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Kirby Smart eyes early opportunity to develop for 2023

Palmber-Thombsby:Palmer Thombs•12/15/22•

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Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images

ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia head coach Kirby Smart knows a thing or two about developing players. In his seven seasons at his alma mater, Smart’s had six different players be named unanimous All-Americans. Prior to that, the program had just seven in its history. So, when Smart speaks about an opportunity to develop his players, it’s probably worth paying attention to.

The Bulldogs have signed top-3 recruiting classes each of the last six seasons. The only class that wasn’t in that category was the Class of 2016, one which Smart inherited when he took over as the head coach in December of 2015. All that’s to say, it can be tough to get on the field with so much talent in the building, making practices maybe even more important than the games for development.

Spring practice and fall camp are two clear times that everybody gets the proper number of reps to develop. That’s not necessarily possible in-season with the need to prepare for an opponent, thus the need for some of the developmental-type players to man the scout team. Smart said on Wednesday that the next couple of weeks before the bowl game give him and his staff a similar opportunity to get some different guys reps and kick their development into high gear before next season even gets going.

“They all have. They do a great job working. It’s great to put them at the forefront and let them get quality reps where they’re not necessarily the scout team,” Smart said when asked if any younger players in particular have stood out to him already. “They make up the twos and the threes and sometimes the fours in some positions that get a lot of reps and a lot of growth.”

“This is, at the end of the day, almost another set of spring practice,” he added. “We get 15 practices for spring practice. We may not get that many in, but we get a lot of practices in, once you include walk-throughs. So I’ve seen these guys have exponential growth and really become good players before spring even starts.”

Guys like Mykel Williams and Malaki Starks have been major contributors this season for Georgia. Both were named On3 True-Freshmen All-Americans and to the SEC All-Freshman team as voted on by the league’s 14 head coaches. Then there’s the next crop of youngsters like Bear Alexander, Dillon Bell, Marvin Jones Jr., Branson Robinson and Jalon Walker that have played important snaps but haven’t necessarily been the stars. The next month gives both them and others that will be asked to do more next season – maybe even some that aren’t necessarily freshmen – an opportunity to develop.

No. 1 Georgia takes on No. 4 Ohio State in the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl December 31st in Atlanta. It’s just the second all-time meeting between the two prestigious programs, the last coming in 1993. Kickoff time from Mercedes-Benz Stadium is set for 8:00 p.m. New Year’s Eve on ESPN.

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