Dawn of the Dawg
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Georgia Football Awards for the 2017 team

By Alistair Penny

PASADENA, CA - JANUARY 01: Head Coach Kirby Smart of the Georgia Bulldogs is presented the trophy after the Bulldogs beat the Oklahoma Sooners 54-48 in double overtime in the 2018 College Football Playoff Semifinal Game at the Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual at the Rose Bowl on January 1, 2018 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
PASADENA, CA - JANUARY 01: Head Coach Kirby Smart of the Georgia Bulldogs is presented the trophy after the Bulldogs beat the Oklahoma Sooners 54-48 in double overtime in the 2018 College Football Playoff Semifinal Game at the Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual at the Rose Bowl on January 1, 2018 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /
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ATLANTA, GA – JANUARY 08: Deandre Baker (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA – JANUARY 08: Deandre Baker (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

Defensive Player of the Year

DeAndre Baker: Junior Cornerback

So before you all bite my head off, there is another award coming later for you know who. To be honest, there were plenty of other players that had a legitimate shot at this particular award. The Georgia defense really was incredible in 2017.

But none of them were better than Baker. Coming into the year, he was the second cornerback, a player that I for one hoped didn’t see the ball get thrown his way too much. A lot of players took their game to a new level this past season, but none more so than Baker who went from being an afterthought to a shutdown cornerback.

And that is what he actually became. While he still got burned every now and then, Watching Baker play as the season went on was just a pleasure. The guy bullies receivers, as in he physically works them over. When he gets the chance to put a hit in, he absolutely does not hold back and his coverage skills have become really, really good.

In the final game of the season, Baker showed just how good he has become. He pretty much shut down one half of the field. Bama picked on Malkom Parrish who had a bad game, but that wasn’t just because Parrish was bad. It was also because Baker was downright awesome, holding Calvin Ridley to just 32 yards on 4 catches.

Having Baker return for 2018 means a lot for this football team. Shutdown corners are truly rare in football and when you have one, they deserve some recognition.

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