Georgia safeties ranked among nation's best by On3
Georgia has been included in the top 10 of every position group ranking by On3’s Jesse Simonton thus far, a streak that continued on Thursday. The nation’s top safety groups were released and Georgia comes in at No. 3.
Miami is No. 1 and Michigan is at No. 2. Georgia is followed by Clemson and Utah to round out the top five. The back half of the top 10 features USC, Ohio State, Texas A&M, LSU, and Alabama.
The Bulldogs’ safety situation is a bit up in the air entering the post-spring offseason — but not in any sort of worrisome way.
We just don’t know who is going to start alongside Malaki Starks. The 5-star recruit shined as a freshman, picking off a pass in UGA’s opener against Oregon and finishing the season with 68 tackles, two interceptions and a team-high seven PBUs.
Javon Bullard, perhaps the nation’s top nickel-back, spent time at safety during the spring, but it remains to be seen if the cross-training was an experiment or a full-time position change.
If Bullard mainly stays inside for UGA, then it’s a battle between David Daniel-Sisavanh, former walk-on Dan Jackson, who’s made plenty of plays for Georgia the last two seasons, and Top-50 freshman Joenel Aguero, who has quickly impressed those in Athens.
If Bullard doesn’t stick at safety, those who follow the team closely will be surprised. The Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl and National Championship game MVP told reporters after the G-Day spring scrimmage that he was approached by the staff about a position change this winter. That indicates more of a permanent move to the all-important position, which has been manned by the likes of Christopher Smith, Richard LeCounte, and J.R. Reed in recent years.
Tykee Smith is likely slotted for the STAR/nickel position while Aguero, after a strong spring, has a chance to seize that role for himself as he learns the scheme. Daniel-Sisavahn and Jackson will be looked to for depth.
This is the fourth defensive position group released by Simonton and it’s the first where Georgia has ranked outside of the top two. The Bulldogs were No. 1 on the defensive line and EDGE and ranked No. 2 at both linebacker and cornerback.
The Bulldogs also stood atop the offensive line and tight end rankings. They ranked No. 6 at receiver and No. 7 at running back. They were outside the top five at quarterback but inside the top 10 with no order really stated with the back-half of that group.
