Depth is something that the Georgia Bulldogs pride themselves in. It speaks to their ability to recruit, their ability to develop, and keep fresh legs on the field come gametime. The Dawgs are known to rotate plenty of position groups and use that to their advantage to outlast opponents who simply don’t have the ability to field that much talent. 

In the past the Dawgs have been known to rotate their offensive line group throughout meaningful games to ensure that their guys up front never get gassed. We’ve even seen similar things done on the defensive line, running back room, and linebacking core. But a place where the Dawgs don’t really switch up is the outside cornerback position.

Last year it was Kelee Ringo and Kamari Lassiter holding down the defensive backfield. Before that it was Ringo and Derion Kendrick, and prior to them it was Eric Stokes and Tyson Campbell. Georgia usually pairs up their two best corners and runs with them for the rest of the season. But now that Ringo and Kendrick have been drafted to the pros, that leaves Kamari Lassiter at CB1 and both Daylen Everette and Julian Humphrey competing for CB2.

Although Daylen Everette has been seen starting games, over the past couple weeks he’s been rotated in and out for Julian Humphrey, and it’s not just in garbage time. Six games into the season Everette has been named the starter every time, but Humphrey is right there behind him; Humphrey has played in games as early as the first quarter (UT Martin). 

But even though Humphrey’s success may or may not take away from his playing time, Everette by no means sees his teammate as a threat. Yesterday in his first college interview he said:

“Me and Julio, we’re real close, man. Like, we try to feed off each other like we’re constantly competing every day. Like, he gets me better. I try to get him better.” 

And their coach is all for it. Iron sharpens iron and Kirby Smart has known that and has practiced that for years, and it’s not different in this instance with him saying:

“We want to continue to get those guys better and let them compete.” 

One thing about these Dawgs is that they love to compete. The way Georgia recruits, practice is harder than gameday from a talent perspective, and that’s not just an offense-defense thing. Everyone on this team is competing for playing time. I bet you Everette and Humphrey are equally hungry for that starting spot. Everette’s doing everything he can to keep it, and Humphrey’s doing just as much to try and earn it for himself. And them doing that is a small part of what makes this team so great.

It all goes back to what Kirby preaches. He wants this team to be elite at getting better.