What's been said about Georgia freshmen during preseason practice?
Georgia signed the nation’s No. 1 class of recruits in 2024, and the freshmen have been put through the test during their first fall camp. Preseason practice is coming to a close as game week begins on Monday, and here’s what’s been said about the first-year Bulldogs before they make their debut.
For more coverage from preseason camp, be sure to check out the DawgsHQ YouTube channel where interviews and press conferences with players and coaches can be found along with all of our podcast offerings!
RB Nate Frazier: “Oh man, he’s awesome, you know? He’s a unique person. He’s got a unique personality, and it’s awesome. I didn’t really know him at first. He talks a lot, so when he first got around us I was like, ‘This guy’s talking a lot.’ Just getting to know him more, that’s who he is. I think looking into the future, I think he’s got a really, really bright future. He’s a really good football player, and he’s got a great personality to go with it. I’m really glad we have him on our team.” – OL Dylan Fairchild
“He’s certainly a guy that’s trying hard to learn to understand. I don’t think he’s ever had the detail of, ‘On this run, this is your key.’ He just gets the ball and runs and there’s a lot to our blocking schemes. Who is he reading? Who is he looking at? What are his steps? What does he have to do in protection? He’s got a lot to learn. He didn’t go through spring so his spring is now. His spring was in the summer. He’s got a lot of catching up to do. He is an explosive kid. He’s got good track times. He’s got good speed. He’s got great toughness. He’s a little ball of energy.” – Kirby Smart
RB Chauncey Bowens / RB Dwight Phillips: “Chauncey is going to do a great job, young kids, Dwight is doing a good job. Those guys are all doing a great job and we need them to help us this year.” – Kirby Smart
WR Sacovie White / WR Nitro Tuggle: “Sacovie and Nitro are still learning. They need to play football. They need to go out there without coaches and execute. They’re talented football players but I don’t know if they’re 100 percent reliable right now. We have to get more reliability out of them.” – Kirby Smart
“The freshmen, they’ve got potential. They’re natural. They don’t have to do too much. They just have to learn the playbook. And learn the technique of the plays and the in and outs of the offense.” – WR Arian Smith
TE Jaden Reddell / TE Colton Heinrich: “They both were here in January, and I’ve been pleasantly surprised to see the growth from spring football to summer to now fall camp. If there’s ever a great example of the advantage of graduating midyear and coming in and having 15 spring practices and a winter workout program and a summer workout program and getting that college semester of academic courses under your belt already, you can look at those two freshmen in Colton Heinrich and Jaden Reddell.
They were swimming in the deep end January through May, and then they come back in June and it’s like they’ve already been here for a year. I’m not saying they’re where they need to be to help us contribute right now, and I’m not saying we’re asking them to do that, but we might need them at some point this season and we’re preparing them like we will. But to see the growth from the spring to right now, I’ve been pleasantly surprised, and I’m very happy with their progress.” – Todd Hartley
“I think they’ve been picking up stuff quick as freshmen. They’re doing a great job. They’re pulling their load and they’re learning every day and they’re getting better. They’re both physical and they’re big and they’re fast. That’s what you want from your tight end room. We have really good tight ends this year.” – TE Oscar Delp
Incoming Pass Catchers: “We’ve done a really good job of pushing the envelope with (Vanderbilt transfer) London (Humphreys), (USC transfer) Michael Jackson, Sacovie, Nitro, Reddell, Colton Heinrich. Making sure they’re on the same page as Carson … We’ve got to force guys to get ready to play who are going to play throughout the year.” – Kirby Smart
OL Jahzare Jackson / Offensive Linemen: “Daniel (Calhoun)‘s probably gone a little more at the twos with Jared’s injury and moving guys around where the other guys have gone with the twos some and threes. They continue to get better. They need to. They’re still considered young offensive linemen in our program, and that’s the hardest place to play besides quarterback in the SEC. There’s nowhere you will get exposed more than on the offensive line, so those guys are going to continue to get better and develop.” – Kirby Smart
“Jah’s a kid that we had in camp. He was a unique situation where he was eligible right now. He’s a tremendous athlete, raw, hasn’t played football since eighth grade. But we recruit size, recruit athleticism. We don’t have an expectation of he has to help us right now. We’ve got the expectation that he has to grow and get better and develop. We saw that as a kid that has the ability to be a good football player if he has toughness and all the qualities that it takes to play offensive line.” – Smart
“That’s a pretty hard transition, especially at a place like this. I like seeing that he comes to work every day, puts in a lot of work and is actually a fast learner. He’s picking up some of the stuff that is difficult to pick up. I’m excited to see what the future holds for him.” – OT Earnest Greene on Jackson
MORE ON JACKSON: Basketball prospect turned football player picking things up quickly (+++)
DL Joseph Jonah-Ajonye / LB Justin Williams: “They’re both working, getting through their first camp which is not easy here. I don’t set real high expectations like you guys try to do for these kids. I tell them if they can help and contribute I want them to. I think both those guys will help us and contribute this year. To what extent may be based on injury, how many snaps we have to play, what packaged we play. Justin’s probably going to help on special teams before anything else. Joseph has done a tremendous job. You feel like they’re older because they went through all of spring. Joseph has asserted himself as a physical presence. He’s a good sub rusher. He’s really physical on the edge. He’s gotten matched up a lot of times against our older offensive tackles and he holds his own. We’re looking forward to being able to play those guys.” – Kirby Smart
