Kamari Lassiter, Georgia corners committed to excellence

ATHENS, Ga. — Kamari Lassiter and the Georgia cornerbacks have a commitment to excellence according to head coach Kirby Smart, and the group has continued to carry that with them throughout the season so far. Making a first-round appearance in Jordan Reid’s first mock draft released on ESPN earlier on Wednesday, Lassiter leads the way, but it’s with a strong following from the likes of Daylen Everette, Julian Humphrey and others in the room.

“Leadership. He’s a kid that’s been committed to excellence his whole life,” Smart said of Lassiter. “He comes from a great family background and a really tough, hardworking family. He kind of came up through the mud man. He didn’t get anything given to him, was not a super highly recruited guy, and he’s made himself into a really good player through work ethic. Like he just won’t be outworked, he won’t be outcompeted, and you love that about a football player.” 

Lassiter started all 15 games for Georgia last season opposite of Kelee Ringo. He totaled 38 tackles including five for loss. This year, he’s kept the strong play up with 21 tackles including 3.5 for loss through just seven games, putting him on pace for better statistics in both categories.

He hasn’t been the only impressive Georgia corner so far this season though. Everette has stepped into a larger role quite well while Humphrey has provided an extra body off the bench when needed.

“The two of those guys, I look at them as co-starters and continue to improve and get better,” Smart said.

On Everette in particular, it’s the continued growth in confidence that’s stood out to Smart. Going out, making mistakes and learning from them has been important in his development.

“He’s been good. Done good things,” Smart said. “Starting to play with a little more confidence. Got to go out there and make some plays with his back to the ball. Had a couple big stops in games. Good physical tackler. Not afraid of contact. Continues to work to get better.”

As for Humphrey, he too has gotten a good bit of work throughout the season. With Lassiter battling an injury early in the season, along with the fact that the competition for one of the starting spots was still ongoing, Humphrey received plenty of attention during fall camp. While he hasn’t played quite as much in-game as his classmate Everette, Smart says he’s seeing Humphrey’s development play out each and every day on the practice field.

“He’s gotten a lot of work. Like I said, in the last three to four weeks of practices, he’s gotten a tremendous amount. Probably 60 to 70% of his reps have come with the ones and he gets a lot of work in there with those guys, and he gets better,” Smart said. “He’s used to going against better competition doing that. I think that’s great for his development. He’s a talented football player. He’s got really good speed, good football instincts and plays the ball well in the air.”

On the season, Everette has given up receptions on less than half of the targets that have come his way (10-of-24 per Pro Football Focus). In his last three games, just one of nine attempts have been caught, and he leads the team in pass breakups with five. Humphrey, in limited action, has eight tackles in six games played – not appearing against South Carolina.

Georgia will need all three of the rotating corners to be at their best this Saturday when the Bulldogs take on rival Florida. Led by a group of talented receivers like Ricky Pearsall and Eugene Wilson III, the Gators have totaled over 65% of their yardage this season through the air. Georgia’s pass defense has been strong however, ranking No. 1 in the SEC and No. 9 in the NCAA this season allowing just 171.1 yards per game.

Kickoff time for the World’s Largest Cocktail Party, the annual matchup of the two rivals in Jacksonville, is set for 3:30 p.m. ET from EverBank Stadium, home of the Jaguars, on CBS.