the team at the top of the SEC on paper and that is the Georgia Bulldogs kiry Smart's done an amazing job continues to replenish great Personnel yes they have losses just like always the biggest loss probably being Brock Bowers but how many times have they had losses in the last few years and yet it's not like the program drops off in any particular spot now last year I would argue that the front seven defensively has not been up to the standard but when we evaluate Georgia the standard is different than that of your average football team and I think people have a hard time understanding that it's like well Georgia defensive line not as good doesn't mean they're not still great they just they're not as good as the 2021 version of the Georgia Bulldogs okay so they are in the category amongst teams that get measured against themselves not against the rest of the sport not against the you know what's that line they have in in baseball W right wins against replacement they're not being used in the W scale like they are being measured against Georgia and the best versions of Georgia so yeah there are aspects of this year's team that might not be as good as the teams that have won national championships or competed for them but they might be better in some other places like a quarterback and I think Carson be is the best quarterback that George has had in quite some time uh just an amazing amazing performance last year almost 4,000 yards uh School record completing 72% of his passes and if you look to it about how they kind of brought him along last year he really wasn't asked to do a whole lot in the first three or four games and then the Kentucky game happened and it's like all right Carson we're going to unleash you on the world and that's exactly what happened he got better as the season went along the intermediate throws the Deep throws getting the ball up and over defenders Carson Beck is talented as almost any quarterback in the sport there's a reason why when you look at all the mock drafts for 2025 he's up near the top whether he's one two three or four he's up there in the top five almost universally so their quarterback is back they do lose a couple key pieces in the backfield Dean Edwards and Kendall Milton are both gone but they did bring in one of the better impact players at the position one of the more versatile players at the position in the country in Trevor etn from Florida now there he had to kind of split carries with Montell Johnson but etn extremely Dynamic out of the back field as a pass catcher and should be spelled alongside Branson Robinson who was hurt early in the season last year they also brought in great recruits like they always do at almost every position the offensive line should be super relite there shouldn't be a whole lot that you need to be concerned about with what they have offensively and then we talk about Brock Bowers and the weapons they're going to be great at wide receiver I feel great about that position but Brock Bowers being gone is something that has kind of kept me up but the more I've talked to people associated with Georgia the more I continue to hear the name Ben urasek from Stanford who is transferring in at the tight end spot now he was great in the Pack 12 last year he was great out there on the west Coast very productive on a def on an offense and a team frankly that wasn't very good I continueed to hear his name as a guy that might be a Difference Maker so remember that name tight end Benjamin eurotek all right keep an eye on that name defensively yeah they lose some really quality pieces in the back end in the first 90 picks they had Kamari Lasser Javon Bard and ta ke Smith all got drafted all will likely be good NFL players but the front seven they return for the most part intact feel good about their group yeah they lose Jamon Dumis Johnson lose a couple other guys they're they're going to be all right in the front seven with returnees here's the problem 2023 rushing defense statistics okay remember we are not comparing Georgia to your average FBS football team I am comparing Georgia to Georgia to the best versions of Georgia okay if you can't stop the run in the SEC you're going to have some issues in 2023 they were 20th in the sport against the Run they gave up 114 yards per game and that was probably inflated with a couple performances the Bama game the Georgia Tech game the Missouri game they got gashed on the ground they were 37th in yards her carry given up they also had 8% negative play rate that was 66th in the country so they weren't creating a lot of disruption they weren't having as many tackles for loss as maybe they've had in the past they also gave up decent amount of explosive runs so when I think Georgia and I think front seven defensively where they were when they were winning national championships just a couple years ago I never saw them allowing 115 yards a game on the ground it was probably closer to 70 than it was 120 so that has to be an area that get gets addressed so if there's one thing that would keep me up at night if I were Kirby Smart it'd be the front seven defensively but I do think they should improve at that spot the other thing that would keep me up be the schedule you have six home games you got two neutral sites okay then you have four true Road games how about these Road games okay Kentucky perennial bow Team at Alabama perennial playoff Contender at Texas playoff team last year likely a playoff Contender for the foreseeable future at Miss okay at Miss at Texas Alabama and at Kentucky and Kentucky by the way has played Georgia with the exception of last year better than most teams the last few years so four very difficult Road games then you got two neutral sites Clemson top 15 team top 10 program Florida not a top 15 team but traditionally probably a top 10 to 15 program some years better than that then you get Tennessee at home so it's a very very difficult schedule extremely difficult schedule one that I think they can navigate but I'm not sure they'll be able to navigate it unscathed however there's still by far in a way tier1 status in the SEC