Brock Bowers shares impact of facing Georgia defense in practice

The main reason Georgia currently holds back-to-back national championships is its defense. Kirby Smart has built a factory in Athens, constantly producing the best defensive talents in college football. Not only is it showing up on the stat sheet but the NFL has learned to love some Bulldogs.

Every team on Georgia’s schedule is thankful they only run into them once. Maybe the SEC Championship or College Football Playoff produces a rematch but usually, it’s a one-time occurrence. For guys like tight end Brock Bowers, he has to go up against his defensive teammates on a daily basis.

Something he describes as not the easiest thing in the world.

“It’s hard to go against our defense every single day,” Bowers said. “Especially that defense my freshman year and last year. Even this year again. We’re going up against the best defense in the nation, which helps us out offensively a lot.”

Practicing against the first-team Georgia defense is likely more difficult than games themselves at times, even against SEC opponents. When you recruit the way Smart has — only comparable to Alabama and at times, Ohio State — there are sometimes more stars on the practice field than the game field.

As he mentioned, more than just Bowers is practicing vs. the Dawgs’ defense. The entire offense benefits from the in-house competition across the board at every position. That’s part of the reason for the consecutive national championships, with going for a three-peat being at the front of the program’s mind.

Bowers has more than just defensive backs to go up against too. He is an incredible blocker for Georgia in the run game, facing those massive defensive linemen at times. Based on how they perform on Saturdays, attempting to block them on a daily basis surely cannot be fun.

But if going up against UGA’s defense has strengthened Bowers, they deserve a ton of credit. He has been the best tight end in the sport over the last two seasons. Offensive coordinator Todd Monken really unlocked the youngster before leaving for the Baltimore Ravens. Stetson Bennett would likely agree as well.

Just one more season in Athens remains for Bowers, where he will inevitably be a top selection in the 2023 NFL Draft. He will then be free of practicing against the Georgia defense and graduate onto NFL competition.

Which, when you think about it, is almost kind of the same thing.