Freshmen Dawgs: Introducing Georgia football CB Daylen Everette

Our next introduction to the Georgia football 2022 class is 5-star cornerback Daylen Everette. He was a late addition in December, but one that left a mark on this group.

One of the 18 early enrollees, Everette, flipped from Clemson, committed on Dec. 14, and signed with the Dawgs during Early Signing Day.

The Dawgs finished with the No.3 overall class in 2022, signing six 5-stars, 14 4-stars and nine 3-stars. Everette is one of three 5-star cornerbacks for Georgia and is our next to introduce, explain how he fits in with the program and a prediction for this fall.

Georgia football fans, it’s time we introduce the 2022 class as today it’s Daylen Everette.

At 6-1 and 185-pounds, Everette is the right size to be a great corner in college and eventually the NFL. Georgia picked up a great surprise with this guy as they kept him from going to Clemson.

According to 247Sports, Everette ranked as the No. 28 overall, No. 6 cornerback and was the No. 6 player out of Florida.

With 29 offers, he was a hot commodity that committed to Clemson initially in July 2021. On Dec. 10, he decommitted and opened things back up, which resulted in him signing with the Dawgs just a few days later.

He recorded 32 tackles, 10 pass breakups, and 11 interceptions as a sophomore — nope, that isn’t a typo. He had 11 picks in a single season, so that should tell you exactly why the Dawgs wanted him in Athens. After two seasons in Virginia, he transferred to IMG Academy, where he finished his high school career.

Everette runs a 4.4 40-yard dash, so he is extremely fast, which, when you match with this size, it’s ideal for a cornerback. Plus, he is aggressive, and his vision is excellent on the field, hence why he recorded so many picks and pass breakups.

He thrived in the Under Armour All-America Game and showed why he would be one of the best corners in the SEC.

How Daylen Everette fits in with Georgia football

One of head coach Kirby Smart’s goals coming into this job with Georgia was to make the secondary better. The Dawgs hadn’t had an elite secondary for a while, so when a guy like Smart comes in, who played defensive back at Georgia and coached the position, it became a priority.

Georgia had some issues with transfers at this position, so they needed them desperately in this 2022 class. With Jahmile Addae, Will Muschamp and Smart recruiting, they landed one of the best defensive back classes Georgia has ever signed.

Kelee Ringo was the one who stuck around Athens, and we all saw how incredible he was in his first season with the Dawgs. Now Georgia has another guy who can play opposite of him.

Teams will struggle against the Dawgs’ secondary for years with these two shut-down corners.

A Daylen Everette prediction for 2022

While Everette likely won’t start right away, he could eventually earn a role as a guy who rotates into that secondary. Georgia has some guys in front of him that are young and waited patiently last year, but if Everette comes in and beats them, Smart will start him.

Smart loves a good competition, plus you can never have too many shut-down corners on a team. He just needs to make sure he uses them so another mass transfer doesn’t happen. However, Everette and the others seem like team-first players, so that shouldn’t happen.

A safe prediction for Everette is that he will start at least four games this season and record at least one interception. Again that’s a safe prediction because you never know with defensive backs if they’ll be ready to go as a freshman or need a year.

Everette can take this time to learn and compete. He could see significant playing time in 2022, and that is exciting. Coming in as an early enrollee will give him the entire spring to work with the team and grow.

Georgia football finally has the depth it needs in the secondary and has the veteran leadership to really do something special.

With so many talented youngsters, it’ll be interesting to see how Smart and eventually the new defensive back coach will choose to distribute playing time in 2022.