Georgia defensive backs make most of opportunity in scrimmage

ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia has a couple of ongoing competitions for playing time in its secondary, and Saturday’s scrimmage put the contenders to the test. Without Kamari Lassiter available due to a foot sprain, Daylen Everette and Nyland Green got the majority of first team reps – and the coaches were watching closely. Furthermore, at safety, the Bulldogs are continuing to try and develop depth at a position that’s requiring Javon Bullard to move over from STAR to provide support on the back end. Needless to say, any game-like opportunity that’s available is a big one for the Georgia defensive backs.

“I don’t know that I honestly can say,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart, a former defensive back himself, said when asked to assess the play of the cornerbacks. “I mean there were some big plays, we gave up some plays, but people didn’t get behind us. There were a couple of plays they were behind us that were overthrows that I thought that maybe we should have hit. We did hit a couple big plays, but those weren’t necessarily on the corners.”

“Our corners don’t play man every down, they have downs where they’re in the flat and you might get behind a safety. So just because there was a bomb hit, it doesn’t always go to a corner, it could go to a safety, it could go to the protection in the rush,” Smart continued. “We had four guys get to play. Julian [Humphrey] was a little under the weather, he was sick and cramping a little bit, so he played, but he had less reps. Kamari is dying to get back, but Kamari needs work. He started for one year, and he’s got to knock the rust and go out there and play too. There’s no assumption that just because you played last year that you’ll come in and be ready to play. I think people assume that, but these kids aren’t NFL players that have been playing for 10-15 years, so he needs to get back and knock some of the rust off.”

Even with what Smart had to say about him, Lassiter seems secure in his starting spot. It’s the job opposite of him that’s up for grabs with Everette and Green as the top two options with Humphrey not far behind. All three were top-10 corners and top-100 players in their respective recruiting classes.

Everette, who came in at No. 33 overall, was the highest rated of them and played in 14 of 15 games during his first season at Georgia. He had 13 tackles including a season-high four in the regular season finale against Georgia Tech. Despite being a year younger, Everette has an experience advantage over Green, who’s played in 13 career contests including 10 last season recording five total tackles. Humphrey took a redshirt in his first year on campus last season, seeing action in just three of 15 contests.

Georgia also has freshmen AJ Harris and Daniel Harris that continue to rep at corner and provide depth should the Dawgs need them. AJ enrolled early with and got his feet wet in the spring while Daniel arrived in the summer. Per On3, both were top-10 cornerbacks and top-100 players in the Class of 2023.

The Bulldogs have a couple of other freshmen making an impact elsewhere in the secondary. Joenel Aguero has been working at STAR in light of Bullard making the move to safety while Justyn Rhett reps at safety. Both Aguero and Rhett were early enrollees.

Smart said that with the freshmen, they don’t like to cross train them quite yet. It’s something that Georgia does with its defensive backs to create some versatility – both from them in their college scheme and as players eventually moving on to the NFL – and is helping with the depth, especially at safety.

“Joenel has been working at STAR most of the time. Haven’t tried to cross train him with him being a freshman right now,” Smart said when asked about Aguero, the No. 3 safety in the Class of 2023, as it relates to the depth at safety behind the presumed starters – Bullard and Malaki Starks. “Obviously, Bullard, David Daniel, Malaki, and Dan (Jackson) a little bit – Dan is still injured. He had a little bit of a hamstring pull early in camp, like on the first day, and he’s been battling trying to get back from that. He scrimmaged today, but he couldn’t go as much as he’d like to. Tykee (Smith)‘s got a little bit of a place there.”

“I think that JaCorey (Thomas) and Justyn Rhett are the guys who are really battling to get in that rotation and play winning football,” he continued. “I thought that both of them made some plays today. JaCorey made a really nice play, and Justyn Rhett made really nice plays, but they both have a long way to go too.”

Thomas’ (No. 20 in white) nice play can be seen in the highlights Georgia posted on social media from the scrimmage. The video also includes a tackle from AJ Harris plus shots with other defensive backs in action.

Georgia will begin its third week of work on Monday when the Bulldogs are back on the Woodruff Practice Fields. A second scrimmage is set for next Saturday at Sanford Stadium.