Georgia Football: 5 breakthrough candidates for 2021

A number of Georgia football players catapulted themselves onto the national scene with breakout seasons in 2020 – Nakobe Dean, Lewis Cine, and Jermaine Burton come to mind. 

With the 2021 season fast-approaching, Georgia’s roster is loaded with potential candidates to do just the same this fall.

One of the many benefits of putting together top five recruiting classes with such staggering consistency is the talent disparity on the two-deep depth chart is minimal.

That provides ample opportunity for players up and down the roster to not only get playing time, but to also make an impact on the ultimate success of the team.

Because of the depth of Georgia’s roster, this list could be 10 people long, but these five have a real chance to turn some heads. And they’ll all get their first opportunity on September 4th when the Dawgs kick off against Clemson in primetime in the Duke’s Mayo Classic on a national stage.

Georgia football is primed and ready to have a breakout season of its own, and the emergence of these five budding talents could be the extra jolt that sends them to the national championship mountaintop.

Take a poll of Georgia football fans and ask them if they expected true freshman receiver Adonai Mitchell to be the breakout star of G-Day. If any of them answer yes, they’re a stone-faced liar.

Mitchell, a three-star recruit out of high school, signed with Georgia during the early signing period in December 2020 and then enrolled early in Athens in January 2021.

The dividends from his early investment as a college football player were on full display in Georgia’s 2021 G-Day game.

With George Pickens out following his ACL tear, and other Dawgs receivers nursing nagging injuries, Mitchell took his opportunity to shine and ran with it.

Behind crisp route-running normally seen from an upperclassmen, and exquisite body control, Mitchell became the primary target of JT Daniels throughout the day.

Targeted early and often, Mitchell hauled in seven passes for 105 yards and a score. And the buzz around his performance wasn’t all about the final numbers. He passed the eye test too, looking confident coming in and out of routes, and never looking hesitant or intimidated by the moment.

Apparently, that trend has continued in Georgia football’s fall camp, where Mitchell has impressed not just the coaching staff, but members of Georgia’s stout defense.

Mitchell’s emergence may come early in the season. It may even come in the opener against Clemson. His arch could also mimic Jermaine Burton’s from 2020, who got some run early, but didn’t put up gaudy numbers, before exploding in the Mississippi State game.

Regardless of when it happens, expect Adonai Mitchell to be a name college football fans recognize by the end of the 2021 season.

If Head Coach Kirby Smart could draw his ideal cornerback, the sketch would probably look like Kelee Ringo.

The 6’2, 205-pounder is long and rangy, with elite tracking speed honed as an acclaimed sprinter in high school.

One of the main unknowns heading in to Georgia’s season is how the defensive backfield will perform. And, read between the lines, when sports talk radio and the national pundits say they’re concerned with Georgia’s secondary, what they’re really saying is they’re leery about the cornerback position.

It’s not an outlandish concern. Georgia’s starting corners from 2020, Eric Stokes and Tyson Campbell went three picks apart in the 2021 NFL Draft, at 29th and 33rd. Then, Tyrique Stevenson, a plug-n-play guy ready to assume part of the void left by Stokes and Campbell made the decision to transfer to Miami.

Absent a shoulder injury that required surgery and effectively ended any chance he would see the field in 2020, Ringo may not even be eligible for this list.  Ringo is a prototypical Kirby Smart corner in every sense, and likely would have seen extended playing time during a 2020 season that saw the Dawgs secondary exploited in a couple of high-profile games in Tuscaloosa and Jacksonville.

During Georgia’s 2021 season, look for Ringo to remind everyone why he was the No. 1 rated cornerback in the 2020 class.

You could make that argument that Adam Anderson was one of Georgia football’s breakout players in 2020. You’d have a strong case, as he finished second on the team with 6.5 sacks and had big games against Auburn and Cincinnati during nationally televised games.

Maybe someone should show that tape to SEC coaches and the writers that cover the SEC. Anderson’s name was nowhere to be found in the media’s Preseason All-SEC Team and it was also notably absent from the Preseason Coaches All-SEC Team.

Double-A, The Enforcer, slated to be Georgia’s most disruptive edge rusher, obviously paid attention to all of the preseason slights.

https://twitter.com/AdanAnderson5/status/1394423998843346944

Anderson honed and utilized his freakish athletic ability to produce a very solid junior season. Pair that with the motivation provided by the apparent Sanford Stadium-sized chip on his shoulder, and opposing offenses better know where No. 19 is at all times during the 2021 season.

Georgia football fans will gladly tell you that UGA is R-B-U. Lately though, Georgia is also gaining a reputation as LBU.

The constant pipeline of talent at the linebacker position is why Channing Tindall’s name is on this list as a senior.

Tindall was a sought-after recruit following a decorated prep career in South Carolina. At countless programs around the country, Tindall probably would have started as a true freshman.

But, being stuck behind NFL draft picks Tae Crowder and Monty Rice, along with future NFL Draft pick Nakobe Dean makes it tough to crack the starting rotation.

Tindall has shown flashes during his three-year Georgia career. Notably, in 2020 games against Tennessee, Mississippi State, and South Carolina, when he played with such speed and ferocity  that it looked like he had been shot out of a cannon.

2021 just lines up so well to be his time to shine. That’s part of the reason we think he’ll be part of Georgia’s version of the DDT, Davis-Dean-Tindall, the defensive finishing move that will close out Georgia’s opponents all season long.

Travon Walker exploded onto the Georgia football scene as a true freshman in 2019. He was voted to the Freshman All-SEC Team by league coaches, and he produced a signature play, sacking Bo Nix on Auburn’s final offensive play to secure a much-need Dawgs win on The Plains.

Ever since Walker’s Georgia career started, Head Coach Kirby Smart has stressed wanting to find him as many opportunities as possible to be on the field.

With the departure of d-line stalwart Malik Herring to the NFL, Walker should have every opportunity to step in and make an immediate impact.

Georgia’s defensive line may be the deepest in the SEC, boasting the likes of Jordan Davis, Devonte Wyatt, Jalen Carter, and Walker. Given the glut of talent, it should cause opposing offensive lines to pick their poison when it comes to double-teams and blocking schemes.

Given the attention Jordan Davis always requires, it should allow Walker the opportunity to feast on one-on-one matchups most of the season.