KJ Bolden is one of Georgia's best players on their entire team. He is a superstar defensive back who is a projected first round NFL Draft pick and so far this season he has lived up to the hype.
He unfortunately got a little banged up last week against Alabama, but he played through his injury and finished the game. Bolden however was tabbed questionable to play on Georgia's injury report on Wednesday before being downgraded to doubtful on Thursday and officially ruled out on Friday.
KJ Bolden injury update: Star DB ruled out vs Auburn
Losing Bolden will be extremely difficult for Georgia's defense. He is someone that is on the field nearly every defensive play, so finding players to replace that many snaps will not be easy.
Two players will likely see a significant increase in their playing time due to Bolden's absence. Zion Branch, who transferred from USC ahead of the 2025 season, will be the most likely player to start in Bolden's place. Last year in 11 games he recorded 27 tackles for Georgia.
East Carolina transfer JaMarley Riddle is expected to get some more run with Bolden out as well. Last year at ECU he recorded 70 tackles and three interceptions, but so far this season he only has seven tackles to his name.
Georgia's bye week comes at the perfect time for KJ Bolden
Georgia in theory shouldn't have a problem beating Auburn without Bolden. Sure he is one of their best defenders and a projected first round NFL Draft pick, but they are favored by nearly three touchdowns and should be able to win without him. They however will need him later this season.
After Auburn the Bulldogs play a Florida team who has shown at times this season to have an electric offense. Then Georgia travels to Ole Miss who have one of the best quarterbacks in the country in Trinidad Chambliss before hosting Missouri who is one of the hottest teams in the SEC. Georgia needs Bolden in all three of these games, thankfully he will have time to recover before this stretch begins.
After the Auburn game Georgia does get their bye week. This will give the entire team a chance to rest and get healthy before their final five regular season games, and for someone like Bolden who is actually injured this is what he might need to get back on the field.
Bolden played injured against Alabama so that hopefully means his injury isn't significant. More information will eventually come out about his long term status, but for now the Bulldogs will be without one of their superstar defenders against Auburn.
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