Georgia 2021 vs. 2022: Who would win?
When a school wins back to back National Championships, the question arises: which team was better? That certainly was the case for Georgia’s 2023 draft prospects last week at the NFL Scouting Combine being that they all were members of both squads.
Some players took the easy way out and gave the answer of, ‘I don’t think one team was better than the other. They were different.’ Kicker Jack Podlesny did that. Others did something along those lines, but when pressed about it eventually indicated that they leaned one way or the other.
“That’s a good question man. I feel like it’d be tight. It’d come down to the wire. I’d probably say 2022,” Robert Beal said, although he later added that he thought the 2021 Georgia defense was better than the 2022 Georgia offense.
“That’s a tough question. I get into this argument all the time with James Cook, I talk to him the most of those guys because he was the roommate,” Kearis Jackson countered with. “I’ll say, man, we set the standard. We beat Bama, but we went 15-0. I always say 15-0 versus 14-1. In my heart, I’d say the 2021 team.”
Podlesny makes a good point in his non-answer, answer. Georgia’s leadership styles were different. In 2021, guys were vocal. That’s what happens with a veteran group of players like Jordan Davis, Nakobe Dean, Jamaree Salyer and Zamir White. Meanwhile, in 2022, things were done by example. The new faces tasked with replacing the likes of those mentioned above had seen how they acted. Then, they simply did their best to emulate it.
“I think everyone separated themselves and it was different teams. Some of the leadership style was different,” Podlesny said. “I think this past team was more play by example, versus the previous team was we’re going to be vocal, we’re going to talk about it. I think just each team was different. I don’t think there was a better team.”
Top 10
- 1
Agiye Hall commits
Former 5-star surprise commitment
- 2Trending
Urban Meyer
Declaring SEC dominance over
- 3Hot
AP Poll projection
Judgement Saturday brings change
- 4
Squirrel White
Former Vols WR ACC bound
- 5
Zachariah, Zion Branch
USC playmakers SEC bound
Get the On3 Top 10 to your inbox every morning
By clicking "Subscribe to Newsletter", I agree to On3's Privacy Notice, Terms, and use of my personal information described therein.
Along those lines, Warren McClendon made the point that the 2021 team had more talent, but the 2022 team had more fight. His teammates agreed with that assessment.
“That’d be a battle. Who would win? I don’t know,” McClendon said. “That first National Championship had a bunch of talent, but that second, we just had a bunch of fight. It’s hard to tell. We had a bunch of adverse games where we fought back. I couldn’t tell you.”
“We had a lot of fight. I agree with that,” Kenny McIntosh added. “Even though the guys were gone, we lost 15 guys then, but we definitely had a lot of fight. We had composure, resiliency, all the key factors at Georgia. We definitely showed that the last team, they were that good, but for us to come back and fight, I’m going to go with 2022. That team was special.”
Georgia will begin the quest for a three-peat this next week. The Bulldogs have been in winter workouts since returning to Athens from the National Championship. They begin spring practice on Tuesday and will go through 15 sessions over the course of a month, culminating with the G-Day spring game on April 15th. As for the NFL bound Bulldogs, they’ll be in action next week in Athens too with Pro Day set for Wednesday. Then it’s time for the final push up to the NFL Draft which takes place April 27th-29th in Kansas City.
