Georgia Football: 6 important leaders who must return next year

This year, Georgia football has 19 seniors, 12 of them being starters or those who get significant playing time. No wonder the Dawgs are doing something special in 2021. With all that experience, this season should show people why they are so good.

The Dawgs also have 22 juniors on their team, including walk-ons. Of those 22, seven of them could turn pro and find success if they choose to leave.

However, if this senior class tells the juniors anything, coming back for one more year can elevate their draft stock and help make a good team elite.

Without Jordan Davis, Devonte Wyatt, Adam Anderson, James Cook, and Jamaree Salyer, to name a few, coming back for their final year, this current Georgia team wouldn’t be nearly as good. That experience pays off in a big way and one that could result in head coach Kirby Smart’s best year yet.

There are still five regular-season games, a potential SEC Championship, and possibly the College Football Playoffs, so these juniors have plenty of time to decide what they’re going to do. Still, hopefully, this season will tell them it’s okay to play your senior year.

Some of the juniors should declare early because they are already highly-rated draft picks, like Lewis Cine. He should declare for the NFL Draft because he has the opportunity to make a lot of money and possibly go in the first round. There are others like Zamir White, a redshirt junior who has decent draft stock as well.

With so much football left, who knows what will happen and how that will alter these athletes’ decisions, but the more of these highly-touted juniors the Dawgs can get to stay, the better.

However, while it is up to the player and what they feel is best for them, here are six guys that must stay for the 2022 season, not just to help out the team but themselves.