Kirby Smart challenges Georgia football starters in spring practices

Kirby Smart isn’t one to let Georgia football players feel comfortable.

Even with 2026 season still nearly five months away.

Take for example the offensive line.

The Bulldogs coach was asked about the depth there with the Bulldogs in their second-to-last-week of spring practice.

“I think we’ve got some really good battles going on,” he said. “For the first time that I’ve been here, we’ve got guys that started last year, most games, or a lot of games that got somebody either beating them out or playing better than them in spurts. That’s not just on the line. We’ve got guys playing really well. He’s playing better than the guy that started every game in front of him. So, did we just have it wrong, or did he just get better and the other guy stayed the same?”

That could be a wake-up call for a team that has a combined 12 starters on offense and defense from last year’s team that went 12-2 and won a second straight SEC championship.

Those returning starters on offense include offensive linemen Dontrell Glover, Earnest Greene and Drew Bobo, tight end Lawson Luckie, running back Nate Frazier and, of course, quarterback Gunner Stockton. They all started at least half of Georgia’s games.

On defense, there’s safety KJ Bolden, cornerback Ellis Robinson, defensive linemen Jordan Hall, defensive end Gabe Harris, outside linebacker Quintavius Johnson and inside linebacker Raylen Wilson.

Bobo (foot), Hall (knee) and Harris (turf toe) are out for the spring. So is safety Kyron Jones (ankle) who started six games.

Offensive guard/tackle Juan Gaston started four games as a true freshman and tight end Ethan Barbour two.

“I would love to have a little more consistency and stamina in Juan’s play,” Smart said. “As he gets tired, his playability goes down. If he’s going to play every snap in a game, he’s got to get in better shape to do that.”

Transfer cornerbacks Gentry Williams (Oklahoma) and Braylon Conley (USC) have starting experience.

“We’re just competing every day to be the best in the country,” junior cornerback Demello Jones said.

That competition throughout the 15 spring practices is what Smart wants to see.

“I think that’s a really good thing, and it defeats complacency for a guy that says, ‘I’m going to sit back and start, because I started last year,’” Smart said. “Now ‘Here, this dude is playing better than you.’ Yeah, you may still have a role, you still may play, but your role may change, because this guy is playing more snaps than you.”

A couple of redshirt freshmen may be making moves: Cortez Smith, who is working this spring at both center and guard, and outside linebacker Chase Linton.

“I’ve been very pleased with Chase’s progress,” Smart said, “and we need him to get better to give us some of the pass rush we need.”

Without a game to prepare, spring practices offer a chance for players to get work.

And plenty of it. To show they deserve more snaps and to move up the depth chart not only for the next scrimmage but for the real games when they arrive on Sept. 5.

“I don’t know that we have the best players or the most talented players, or the highest paid players,” Smart said. “But we will have the players that get the most reps, and get the most improvement, and the most coaching, and most development, and that’s what we sell. When you look out there and somebody’s like, ‘Those schools don’t practice like you do.’ Well, we have 19 offensive linemen, and not all of them can play. But we have guys out there getting reps. We have guys that are improving. That’s the only way to get better, is go out there and take your reps. When you have that, you have the ability to do multiple things in practice and get a bigger body of work.”

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Kirby Smart challenges Georgia football starters: ‘Your role may change’