Freshmen Defensive Linemen: “They’re working hard. I wouldn’t go as far as saying ‘flashing’ but they’re working hard and getting better. Jordan Thomas, (redshirt freshman) Jamaal Jarrett, Nnamdi (Ogboko), Nas Johnson – the quality of work they’ve gotten has been inordinate based on years past where a guy like that might not have gone against the number one o-line much, he would’ve gone against maybe the number three o-line. Well they’ve been forced to go against twos, threes, ones. They’ve gotten a lot of work.” – Smart
LB Quintavius Johnson: “I’ve been pleasantly surprised with Q. Johnson. He had some high school tape of him playing quarterback, and one of the things you at in trying to find a tight end sometimes, sometimes these high school kids don’t always play tight end. You go, ‘This guy, I know Chidera wants him in his room, but I’ll take him in my room.’ He’s athletic and surprisingly for a freshman has not been overwhelmed with what our defense is trying to do schematically. Not that I can tell, Chidera might give you a different story.” – Todd Hartley
“Quintavius, Q to me, he’s a great athlete overall. Excited to see him grow up. Since the spring, seeing his strides as he’s become a better player, I’m proud of him.” – LB Jalon Walker
“Just the fact that he was a quarterback in high school and he’s playing d-end and outside linebacker in college. He’s got great size, great speed. He has power. We’ve just got to hone in on just finding his strengths and playing to them right now.” – LB Chaz Chambliss
MORE: Quintavius Johnson among ‘pleasant surprises’ of Georgia fall camp (+++)
DB KJ Bolden: “I don’t think there’s any pressure in terms of hype as a recruit. He may put that on himself, but we don’t because we don’t pick kids and say this guy’s got pressure and this guy doesn’t. I think we’ve got to prepare him day to day with intensity. Each day is an opportunity for him to grow and get better. Sometimes freshmen, they can’t rise to the occasion that number of times. They have these off days because they’ve never had this intensity. He’s going to be able to handle that well, number one because of where he came from, the program he played in. But he’s also a conscientious kid. We’re going to push him and we’re going to challenge him and we’re going to test him because he’ll certainly get tested in this schedule we’ve got.” – Kirby Smart
“Being a freshman, no matter how much success you have, whether you’re instantly successful or whether you have to go through some of the growing pains that guys have done in the past, just the transition going from high school to college, it’s hard on a normal student. What separates guys that are able to help you when they’re young, versus guys that it takes some time, a lot of times it doesn’t necessarily have to do with ability. It has to do with maturity and their prep. It does not mean that guys who don’t play early don’t have the maturity. But the maturity in terms of being a pro every day, not having to acclimate as much to the demands of college football, it helps them. I think in terms of how he approaches his business, he’s had a maturity about himself since he’s been here. If you match that up with ability and continue to grow, you have a chance to be a good player. I think his maturity has impressed me from the moment he’s been here. He’s been very serious and that’s going to focus on the task at hand, which is what you need to do on a day in and day out basis.” – Glenn Schumann
“KJ is really doing a good job with the rep he’s getting. Obviously he was here earlier, he was a mid-year. So that helps, it helps a lot. He kind of understands exactly what we expect from him, the drills that we’re introducing to him, he’s done them before so nothing is new to him. It gives him a little confidence that he can go out there and get it done.” – Travaris Robinson
Freshman Cornerbacks: “When you talk in terms of corners, you look at Ellis (Robinson), you look at Ondre (Evans), some of those guys, DeMello (Jones). Those guys have done a really good job. They’ve got a chance to be really good football players but they’re learning. Those guys are going against some of the best athletes in the country. They’re doing a good job of trying their best to hold their own. But it’s a lot. It’s a big learning curve, it really is. There is a big difference between high school and college. And those guys are learning to do things the right way and do it the right time. Because they’ve always been the best athlete but it’s different when you get to college. The higher you go up in sports, the competition becomes so much greater. And those guys are at the best place in the country and they’re going against the best athletes in the country and they’re doing a good job of getting better.” – Travaris Robinson
DB Ellis Robinson: “You know, he’s a real good athlete — and not even just him. Like, even all the young guys. They’re all coming in, and they’re all real good competitors, too. They don’t really shy away from anybody. Like, whoever’s going up against them, they kind of embrace it, and that’s what I like about them.” – DB Daylen Everette
“Ellis, his approach in fall camp has been what it needs to be in terms of attacking. The demands of a practice at Georgia, if y’all took in a practice or people who were there, it’s a lot on high school guys transitioning. I think that he’s attacked his personal conditioning and everything else to be able to maximize his ability. I don’t mean that to say that he wasn’t, but there’s a lot of demands on that position to be able to be at your best every snap. I think the way he’s approached that has given him an opportunity to compete in camp. He has to continue to do that.” – Glenn Schumann
“Confidence, on the field swag – kind of like all the young bucks honestly. It can be different being new here. That goes for anybody new, transfers, just got here, anybody. It takes a little bit of time to get adjusted. That’s what it was for me. But everybody here is taking those strides. People only see what we do on Saturdays. They don’t see what we do Monday through Friday. All of us are growing and trying to help each other. Just can’t wait for the first game.” – WR Dominic Lovett
