Emptying the Notebook: Intel, thoughts heading into G-Day

We’re a day away from Georgia’s annual G-Day spring scrimmage. Most will get their first look at Kirby Smart’s ninth team at UGA and we will all get a football fix that will have to last us until late August. DawgsHQ has had its ear to the ground for the past five weeks and below we empty the notebook with a mix of intel and thoughts ahead of G-Day.

*** Few days have passed in the last few weeks that I haven’t heard something really good about Carson Beck. I never wrote this in a story or on the message board, but I wondered how the veteran quarterback would react to knowing that he’s the guy. Well, I think we have our answer. He has had a terrific spring and the buzz has only picked up over the past few weeks.

With that said, I’m really interested to get a long look at Gunner Stockton and Ryan Puglisi. Stockton has been up and down this spring. There have been practices and at least one scrimmage where I’ve heard that he has performed really well. The second scrimmage was pretty tough for him according to sources. I’m not sure if he’ll get any first-team work tomorrow but I suspect he’ll get a little bit of a look.

When it comes to Puglisi, it’s tough to know what to expect. We’ve seen true freshmen show flashes in the G-Day game but we’ve also seen those guys struggle. Puglisi made some noise in bowl practices back in December but I haven’t heard much since spring began. He has been battling a minor knee injury but we expect him to get plenty of work in the scrimmage.

*** We were asked recently about Trevor Etienne and whether or not we thought he would be held back or out of the G-Day game for disciplinary reasons. I don’t believe that will the case and I certainly hope not. I’m really interested to see what he looks like in the passing game. One thing I’ve consistently heard about the former Florida running back is that he’s really good at creating when the ball is checked down to him.

*** I said this recently on The Georgia Show and I want to say it again here. One of my predictions for the G-Day game is that I believe we’ll be debating which Georgia receiver had the best day. We know it’s going to be an air show and the Bulldogs have had so many pass catchers generate buzz this spring that I expect a few of them to do great things tomorrow. I also think it’s possible that Dominic Lovett and Dillon Bell to get less reps than the rest because of how much football they’ve played. The same could be true for Rara Thomas seeing as how he came into spring with the foot injury and played a lot last season.

*** I think Georgia is very good on the defensive line and it will be better when everyone is healthy. With that said, I think the Bulldogs are even better on the other side of the ball. I fully expect the offensive line to have a very good day and there’s pretty much nothing that could raise serious concerns, for me, on either side. With that said, I will be watching two guys really closely — Jamaal Jarrett and Xavier McLeod. It is impossible to adequately state how big it would be for Georgia if those two can develop and play winning football this fall.

*** We’ve mentioned it a few times but Troy Bowles has had a good spring. Will that be evident on G-Day? Personally, I think it will be. Again, this will be a pass-heavy scrimmage and sources tell us that Bowles strength is coverage and playing in space. I really believe he has a chance to carve out a third-down role for himself this fall.

*** The cornerback pecking order is something I’m super interested in. Daylen Everette is going to get a ton of work with the ones but who is with him? I suspect that Julian Humphrey and Daniel Harris are going to get looks there. I expect Ellis Robinson to spend most, if not all, of his time with the twos based on everything I’ve heard. He has gotten first-team reps this spring but I believe they’ll get him as many fully live reps as possible tomorrow and the best way to do that is with the twos.

*** Can JaCorey Thomas live up to the buzz we’ve heard about him this spring? Based on everything we’ve heard, Thomas arrow is pointing upward but we all know how quickly that buzz can go away if he struggles tomorrow. Georgia is looking for a safety to start opposite of Malaki Starks and I believe Thomas has put himself squarely in the mix. I think if you got the coaches to be completely candid, they’d tell you that G-Day is big for the redshirt sophomor.

It almost goes without saying that we’re excited to get a look at KJ Bolden. Like Robinson, he’s going to spend a lot of time with the twos. He’s going to get challenged with the pass game moving to the forefront but I also think he can benefit from the fact that Georgia will be quite vanilla on both sides of the ball.

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