Georgia Football: Three biggest questions heading into 2021

1. Can Georgia football’s secondary improve from last year?

Georgia football will lose a lot of its production in its secondary from 2020. Eric Stokes, Tyson Campbell, DJ Daniel, and Richard LeCounte all went to the NFL draft and Tyrique Stevenson transferred to Miami. That is a lot of snaps and experience to lose in one offseason, but Georgia may not be as bad off as some fans would think.

First of all, Georgia has some upperclassman leadership in the unit. Even with LeCounte leaving, who cannot be replaced, the unit isn’t being left in bad hands. Lewis Cine is more than capable of being the quarterback of the unit in LeCounte’s absence. This was proven last year when LeCounte missed every game after being in an accident after returning back to campus after the Kentucky game.

Cine is not the only upperclassman in the unit either. Safety Christopher Smith is also back for his senior year and is joined by fellow senior Latavious Brini who will be competing for time at the Star position. The safety and star positions should be in good hands. Most of the questions pertain to the two starting cornerback spots where there is not a lot of experience and a lot of youth.

Most fans have forgotten about Ameer Speed, a redshirt senior who has played in 13 games at cornerback. In his last 22 games, he has been regulated to kickoff coverage. Speed stands 6-3 211 and was rated as a three-star prospect coming out of Sandalwood High School back in 2017.

One thing Georgia does have at cornerback is speed. This was made quite evident when Kelee Ringo’s mother posted a picture of his recent speed in one of Georgia’s practices. When you are outrunning a world-class track star like Arian Smith, you are flying. That is exactly what he did as you can see in her tweet here:

It’s too bad Ringo couldn’t play in 2020 so that he could have received a little experience before jumping into a starting role in 2021 as he most likely will have to do. It is not as if he doesn’t have enough talent to do it though. The 6-2 205 pound sophomore was rated as 247’s number one corner of the 2020 recruiting cycle for a reason. His 99.76 rating comes in fifth all-time for any recruit that signed with Georgia.

His talent isn’t in question, but his inexperience could be a problem early. To make matters worse Georgia plays one of the biggest powerhouses in college football today in week one. So Ringo will have to hit the ground running. One good thing about this matchup is Clemson’s quarterback is also lacking a lot of experience with only two starts under his belt.

Don’t let the Ringo hype cause you to forget about Jalen Kimber, Nyland Green, David Daniel, Daran Branch, Javon Bullard, and Kamari Lassiter. Georgia’s secondary is loaded with talent that can get the job done. The only real question is their level of readiness. Between the seven of them, there is a total of one game of experience.

This is why the popular thought is that Kirby Smart will be combing the transfer portal daily looking for a veteran cornerback that fits what he wants patrolling the edge of his defense (mainly someone that is 6-1, runs 4.4, and can cover). This would help tremendously with the lack of experience on the other side of the defense.

There is reason to be positive about this secondary even if there are growing pains with it. Georgia’s front seven should make their job a little easier and if they add a veteran transfer the unit could be quite solid in 2021. Guess you will just have to wait and see how things shake out between now and this fall.

Well, there you have it. Hopefully, this eases some of the anxiety the fanbase is feeling going into the 2021 season. No matter what, the one thing to be sure of is that we will all be screaming our lungs out this fall cheering on our Dawgs hoping that they finally get over the finish line and bring us home that championship we have been praying for for 41 years.