Georgia Football has best safety duo in the country
By Eric Taylor
Georgia football has a load of talent at the safety position, but who will step up in 2019?
Georgia football has a ton of talent at safety, and they’re already getting attention about the NFL Draft.
According to 247 Sports, Phil Steele has ranked all of the draft eligible players this year. Richard LeCounte III and JR Reed, Georgia’s safety tandem, are among them.
Steele has LeCounte ranked as his top free safety in the nation while having Reed as his 3rd strong safety. There are no other schools with a player in Steele’s top-5 at both positions.
LeCounte was 247’s No. 2 safety in the nation in 2017, so it’s no surprise for him to get this level of praise. His football IQ is higher than most, evidenced by him playing quarterback in high school.
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However, his future in football was always going to be in the secondary. LeCounte is the perfect free safety. He is very athletic and has the speed as he can run a 4.43 40-yard dash. So he can cover a lot of ground.
LeCounte led Georgia in tackles last year with 74 total with 45 of those being solo. He had one tackle for loss, one interception, four pass breakups, two fumbles forced, and two fumble recoveries.
He had ten tackles against South Carolina last year, a career high for him. LeCounte also had his first career interception last year, against Alabama in the SEC Championship game.
On the other side of LeCounte is his partner in crime, Reed.
Reed was a three-star prospect from Texas in 2015. After arriving at Tulsa, he moved to safety and has become one of the better backend players in the nation. Reed sat out the 2016 season after transferring to Georgia.
It didn’t take him long to make a name for himself as he was named 2nd team All-SEC in 2017.
Reed is your typical “in the box safety.” The last two years Reed has been second on the team in tackles.
Over his 29 starts, he has amassed 145 tackles, 78 solo, seven tackles for loss, two and a half sacks, four interceptions, 11 pass breakups, one forced fumble, two fumble recoveries, and a blocked kick. The last thing you want to see if you are a running back is the No. 20 jersey closing in on you.
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You could not ask for a better backend to your defense than Reed and LeCounte. They are not just two of the best safeties in the nation; they are two of the most influential leaders on this team.
Together they form a duo that no quarterback wants to face. I’m sure many a night’s sleep has been robbed from more than one offensive coordinator trying to figure out how to attack these two.