Jesse Simonton shares on excellence of Georgia offense, expectations for 2023

Expectations are high for Georgia’s offense in 2023. On3’s Jesse Simonton put out his position unit rankings for the upcoming season on offense this week, and he’s got the players that touch the ball for the Bulldogs all in the top 10.

In fact, Georgia is the only team that can claim that from Simonton’s rankings. The Bulldogs come in at No. 6 for quarterbacks, No. 7 for running backs, No. 6 for wide receivers and No. 1 for tight ends. Ole Miss received three rankings and an honorable mention, the only other team mentioned by Simonton in all four categories. LSU, Texas and Ohio State received three rankings, and Oregon got two plus an honorable mention. Those are the only other five teams to be ranked or mentioned more than twice by Simonton.

“I think it can be distilled pretty simply. This is such an efficient and deep group,” Simonton told DawgsHQ about the Georgia offensive overall. “They’re versatile at a lot of different positions in the skillsets, whether it is at tailback – they don’t have a bell cow guy like some of the other programs that are in that top 10 list but they have a deep stable of guys that I think are very capable – the wide receiver room – they’ve got long guys, fast guys, twitchy guys – and then obviously at tight end, Brock Bowers is the Mackey Award winner and unequivocal best tight end in the country in 2023. It’s just a deep group.”

Over the course of his series, Simonton mentions the likes of Kendall Milton, Daijun Edwards, Ladd McConkey, Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint, Dominic Lovett, Arian Smith, Brock Bowers and several others. All contributed in significant ways last season in the SEC whether at Georgia or, in the case of Lovett – a transfer, Missouri. He’s one of two portal pickups on the offensive side of the ball alongside Mississippi State wide receiver Rara Thomas.

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One name you won’t see mentioned – offensive coordinator Todd Monken. He’s off to the NFL after guiding Georgia’s offense the past three seasons and will be replaced by Mike Bobo, former Georgia offensive coordinator and an offensive analyst in Athens this past season. He’s a guy with plenty of eyes on him not only for the job he does calling plays in 2023 but also the way he gets Georgia’s new quarterback – whoever it is – ready to go for the fall.

“Todd Monken did a great job with those guys a year ago. Obviously they’re breaking in a new quarterback. We’ll see what happens with Carson Beck probably, the presumed starter there,” Simonton said. “I think they have a super high floor as evidenced by these rankings, and then a super high ceiling that makes them one of the best offenses in the country come the fall.”

“I’ve written several columns about Georgia’s quarterback kind of derby that’s going on right now. It certainly seems from talking to folks and from afar that Carson kind of rose to the challenge. Brock (Vandagriff) and Gunner (Stockton) had nice springs. I think Brock was probably better in some of the closed scrimmages than Carson, and yet, when the lights were on and the fans were there in their red and black on G-Day, it was Carson Beck who just looked flawless,” Simonton continued. “He enters the offseason with a lot of momentum. I think it cannot be short changed that Georgia has three guys who have basically been in this system. While they will have a new offensive coordinator, Kirby’s made it clear that this is the Georgia system. Terminology, the plan, that’s going to remain the same. Bobo had his finger prints there, so with Carson Beck having multiple years of experience in that, Brock is now I think continuing to show a little growth, that’s huge.”

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Beck threw for 221 yards and a score on 13-of-18 passing in the first half on G-Day working with the first team. Meanwhile, Vandagriff didn’t have the same sort of success when he switched over. He got reps with both the first and second teams throughout the course of the game and totaled 175 yards and two scores with an interception on 13-of-25 passing.

Simonton’s series continues with the offensive line on Friday before flipping things over to the defensive side of the ball next week. With a unit up front that returns four of five starters from the College Football Playoffs plus a defense that brings back the likes of Mykel Williams, Jamon Dumas-Johnson, Smael Mondon, Javon Bullard, Kamari Lassiter and Malaki Starks, you can count on seeing more of the Bulldogs.