Five storylines to follow as Georgia football begins spring practices

Spring break is over. Spring football is here for Georgia football.

The Bulldogs hit the field Tuesday afternoon for the first of 15 practices including the G-Day game on April 13.

Georgia headed into the offseason with a 63-3 stomping of Florida State in the Orange Bowl, but the Bulldogs missed out on the playoff after back-to-back national championships.

Judging by some social media posts last week, players weren’t kicking back and relaxing with classes out.

Miami transfer wide receiver Colbie Young worked out at Push Pilates Athens with wideout Dominic Lovett, according to an Instagram post by the Baxter Street establishment.

Freshman cornerback Ellis Robinson kept sharp on the field with Cleveland Browns cornerbacks Denzel Ward and Martin Emerson, according to his post on X (formerly Twitter).

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Zion Logue, the now former Georgia defensive lineman, heard from incoming freshmen getting ready for their first spring practice.

“I’m letting them know, you’re going to be tired, but keep your energy up, keep your head high, don’t let them see you waver,” Logue said.

Logue said spring practices will show which newcomers have what it takes to play for the Bulldogs.

They’ve already gone through walk-throughs over the last month.

“The day you walk in the locker room we’re going to see if you can be in that foxhole with us,” he said. “We’re going to see if you can go out in front of 102,000, 93,000 or 39,000 and see if you can stand up and be a man.”

Here are five storylines for the Bulldogs this spring:

The coaching staff meshing with four new hires

For just the first time since 2021, Georgia returns its two coordinators, but there are four new on-field assistant coaches on Kirby Smart's staff with two on each side of the ball.

“We haven’t had to deal with a lot of turnover so when you get somebody new, you welcome them in the family and you onboard them,” Smart said on Late Kick with Josh Pate. “You take them through and say this is how we do things at Georgia.”

Wide receivers coach James Coley should have a good idea from his days on staff from 2016-2019. Running backs coach Josh Crawford from Georgia Tech replaces Dell McGee.

Georgia has two new coaches working with the defensive backs. Co-defensive coordinator Travaris Robinson replaced Will Muschamp who coached the safeties and nickel backs. Defensive backs coach Donte Williams, who coached during bowl practices, will handle the cornerbacks.

Running backs ready to step into more prominent role

Trevor Ettiene is a proven SEC running back after two seasons sharing the carries at Florida, but the Bulldogs’ backs behind him saw limited roles last season.

Roderick Robinson rushed for 196 yards and 2 touchdowns on 24 carries, but showed he can be a handful at 6-foot and 240 pounds with some hard running in the bowl game.

“He’s big but he’s a nimble guy,” said Daijun Edwards, the team’s top rusher last season who is now an NFL prospect along with former backfield mate Kendall Milton. “He can do everything out of the backfield. He’s fast, too. Faster than people think he is.”

Andrew Paul had 129 yards and a touchdown on 29 carries last season as a redshirt freshman.

Branson Robinson is coming back from a ruptured patella tendon sustained last August and McGee said in late December he was unlikely to take part in spring practices.

“He’ll basically be rehabbing and getting the mental part of the game,” McGee said.

Makeover in the secondary

Georgia lost three starters from its secondary including possible NFL first-round cornerback Kamari Lassiter, safety Javon Bullard and nickelback Tykee Smith.

Safety Malaki Starks and cornerback Daylen Everette are returning starters and Julian Humphrey and Daniel Harris each are capable of winning a starting cornerback spot. Five-star freshman Ellis Robinson IV has a chance to be a contributor.

Options at the other starting safety spot include David Daniel-Sisavanah, JaCorey Thomas, Dan Jackson and freshman KJ Bolden.

Joenel Aguero, a sophomore, may have the inside track at the Star position to replace Smith.

“Being a freshman at Georgia, learning that defense can be a lot sometimes,” Smith said. “We’re praying for the progress he can make and the opportunity ahead this spring to show that he can be the guy.”

Building depth in the trenches

Smart was asked what had his attention as spring practice opened.

“Depth at all positions,”  Smart said. “Like can we create offensive and defensive line depth? When I look across football, the game’s changing. Less big guys are playing. Every NFL scout that comes in says we can’t find offensive linemen. Well, that’s what we do here. We recruit offensive linemen. We get big guys and we develop them. Defensive linemen, there’s just less big people. We want to establish depth at both those positions.”

Four reserve offensive linemen transferred out but Georgia signed six at the position. Georgia also brought in transfer defensive lineman Xzavier McCleod after one season at South Carolina.

Life after Brock Bowers at tight end

We got more of a taste in the Orange Bowl about what Georgia looked like at tight end without All-American Brock Bowers. He watched from the sideline and three other games when he was sidelined with an ankle injury.

Junior Oscar Delp will be the clear top tight end this spring after having 24 catches for 284 yards and 3 touchdowns last season.

Lawson Luckie, Pearce Spurlin and four-star Jaden Reddell give tight ends coach Todd Hartley good depth which will get ever better when Stanford transfer tight end Benjamin Yurosek joins the team this summer.

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Spring practice storylines for Georgia football