Georgia Football: Defensive Backs to watch this spring

Richard Lecounte III, S, Sophomore

No defensive back on this list is going to be more important for 2018 than LeCounte. A 5-star recruit, LeCounte showed whenever he got on the field this past year that he was going to be the future at free safety. As an early enrollee last year, he positioned himself as the backup to Dominick Sanders. 2018 is the year where I expect him to fully take the job.

LeCounte looked really good when he was on the field last year. Time and again, he showed exceptional closing speed when the ball was thrown in his direction. The added experience and learning under someone like Sanders should give him all the tools he needs to become a fixture of the defense.

The flashes he showed last year was something that we have not seen from this position in some time. While he’s not the biggest player, LeCounte is an absolute ‘thumper’ who loves to put big hits on receivers. combine that with the closing speed and he should naturally improve the pass defense.

There’s also the leadership angle with LeCounte. With so much experiencing departing, it’s going to be vital that UGA still has leaders on the back end of their defense. That’s something that just seems to be natural for LeCounte who was a team captain in high school and helped build the 2017 recruiting class.

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LeCounte impressed in last years G-day, accounting for 9 tackles. This year, I’m going to be looking to see if he’s taking on a leadership role on the team and how he does when covering slot receivers. It’s still early, but I really do think that he’s going to push for an All-SEC bearth before the year is over.