Lorenzo Carter The biggest strength of Georgia's football team later this year could be at outside linebacker.
Leonard Floyd and Jordan Jenkins declined early opportunities to leave for the NFL, while Lorenzo Carter was named by Southeastern Conference coaches last season to the league's all-freshman team. Jenkins and Carter have been working as the starters through two spring practices while Floyd recovers from shoulder surgery that kept him out of December's Belk Bowl, but what if second-year defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt used all three at the same time?
"Coach Pruitt always has something up his sleeve, and it just depends on what he feels like doing," Carter said by phone following Thursday's practice. "All three of us can play multiple positions on the field, and we were all actually out there together a couple of times last year. It was crazy, and this year is going to be even crazier, because I'm more comfortable, Leonard is going to be back at 110 percent and Jordan is getting better and better.
"We've got a lot of different things that we can show an offense. With Coach Pruitt, he could move an end to noseguard and then all the way to safety. It's crazy."
The Bulldogs worked out for more than two hours in helmets in shorts, with Thursday's drizzle and temperatures in the upper 40s providing a sharp contrast to Tuesday's opening practice, when it was sunny and near 80.
Carter was a Parade All-American in the 2014 signing class and a top-20 national prospect according to 247Sports.com, and he didn't take long to live up to that billing. In 13 games, which included five starts, the 6-foot-6, 237-pounder from the Atlanta suburb of Norcross had 41 tackles, seven tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks.
With Floyd nursing an injury during last November's trip to Kentucky, Carter made his first career start and terrorized the Wildcats with nine tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. In the 37-14 thrashing of Louisville in Charlotte, he had a team-high eight tackles, which included a sack.
"Lorenzo Carter is going to be one of the greatest defensive players to come through this university," Jenkins said earlier this month. "He's a young man who is gifted athletically and gifted mentally. He just has all the tools you want in a kid. If he stays focused and commits to getting better, the sky is the limit for that guy."
Carter isn't shying away from such praise, saying, "I welcome the pressure, and I'm up for that challenge. I want to be one of the greats here."
Though it's his first spring in Athens, Carter said it's a "world of difference" compared to when he arrived last summer.
"There is nothing like playing in an SEC game, especially at night in Sanford Stadium," he said. "That's where the pressure is, so coming out here is a lot of fun, really. Everybody is just so much more comfortable with the system.
"We're not learning what we need to do individually. We're learning the whole defense and the whole system, and I think that has been making us smarter football players."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.