Photo: Greg Poole/Bulldawg Illustrated
The Bulldogs first fall practice always brings in a sense of excitement for the players, coaches, and especially the fanbase. This is what stood out to me in the first fall practice that should have fans excited for the upcoming season and overall the future of the Bulldogs program.
One of the main things that I looked for in the practice was how the offensive and defensive line performed because of the depth concerns in these positions and their overall gravity to a team like Georgia, who places a large importance on the battle in the trenches.
With the offensive line, the main thing that I saw was how Coach Sam Pittman demanded his players to give their all through a drill and if he did not believe you were doing that, then he would definitely let you know that. An interesting and exciting thing to hear yesterday was Coach Pittman saying that freshman Ben Cleveland was winning the drill over the other lineman and seemed to be having a great overall first practice. Although it is only the first practice, Cleveland’s success has to be thrilling for the fans because so far he is living up to the hype that surrounded him when he first got on campus.
In the drills we saw with the defensive line, most of the players were doing their job and overall Rocker seemed pleased with their body of work. However, one player that Rocker really gave a huge compliment to was freshman Michail Carter. During a drill, Rocker got really excited and even yelled that he “loved the viciousness” from Carter. Once again it is only the first practice but seeing freshman put forth the effort to work hard now and compete points to where I believe the University of Georgia is headed in the not so distant future.
The final position group that stood out and that I’m sure everyone wants to hear about is the running backs. For starters, Nick Chubb looked like the Chubb of old and seems to be able to go full speed through every drill. Coach Smart said in his press conference yesterday that Chubb was participating in all drills with the team and that that would continue through fall practice. Chubb looked good through the drills and was able to run hard in each of them, which should be encouraging for the staff and fanbase as game one against the North Carolina Tar Heels gets ever closer.
Although the staff would definitely want to have one of their top running backs in Michel or Chubb for that game, the other running backs looked very capable of handling the workload. One player that carried that first guy off the bus look was freshman Elijah Holyfield. He looked massive and should have a huge role in the Bulldogs near future.
Don’t you just love the DAWG DAYS of summer!
Thank you very much! I’m glad you found my article interesting and I hope to continue bringing the readership intriguing stories.
It was really good to see No. 27 out there running around.
And it is good to hear that a freshman d-linemen is getting some love and praise from the coahes, even if it is just the first practice. With only 1 JR and a multitude of freshman and sophomores on that d-line, the “young” guys will be counted on to step up and produce.
Good stuff Michael. Thanks for he insight and report.
Great write up Michael ! Another newcomer to the line up with a great first day–is you Mr. Pope ! A very enjoyable read and you certainly have a grasp of the pulse of the Bulldawg Nation and what we want to hear about ! Well Done!
Thank you so much for the kind words and I’m glad you liked the article! Having young vicious defensive lineman is always a good thing and if he keeps it up he’s definitely a star in the making.
Thank you! Holyfield looks like an absolute monster and Carter was really attacking through the drills which is nice to see on a D-line that will need everyone playing at a high gear.
You’re welcome! Im glad you liked it.
Michael Pope Colonial Dawg Nice write up, Michael! Sounds like the 1st day showed some excitement and buy in from both the coaches, and the players! Gonna be fun…
Thanks for a great Article young Mr. Pope and I look forward to many more! Reading what you wrote about M. Carter and how Rocker loved his viciousness when attacking a drill made my Day! That kid is going to be dominant on the DL and sooner rather than later! He’s my impact Freshman this year, other than Eason of course! lol
Great write up! Carter is built and so is Holyfield! I love that this group of coaches is all in! One can’t expect a team to play harder than the coaches are willing to coach!
Thanks for the write up.
converted 1981 Thank you for checking it out and it was a hot one but seeing these guys work is always nice.
Big Ben is a mountain of a man. My goodness.
Thanks, Great info and appreciate the “Buying into” from yourself and Greg. Not easy to be out there in that heat all day.
Big Ben looks Huge in the pic above – and that is without pads
DawgDaddy Thank you! and it really did seem that way yesterday. This coaching staff is really pushing these players, which is very encouraging, but it’s even more encouraging to see these guys buy into these coaches and put forth the effort to play winning football.
Colonial Dawg I am glad you enjoyed it and we most definitely do. I found it very encouraging to see some of these younger guys in the trenches having success in drills.
Great stuff Michael, now you have me all excited about our new coaching staff just as much as our new players. It appears that they are demanding perfection, and to me that seems to be the only was you can achieve it.
Thanks Michael. Enjoyed the write-up. Need for those freshmen DL to grow up in a hurry!