There are three senior starters and one junior starter returning in Georgia's secondary this football season, and there are five freshmen looking to make their marks.
Not getting lost in the shuffle is redshirt sophomore J.R. Reed, who is working with the first team when the Bulldogs employ five defensive backs. Georgia held its second practice of preseason camp Tuesday, working out for slightly more than two hours.
"When we go 'nickel,' which we are a lot, he's become a starter," coach Kirby Smart said in a news conference that followed the workout. "He's very intelligent and very fast. He's a good tackler, and he's been one of the surprises in an area where we needed him."
So who is J.R. Reed?
The 6-foot-1, 194-pounder from Frisco, Texas, sat out last season after transferring from Tulsa, where he signed in 2015 and played in 13 games. Reed made six tackles in April's G-Day contest and was the defensive winner of the Most Improved Award after spring drills.
"J.R. Reed is probably one of the guys I've talked about the least who's probably the most interesting, I would say," Smart said. "Here's a kid that we took as a transfer and we didn't know a lot about. When he first got here, we knew he was fast, but he didn't know everything.
"He really did a good job learning everything last year on scout team and during the spring."
Reed is working at the safety position that was occupied last season by Aaron Davis, a senior now working at the "star" spot that Maurice Smith held. Smith is Georgia's lone 2016 defensive starter who did not return.
Senior safety Dominick Sanders, senior cornerback Malkom Parrish and junior corner Deandre Baker have remained in their first-team roles, but Smart is not banking on some automatic success simply due to existing experience.
"We still have room for improvement in the secondary," he said. "It doesn't matter if you've started 100 games. It matters how you play. We were fifth in the conference, and I'm not used to being fifth in the conference.
"I want to be first."
As for the freshmen, Richard LeCounte and Latavious Brini are working mostly at safety, while Ameer Speed and Eric Stokes primarily have been at cornerback. William Poole has worked at "star" and at cornerback, which also has been the case with sophomore Tyrique McGhee.
Odds and ends
Smart announced Tuesday that freshman linebacker Robert Beal, a four-star recruit, has been cleared from an eligibility standpoint. Georgia now is waiting only on defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt, who also was a four-star prospect. Smart on being through with the first two workouts in shorts: "The fashion show is over. Now we get to put pads on and find out more about our team. I'm not fired up about shorts because guys don't look as good, but we'll find out a lot more when we start popping a little bit."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.