Georgia football: Three current Bulldogs who surpassed their expectations
Georgia football has signed a lot of five and highly ranked four stars recently. But still, some of the Bulldogs who were three stars and four stars who weren’t highly ranked have excelled.
David Marshall
Marshall isn’t a starter, but he has still been a solid player in his two years in Athens. Despite his spot on the depth chart, coaches have never hesitated to put him on the field. That’s because he plays the role of 3-4 defensive end very well.
One of my constant gripes with the recruiting sites is that they rate and position players as if they are going to play in a 4-3 system. That’s why Roquan Smith moved to inside linebacker when sites listed him as an outside backer. 247 Sports listed Marshall as the no. 433 player and no. 19 strong-side defensive end in the 2016 class.
Marshall may not have the skills or athleticism to be the edge rusher and run stopper that a SEC team running the 4-3 needs. But he doesn’t need those skills in the 3-4. His main job is to mostly stay inside, occupy blockers and wrap up if the back comes at you.
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Brian Herrien
Here’s another player who hasn’t started yet, but has still played very well for Georgia. And he’s put up respectable stats despite playing behind three of the best running backs to come out of high school in the last five years.
In two years as a third and fourth string tail back, he has 547 yards and he always seem to break off one big run. Not bad for a kid ranked as the no. 860 player and no. 54 running back of the 2016 class by 247 Sports.
Nick Chubb and Sony Michel have exhausted their eligibility, and last season Georgia experimented with using a wing back to form a two-back system. The future might be very bright for the former three-star.
DeAndre Baker
It’s hard to believe it now, but when Baker was still in high school, 247 Sports rated him as a three-star recruit. They also ranked him as the no. 657 player and no. 64 cornerback in the nation. That’s a far cry from the two (soon-to-be three)-year starter that Georgia fans know him as.
Baker has exceeded those expectations because he overcomes his size and other faults by playing a very physical brand of football. Which likely endeared him to head coach Kirby Smart. He hangs with receivers because he does a great job keeping them from running the route the way they want to.
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He’s also an excellent tackler, good at keeping running backs from getting outside, and intercepts passes. Watching him now, it’s very hard to believe that the recruiting sites rated him so low back in 2015.