New group of Georgia leaders emerging during spring practice

Over the past few months, the University of Georgia has seen dozens of athletes declare their intentions to move on to the next step in their football career by declaring for the NFL Draft. As a result, Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs are using this year’s spring practice to attempt to find the leaders for the 2022 football team. While Georgia only has six practices under its belt with more to come this spring and of course in the fall, some of the Bulldogs’ star players have already begun to stand out from the crowd. 

Warren McClendon

At 6-foot-4, 300 pounds from Brunswick, Georgia, Georgia right tackle Warren McClendon is looking to make an impact on this year’s Georgia squad. Although he saw limited action in 2019, appearing in four games, McClendon burst onto the spotlight during the 2020 season, starting in nine of the Bulldogs’ ten games. He then started all 15 last season on the way to Georgia’s national championship.

“I’m definitely trying to be a leader,” McClendon said after last Tuesday’s practice. “You know, going into my fourth year, it’s time for me to step up and try to be a leader, you know, be more vocal. I’m not a very talkative guy so you know just stepping up and being more talkative and leading by example and you know just helping out the younger guys.”

Kendall Milton

Due to sitting behind Zamir White and James Cook, as well as combating multiple lower body injuries, Kendall Milton has yet to burst onto the scene for the Dawgs. With 91 carries for 457 yards and a touchdown in his Georgia career, Milton is ready to take over a new role for the Bulldogs this year.

“You know, I feel like it’s kind of just a pass a torch situation,” Milton explained. “You know like I said, everybody comes in with people in front of them and you kind of like I said, just soak it in, just be a sponge.  I feel like you know they’re moved on. They’re chasing their dreams at this point and I feel like it’s just kind of the torch pass where me and Kenny, we both have to step up and take on those leadership roles, because at the end of the day, we’re kind of the older guys on the team. So you know, it’s our responsibility to kind of lead that role.”

Kelee Ringo

Despite the fact that Kelee Ringo is coming off of his breakout season for the Bulldogs, including what is one of the greatest plays in Georgia history, the 6-foot-2, 205-pound cornerback from Scottsdale, Arizona still has room to grow. Although most Georgia fans are probably wondering where the Dawgs will put the Ringo pick-six statue already, the redshirt sophomore is only worried about taking his next step for the team.

“Throughout this program, Coach Smart continuously states there’s nothing cemented at all,” Ringo said. “I feel like anything could happen, you know, I mean in any type of situation. But definitely being one of the older guys on the team and definitely having to have that leader role definitely gives me a lot more confidence in being able to help the teammates and definitely be more comfortable being a vocal leader.”

Jamon Dumas-Johnson

Although all of the players on this list so far have been on campus for at least three years already, Smart is looking for Jamon Dumas-Johnson to take a big leap this year for the Dawgs, becoming a leader on the defensive side of the ball. He doesn’t care that he’s in just his second year.

“He’s still in his first year if you really want to look at the grand scheme of things,” Smart said. “This is a young man that didn’t play football his senior year due to COVID so he came in a little heavy. He’d be the first to tell you he was too heavy when he first got here. He’d not played the season so he was rusty but helped on special teams,  played some times in games when we had leads, but he’s trying to take on a leadership role. there’s a really big void, you know in this common theme you’ll hear there’s a void there because of all the guys that left and also the guys injured.”

Continue to stay up to date with all the latest news and information out of Georgia spring practice on DawgsHQ. And if you enjoy what you’re getting, now’s a great time to sign up with our Spring Practice Special, four months for $10.

Are you subscribed?

Ready to get all your latest Georgia athletics news in one place? Become a member of DawgsHQ today. With your DawgsHQ membership, you’ll not only have access to the goings on in Athens, but you’ll be able to peruse other fan sites within the On3 network to hear just how rivals are feeling about the Dawgs, as well. Make sure to follow along on Twitter (@DawgsHQ), on Facebook and on YouTube for all the Dawg news you need now! And listen to the DawgsHQ crew on our podcast Dawg Walk Talk on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.