Kirby Smart talks cornerbacks, gaining depth at DB in Class of '23

ATHENS, Ga. — If you’re going to ask Kirby Smart about defensive backs, you better have plenty of time on your hands because the man can talk. He did just that on Wednesday, the first day of the Early Signing Period, when asked about Georgia’s haul of cornerbacks, a group that can help provide depth all across the secondary in Smart’s eyes.

“Well, I don’t know. It depends how you define those guys,” Smart said. “There is no such thing as a cornerback anymore in my mind. There is defensive backs that play everywhere.”

“Football is a matchup game. There’s more empty than we’ve ever seen before. More spread than we’ve ever seen before,” he continued. “You’ve got to have slot corners. You’ve got to have outside corners. You have to have guys that can go inside and play. You have to have guys that can be gunners, guys that can tackle. Just so many roles of a defensive back that it’s not three corners. It’s what can this guy play early? How can he help us? And you can’t have enough.”

Georgia went heavy in the Class of 2022 in the secondary, especially at cornerback. Jaheim Singletary, Daylen Everette and Julian Humphrey all signed this time last year and are in the midst of finishing up their freshman seasons. Smart and his staff also got Marcus Washington Jr. to reclassify from 2023 to 2022 where he still ranked among the best corners in the country.

Still, the position was one they went after hard again in the Class of 2023. In fact, Georgia signed even more corners this class than it did last one with four signing plus an athlete that they project will play somewhere in the secondary for them. Again, in Smart’s eyes, you can’t have enough of them.

“I mean, very rarely do they come in and just jump right in and play as freshmen. They play. They just may not play the starting role. So it’s a position that has to develop, has to grow,” he said. “It’s one that we have been short in that room. I mean, probably the last five years, four years we’ve been really short in our defensive back rooms. We’re trying to manage those numbers. There and receiver are probably the two hardest spots to be at your quota on your 85. It’s a position that turns over a lot. It’s a position that comes out early a lot. It’s a position that goes in the portal a lot. We’re hoping to gain depth there.”

Georgia’s highest rated cornerback, and one of its highest rated players regardless of position, is AJ Harris. The Central (Phenix City, Ala.) product comes in at No. 37 overall and No. 3 in the country among cornerbacks according to the On3 Consensus. At 6-foot-1, 190 pounds, Harris, who is already on campus and practicing with the team as they prepare for the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, has the kind of position versatility to where he really could play anywhere in the secondary – not just at corner. That’s part of the reason why Smart has such a hard time defining positions for defensive backs this early on.

“Competitiveness. I mean, he loves football,” Smart said about Harris. “Number one traits you look for now is how much do you love football, how much can you process information, because after you height, weight, jump, test everybody, it becomes what knowledge can you handle in between your ears? I think he is going to excel at that. He takes notes. He is very bright, and he wants it. He is hungry. That’s a part that I can’t coach into him.”

Switching a player from cornerback to safety isn’t uncharted waters for Smart though. After testing him out around the secondary, Smart found Christopher Smith‘s best spot to be at safety from the Class of 2018. Despite coming in as a corner, Smith ended up better off for making the move, becoming an unanimous All-American in his senior season. With Smith moving on at season’s end, the pressure will be on the likes of Harris – as well as the other defensive backs Georgia signed (S Joenel Aguero, CB Daniel Harris, CB Chris Peal, CB Justyn Rhett and ATH Kyron Jones) – to start filling his shoes as early as this spring.