Three Reasons Why UGA Falls Short This Year
You might have seen my arguments why UGA will win it all this year. While there’s plenty to be said about how skilled the Dawgs are this year, there are still concerns with this team heading into the season that could end up costing the Dawgs another national championship. Read three reasons why UGA falls short this year.
Here’s 3 reasons why UGA won’t win it in ‘24 despite being the odds on favorite. Do I think these things are guaranteed to be issues? Not necessarily. But these are the flaws of this team that will likely come back to haunt them.
Calling all Cornerbacks
The secondary likely takes a step back. UGA loses DB Javon Bullard, DB Tykee Smith, and #1 CB Kamari Lassiter from last year’s secondary. Cornerback Daylen Everette, who was picked on by opposing offenses the most, returns along side safety Malaki Starks.
Replacing 3 guys in your secondary is a tall task. Julian Humphrey and Daniel Harris are fighting for the top corner spot, but neither one has yet proven they are worthy of the starting role yet. In the STAR position, which is what UGA calls a nickel corner, Joenel Aguero is slated to take the start. He has minimal experience and he was the guy that Dominic Lovett cooked repeatedly during G-Day.
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The STAR position is a crucial role in Schuman’s defensive system, and having an unproven guy taking the role will lead to mistakes early in the season.
Unfortunately, UGA can’t afford too many costly mistakes from their secondary early in the season, because Clemson and Texas are scheduled for September. UGA’s defensive line failed to get consistent pressure last year, which will make the secondary’s task of defending longer even more crucial.
Explosively Bad
The offense hasn’t shown it can be explosive enough. UGA lacks a true X receiver, which creates tighter coverage on all receivers, making explosive plays in the passing game difficult.
UGA’s offense reaches a different level when the X receiver, someone like George Pickens, AJ Green, or AD Mitchell provides a clear threat to opposing defenses. With RaRa Thomas gone, UGA doesn’t have a proven X on their roster. Colbie Young has been solid, but not spectacular at Miami.
Dillon Bell can fill in, but he’s not a true X in his body type or skill set. Plus Carson Beck, as good as he is, has shown inconsistency with his deep ball. Last year he repeatedly missed open guys on deep balls. Furthermore, UGA’s most explosive player in the passing game is also inconsistent. Arian Smith can fly.
And he only had 8 catches last year. Sure, he averages almost 20 yards each reception, but he drops balls and has not refined his route tree enough to be the guy who gets you explosive plays game in and game out. In his last 3 games against ranked opponents, he has a combined 2 receptions for 63 yards.
That’s UGA’s best deep threat? Bottom line, without a true X receiver, a consistent deep threat, or a QB that has shown he can put it on the money for big time plays, UGA won’t be able to win it all. They’ll win a lot, but they have to be able to get a quick score when called upon and there are big question marks on if they can.
Strength of Schedule
UGA has little to no margin for error. The Dawgs have one of the most daunting schedules in the nation. They play Texas, Ole Miss, Alabama, and Kentucky away this year.
All are ranked in the preseason, and except UK are in the top 10 preseason. Realistically speaking, UGA loses one of those games, quite possibly two. So the Dawgs have no margin for error against Clemson, Tennessee, Auburn, etc. Each of the last two seasons, the Dawgs have had a major scare by an inferior opponent, Auburn and Missouri respectively.
The Dawgs will be even more prone to slip up against a team like that this year, but also will have zero margin for error if they do. A couple of losses also puts UGA in a bad spot in the playoff, having to play away in the first round against a talented opponent. UGA also has a couple of positions where if one key guy goes down, the Dawgs are in trouble.
If Malaki Starks gets hurt, UGA’s safety tandem is not good enough to win a natty. I love Dan Jackson and KJ Bolden is promising. But some mix of Jackson and Bolden/Ja’Corey Thomas/Jake Pope isn’t going to get it done against top competition. Or take out Mykel Williams from the D-line with an injury.
Who scares you in that front 4 now? No one. STAR is another thin position. Even with as much talent as the Dawgs have, the schedule and the roster still make the margins slim for the Dawgs this year to end up #1.
