Georgia football: grading the defensive backfield in 2019 class
Georgia football signed the no. 2 recruiting class in the nation. But how well did they recruit cornerbacks and safeties?
Georgia football isn’t going to need any new defensive backs in 2019, despite losing Deandre Baker. The Bulldogs are set for the year as far as starters go. Tyson Campbell and Eric Stokes will make a great cornerback duo, mark my words. J.R. Reed will continue to be a leader, Richard LeCounte III will improve. And at star, Tyrique McGee is solid. 2018 signee Divaad Wilson and 2017 signees Tray Bishop and William Poole III should add quality depth.
But recruiting isn’t just about one year, it’s also about improving the future, ensuring a team can always reload and never have to rebuild. No position on Georgia’s 2019 class illustrated that better than the defensive backfield.
Georgia signed three DB’s in this years class and all of them were elite. The top Dawg in the group was Miami Southridge High’s Tyrique Stevenson. Just outside the five-star list (top-32), Stevenson is the no. 3 corner in the nation, and the no. 4 player in the state of Florida. Behind him is no. 3 safety Lewis Cine from Cedar Hill, Texas. From the JUCO ranks Georgia brings in the no. 2 corner D.J. Daniel.
Tyrique Stevenson
Stevenson is one of those guys who could play any position in the defensive backfield. In Miami, he faced talented wide receivers every week including Clemson signee Frank Ladson. And in practice, he used to have to deal with Miami receiver Mark Pope. He has a great track record against everyone he faced even limiting Ladson’s South Dade team to just 13 points this past season.
Campbell and Stokes will likely lock down the starting corner positions, but that doesn’t mean Stevenson will ride the bench this year. He’s too talented and college ready to not use. He’ll likely share nickel duties with McGee, probably becoming the first option on passing downs as the season goes on.
Lewis Cine
Cine isn’t going to be a superstar in pass coverage immediately, he needs to be coached up in that aspect. But he has great pursuit and is an excellent tackler. Meaning he’ll come up and stop the run and clean up short passes. The question for Cine though, can he take playing time from Reed, LeCounte or McGee? But with Reed gone after this season, Cine should move right into his spot in 2020.
D.J. Daniel
Daniel originally broke Georgia fans hearts while dazzling South Carolina fans on August 16. Less than three months later, he reversed his decision and committed to Georgia instead. He signed in the early signing period giving the Bulldogs some maturity at cornerback as he’ll be a junior. He is great in coverage, using athleticism and physicality at the line to negate opposing receivers. Daniel is also a ball hawk with three interceptions and five breakups as a freshman at Georgia Military College. He picked off two more passes this past season.
He’ll compete directly with Stevenson for playing time. That matchup will be one to watch this spring as it’ll pit Daniel’s maturity and next-level experience versus Stevenson’s SEC ready size. But at G-Day, they’ll likely play alongside each other.
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Georgia’s overall grade for defensive backs in 2019 is clearly an A+. It’ll be hard for Daniel to break into a starting role because he is a junior. But who knows with injuries. Cine and Stevenson would be enough to make this an A+ unit through. Both are future starters. Cine should be the air apparent to take Reed’s starting job next year. Stevenson will share time with McGee this year, and will likely start at the nickel in the next few seasons.