Yesterday was the first day that the team could suit up in full pads. Essentially game-day gear. Add to the fact that the team was almost a week into camp, and you can see how much more physical things would get. We were given almost 20 minutes worth of observation time yesterday, and luckily I had Clay Watkins, a fellow intern, alongside me to get even more coverage. Here’s what we saw:

Coby’s observations

• Coach Smart was on top of things today. Emotion ran high, and you could hear it in his voice. 
• DBs were practicing inside the facility for a good minute yesterday. With full pads on, they were able to get more physical and did a lot of run-defense and block shedding, reaction, and coverage drills. During those reaction drills, they’d backpedal and react to what Coach Fran Brown tells them to go cutting left or right and then try to catch a ball thrown their way. Daylen Everette was seen making an athletic play, juggling, and then catching his ball.
• After being inside, DBs were outside going against the receivers. There was PLENTY to see there. 
  • AD Mitchell vs. Kamari Lassiter- AD looked like he was about to break past the DB, but Lassiter held and proceeded to get yelled at by his coach, Fran Brown, saying, “Eyes on the feet!” Incompletion (Bennett at QB)
  • Brock Bower vs. Malaki Starks- Brock gets open but is overthrown. Incompletion by Stetson Bennett.
  • Daijun Edwards vs. Smael Mondon- Daijun is looked to as the checkdown and slips past Mondon before being met by more defenders and forced out of bounds. (Bennett at QB)
  • Arik Gilbert vs. Malaki Starks- Gilbert beats Starks downfield and has nothing but grass in front of him. Pass is thrown and dropped by Gilbert. (Bennett at QB)
  • Kenny McIntosh vs. Smael Mondon- McIntosh is given the checkdown, catches the ball, and can run a little before getting down. (Bennett at QB)
  • Kearis Jackson vs. William Poole- Good matchup here. Two great slot players at their respective positions. It’s physical, but Jackson winds up making this grab. (Bennett at QB)
  • AD Mitchell vs. Kelee Ringo- AD runs a go and breaks past Kelee for a wide-open reception. (Bennett at QB)
  • Darnell Washington vs. Malaki Starks- Starks keeps with Washington until about 15 yards out. Washington breaks away but is overthrown. Washington wasn’t looking at the ball anyway, though. (Bennett at QB)
  • Dominick Blaylock vs. William Poole- Poole plays tight coverage against Blaylock. Blaylock cuts right towards the boundary where it looks like he’s about to snag it, but as he gets his hands on it Chris Smith comes out of nowhere and pops it out, forcing a pass breakup. Almost an interception. (Bennett at QB)
  • Dillon Bell vs. Nyland Green- Bell had his eyes upfield and tried to run before he caught it, resulting in a drop. (Carson Beck at QB)
  • Andrew Paul vs. Jamon Dumas-Johnson- What looked like a drop at first wound up being an athletic reception for the freshman back out of Texas, Andrew Paul. (Beck at QB)
  • Cash Jones vs. Rian Davis- Jones gets the ball before Davis could get there and can run up field before being pushed out of bounds. (Beck at QB)
  • Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint vs. Daylen Everette- Everett breaks up this pass in impressive fashion given this battle was between a freshman and a junior. (Beck at QB)
  • Arian Smith vs. Nyland Green- Smith gets past Green with ease (track speed on display). Ball is underthrown and Smith has to slow down to catch it, but he still grabs it practically untouched. (Beck at QB)
  • Arik Gilbert vs. Javon Bullard- Gilbert catches the ball on a flat route and stumbles but manages to find his balance. Gilbert stiff arms Javon Bullard and gets yards after contact before being pushed out of bounds. 
  • Javon Bullard was seen coaching his players up, showing leadership.
  • Branson Robinson looked smooth catching a ball from Beck. 
  • Carson Beck kept throwing short for the most part. Bennett wasn’t afraid to air it out and throw deep.
  • Cash Jones was making a name for himself out there, consistently catching passes out of the backfield against what looked to be first and second-string guys.
• Julian Humphrey looks like he has great size. Tall and long. Ideal for the position (cornerback).
• Kamari Lassiter looks strong in camp, taking reps at second string outside corner. Nyland Green, Daylen Everette, and Julian Humphrey follow suit. 
• Coach Hartley had his tight ends running short hitch routes than through a 12-arm power blast (which has multiple spring-enforced arms to simulate running through contact).
• In a tight-end room as physically gifted as Georgia’s, Darnell Washington still manages to look like a giant compared to everyone else. Washington’s size never ceases to amaze.
• Chazz Chambliss looked strong in his OLB drills.
• Coach Tray Scott sat Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins aside to hit the sleds himself and show the second-year d-lineman how it’s done. 
• Watching the sleds, you could see that Jalen Carter was more physically than his peers. He hit harder and faster than those around him. 
• Mykel Williams is long in the limbs. His frame is pretty strong but looks like he could still fill out more. His future is going to be dangerous as he develops. 
• Darris Smith continues to take reps with Nolan Smith and MJ Sherman on pass rush drills. More established players like Bobby Beal and Chazz Chambliss aren’t before or after them. The grouping could very well be happenstance. 
• Brett Thorson was practicing taking snaps. No punting, though. Just drilling catching the ball from the long snapper.
• Coach Uzo Diribe was in full effect advising freshman Marvin Jones to “stay down” and not to “pop up” during his pass rush reps.
• Nolan Smith is the leader of this team in all ways possible. He’s visibly dominant and vocally present during his position drills.
• At least 10 NFL Scouts had their eyes watching Coach Tray Scott and the d-line at one point.
• Five-star freshman Mykel Williams earned praise from Coach Kirby Smart today when Coach said, “Good job, Mykel. That’s a nice one,” after watching over a rep of his. Mykel must have done well because Coach Smart wasn’t particularly kind at yesterday’s practice. 
• Trezmen Marshall (15) and a player wearing 35 were seen on the side working with trainers but not wearing black jerseys.

