Incoming Georgia freshmen making impact for Dawgs in bowl prep

ATHENS, Ga. — Wednesday was a day with two focuses in Athens. First, Kirby Smart wanted to celebrate the signees in the Class of 2023. After all, years and years of hard work had gone into putting their name on paper as they signed their National Letters of Intent to go to Georgia. Then, once that was done, it was off to practice for Smart and his current team as they prepare to play Ohio State in the College Football Playoffs on December 31st.

Of course the new Bulldogs can’t partake in the Peach Bowl festivities on New Year’s Eve, but nine of them are already on campus in Athens and helping their new team in whatever way possible as Georgia goes after a second straight national title.

DawgsHQ previously reported that AJ Harris, Raylen Wilson, Gabriel Harris, Tyler Williams, CJ Allen, Lawson Luckie, Anthony Evans, Yazeed Haynes and Jamaal Jarrett were already on campus. Early returns on the incoming freshmen certainly seem positive according to Smart and a couple of their new teammates.

“They jump in and get them going,” Smart said on Wednesday during his Signing Day press conference. “They certainly help us in terms of at this time of year you have injuries, you have guys out. We’ve had multiple guys that have been in and out of practice. It gives you depth. It gives you the ability to go two-spot.”

“It gives you the ability to get a better look,” he continued. “Let’s be honest, some of these guys are really high athletes that are fast, that have twitch. They jump in. There’s parts they can’t do, and there’s parts they’re learning on, but they will be so much further and better when the spring comes because of getting comfortable at practice, going out there and knowing where I go to after flex, what do I do next? I’ve been really excited for those guys that have practiced with us.”

As for what their teammates had to say, Brock Bowers and Kearis Jackson both play in position groups that have at least one fresh face. And while they might not have been with the team in anticipation of the bowl game, Bowers and Jackson both enrolled a semester early to get a jump start on their collegiate careers. They remember how helpful that was.

“It helped me so much just because there’s so much to learn, like, in the playbook. I’ve learned so much football since I got here, like, it’s more than just running around and catching the ball and run with it,” Bowers said. “You have to, read stuff and everything like that. And also adjusting to the speed. It’s a completely different speed obviously than high school, so. Yeah, it helped me a ton … Lawson’s the only one here right now, but he’s been doing good. He’s been working some scout teams reps and working with the three’s a little bit. So, he’s been doing good.”

“I can remember my first time coming in, and those first few winter workouts, I was like, ‘I don’t know if I want to play football again.’ The way they were drilling us because they were coming off of National Championship loss and I knew how much that season meant to them and how much I wanted to win a national championship, I was like, ‘Man, if I’ve got to do this for four years, I don’t know if I’m going to make it,'” Jackson joked. “But hey, I’m here, year five, still enjoying it and have no regrets … All those guys are looking up to me and trying to see how it is. Anthony is right there, Tyler is right there, Yazeed is right there. The fact that they know what they’re trying to reach and asking how I got to the point to where I’m still being able to be sustainable in any type of workout or practice, you’ve got to get over the hump of feeling nervous.”

Georgia will break from Athens for the weekend as players have an opportunity to go home for the holidays. Then it’s back to work next week in Atlanta ahead of the game against Ohio State. The nine incoming freshmen aren’t allowed by NCAA rules to make the trip to Atlanta and practice with the team there, but if Georgia were to advance and have more practices take place in Athens ahead of the National Championship, the freshmen would once again by allowed to participate.