Georgia football: Players to watch this Saturday versus Austin Peay

Georgia football is back this Saturday. The Dawgs host the Austin Peay Governors at 3:30 between the hedges.

The 2018 Georgia football season begins tomorrow. Just a little over 24 hours from now, we’ll be cheering on the Dawgs to what should be an emphatic victory over an inferior opponent in the Austin Peay Governors.

Because of the difference in quality, expect a lot of the 2017 stars to fade quickly this Saturday, or not even shine at all, in favor of the younger players fighting for more playing time next week when the season heats up.

Instead of proven players like D’Andre Walker, Isaac Nauta, Mecole Hardman and J.R. Reed, keep an eye on these upcoming stars to have big games this weekend and give fans a preview of what to expect this season, as well as what to expect in future seasons.

RBs – James Cook and Elijah Holyfield

Georgia legends Nick Chubb and Sony Michel are gone, but in their place is a stable of blue-chip running backs. D’Andre Swift is already a proven playmaker with nearly 800 yards of total offense as a third-string true-freshman. Pay more attention to what James Cook and Elijah Holyfield do this Saturday. They’ll both receive a lot of calls from coaches and will likely play on the field at the same time in some packages.

Holyfield has bulked up in the offseason. Not enough to replace Nick Chubb’s power, but enough to contrast with the quickness the other backs have. Holyfield is going to punish opposing defenses this year physically. Which softens defenses up for a runner with Cook’s skill set.

James Cook is a lot like his brother Dalvin. Small, fast and agile. Add excellent vision to that and you have the total package for a scat back. Which Cook is. When defenses get tired of Holyfield beating on them, they’ll be too exhausted to chase Cook around. We’ll see that early this Saturday.