By Don Stone, Football Atlanta
A Preseason SEC Media Poll has Georgia again favored to win the conference, ahead of Texas and Alabama.
Numerous stars like TE Brock Bowers, WR Ladd McConkey and Rosemy-Jacksaint, OL Amarius Mims, OL Sedrick Van Pran, RB Kendall Milton and Daijun Edwards are gone to the NFL. And WR RaRa Thomas, who saw some time last season and was expected to contribute more in 2024, is indefinitely suspended following an arrest on cruelty to children and two misdemeanor charges of battery.
So, other players will have to step up. Fortunately, the most important spot for the offense is in place with Carson Beck, who is considered a top NFL Draft and Heisman prospect is returning at quarterback.
In 2023, Beck completed 72.4% of his passes for 3,941 yards and 24 touchdowns.
He talked about the roster turnover at SEC Media Days.
“I think there’s so much depth on our offense and there’s so much talent that there’s not one or two names that I could really pronounce right now, which makes me excited as a quarterback,” Beck said. “I’m very excited to see who those guys are going to be that step up and make those big time plays and those big time moments.”
Brock’s obvious replacement is junior Oscar Delp who filled in effectively for Bowers during his injury.
Adding some depth is TE Benjamin Yurosek, who transferred in the off season from Stanford. He led the Cardinal in receiving yards in 2021 and in his career with 108 receptions for 1,342 yards. The grad student was slowed in 2023 with a shoulder injury, but should be healthy moving forward.
Junior receiver Dillon Bell should get a lot of attention from Beck. He caught five catches for 90 yards and a TD at Tennessee while filling in for McConkey. He also three a touchdown in that game. The junior WR carried the ball for 157 yards during the season as well. Bell caught 5 catches for 86 yards in the Orange Bowl.
UGA has one of the toughest schedules in college football with road games at Alabama and new SEC arrival Texas along with Kentucky and Ole Miss. They open the season at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in the Aflac Kickoff Game with Clemson.