Palmer’s Players to Watch: Georgia Offense at G-Day

Georgia Football is back between the hedges this week, and there will be fans in the stadium. It’s not quite yet fall in Athens, but Saturday will be an opportunity to watch the Bulldogs in their annual spring game.

G-Day offers up a chance to see the entirety of Georgia’s squad take the field. With a split-squad scrimmage, more players get a shot to showcase their skills – potentially earning more opportunities for the season ahead in the process. Like you, DawgsHQ is excited to see what G-Day has to offer, and below we take a look at five players we’ll be keeping an eye on on Saturday.

Colbie Young: G-Day is a great opportunity to check out newcomers, and few – if any – have created more buzz that the Miami (Fla.) transfer wide receiver. Young is still learning the offense. That’s a work in progress. However, Kirby Smart said that his skills come out when the nearly 6-foot-5 target is put into one-on-one situations against Georgia’s defensive backs. A veteran, Young is expected to contribute right away this fall, and Georgia fans will walk out of G-Day with some sort of an idea of what his skillset is. I’ve got a feeling it could be an offseason of excitement surrounding the potential of Young after a big day between the hedges.

Monroe Freeling: There’s a couple of offensive linemen we could go with given the fact that Georgia rotates on its unit up front. Jared Wilson as a new starter at center comes to mind, but we’re going with Freeling here instead as the former five-star offensive tackle looks to solidify himself as part of the Bulldogs’ plan this season. Amarius Mims is off to the NFL, meaning the starting spot at right tackle is up for grabs. Xavier Truss returns after he started in place of Mims the majority of last season, but with a player like Freeling, you can never count him out. We’ve heard good things about the spring he’s had. Can he complete that with a strong showing on G-Day?

Gunner Stockton: Stockton will likely have a shot to take the most reps during G-Day. Expectations would be for Carson Beck to run with the first team offense the entirety of his time out there. However, I’m not counting on Beck playing ALL of the first-team reps. I do believe Stockton will be some on top of the the ones he gets with the twos. He had a chance to showcase his skills during the Orange Bowl and did so well. This spring has been big for him to continue gaining confidence with more and more reps. G-Day puts an end to that spring, and it his display his development for all to see.

Arian Smith: We’ve tried to take a look at some different positions, but I can’t help but go back to the well with the wide receivers here as Smith is having a spring that’s made headlines. Reports have indicated a pair of strong showings in the scrimmages so far. He’s a player who’s shown time and time again he is more than capable of making plays. Consistency has been the bigger issue with him. So, while we all know what Smith does on G-Day has almost no bearing on the kind of player he will be this fall, it’d be nice to see him finish out the spring with another week – showing progress towards that consistency.

Roderick Robinson: G-Day isn’t typically the place you see a ton of the run game showcased. More often than not, it turns into an air-show with the quarterbacks and wide receivers taking center stage, not wanting to make things more physical than they need to be. While I don’t think this year is going to be all too different, it wouldn’t shock me to see Kirby Smart wanting to test the defensive line some since they’ve been questioned quite a bit. Furthermore, Georgia is looking to replace its top two rushers from last season, and finding out who the second option behind Trevor Etienne is is important. Keep an eye on Robinson here.

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