks. In 2019 he was credited with co-winning the Defensive Newcomer of the Year award as he finished the 14 games played with 25 total stops. The sophomore has already brought a great deal of promise to the team and is predicted to have a lot of playing time this season, which will help to prove his skills.
On the opposite side, offensive linebacker Nolan Smith is a former five-star recruit who has also brought a lot of promise thus far for the Georgia Bulldogs. He was the other co-winner in 2019 for Defensive Newcomer of the Year alongside Dean. He played in all 14 games and finished with 18 stops, including 2.5 sacks for 19 lost yards. He came back this season against Arkansas where he was credited with a career-best six tackles including 1.5 stops for 14 lost yards. Nolan plays hard and will be able to contribute more this season as he shows off his offensive skills.
Lewis Cine played in all 14 games last season, and started in the last two where he finished the season with 20 total stops. In his first start against Louisiana State Tigers he had a season-high six tackles and even matched that start against the Baylor Bears in the Sugar Bowl. Cine was able to start in the defensive backfield in the season-opening win against Arkansas this season as well. He had a great freshman season and is expected to have an even better sophomore year.
Bulldogs running back Kenny McIntosh set up Georgia with an excellent field position with a 43-yard return against Arkansas. The return game for UGA reached 148 yards including 91 from sophomore kick returner McIntosh. He has the best overall skills in the backfield, and is only second on the team behind Zamir White’s 15.38 yard percentage against Kenny’s 8 percent. McIntosh can move the ball down the field, but struggles after contact where he had a team worst 1.76 yards after contact average last season. His abilities outweigh his struggles and he will be able to contribute greatly to the success of the team this season as long as he works hard.
In addition to McIntosh, Kendall Milton is a five-star recruit that is predicted to be the next great running back at UGA. With the departure of D’Andre Swift, there will be a great deal of competition for running back. James Cook is one of the most explosive returning running backs, but is not as polished as White. On top of that, Daijun Edwards and Milton are both highly praised recruits that have the talent to potentially start as freshmen. White posted 71 yards rushing on 13 attempts with one touchdown in this season’s opening game. Milton will have to work hard in order to breakout as a star running back, but has a lot of promise to do so.
There are a lot of promising breakout players to watch this season for the Bulldogs including the ones above. This will be an interesting season to see who can keep up and who falls behind. This season will prove who wants it the most and who is ready to beat out their competitors, but either way the team overall has a promising season ahead.