Clay’s observations-

• Oscar Delp made numerous exceptional catches during a tight-end drill on multiple misplaced passes. Possesses excellent hands and good speed.
• Brock Bowers continues to look like the best tight end in the country. Multiple times showed break-out speed to separate from defenders during 7 on 7 and had the quickest burst of all the tight ends by far coming out of the top of the route.
• Arik Gilbert also ran some impressive routes through 7 on 7, unfortunately, dropped what would’ve been a sure-fire touchdown on a beautiful corner route, but his size and speed seem to be a nightmare for opposing defenses.
• Andrew Paul flashed some fancy footwork through running back drills, a name not many people are talking about but could have a big future in Athens. He’s wearing number 3, worn by UGA running back legends Zamir White and Todd Gurley.
• AD Mitchell made a difficult contested catch drill look easy and showed off his strong hands while catching the ball away from his body. Uses his size extremely well.
• First team O-Line: Broderick Jones (LT), Devin Willock (LG), SVP, (C) Tate Ratledge, (RG) Warren McClendon (RT)
• Second team O-Line: Earnest Greene (LT), Xavier Truss (LG), Warren Ericson (C), Dylan Fairchild (RG), Amarius Mims (RT)
• Receiving Corps:
  • First team receiving corps: AD Mitchell, Ladd McConkey, Kearis Jackson, with Brock Bowers at tight-end
  • Second team receiving corps: Jackson Meeks, Dominick Blaylock, Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint, with Arik Gilbert at tight-end
  • Third Team receiving corps: Arian Smith, Mehki Mews, Braxton Hicks, with Oscar Delp at tight-end 
  • Fourth Team receiving corps: Cole Speer, Dillion Bell, Luke Bennett, with Darnell Washington at tight-end
• Darnell rotated in with the first team

• There’s certainly no quarterback controversy as Stetson Bennett continues to look solid and make good decisions. He threw some gorgeous deep balls, most noticeably one for a touchdown caught by AD Mitchell against Keele Ringo. Carson Beck took the second-team reps and made some incredibly impressive throws showing off his strong arm with precise placement. UGA should feel very comfortable with their loaded QB room.
• Kenny McIntosh caught multiple passes out of the backfield, something to expect a lot of this season. 
• First Team defense during 7-on-7s: 
  • Chris Smith, Kamari Lassiter, Dan Jackson, Malaki Starks, William Poole, Keele Ringo, Smael Mondon
• Chris Smith continues to be the leader in the secondary, coaching up the young DB’s. He made a phenomenal play against Dominick Blaylock jarring the ball loose on a perfect hit as soon as Blaylock caught the ball.
• Arian Smith beat Nyland Green and caught a long touchdown with plenty of separation on a perfect throw by Beck. Smith, highly regarded as one of the best deep ball threats in the country, should be virtually impossible to cover if he hits full speed in his route.