For most college athletes, playing time increases the deeper they delve into their college careers.
There are certainly exceptions, with Georgia senior defensive lineman DaQuan Hawkins-Muckle being an example. The 6-foot-4, 305-pounder from Atlanta was a consensus three-star prospect coming out of Westlake High School and quickly made his mark as a freshman in 2015, playing in 10 games and making two starts.
Hawkins-Muckle played in seven games as a sophomore, which coincided with Kirby Smart's first season as Bulldogs head coach, and just six last year as a junior.
"It's been a long four years, but I've enjoyed every moment of it," Hawkins-Muckle said this week in a news conference. "Having a coach like Kirby by my side and motivating me, I feel very confident. It's a different mindset knowing that it's my last year and that I'm going to have to be in the real world after this.
"I'm attacking things differently than I was as a freshman. I'm healthy, and I'm ready to play."
The Bulldogs held their eighth spring practice Thursday afternoon and are scheduled to scrimmage for the first time Saturday.
Hawkins-Muckle was having a stellar sophomore season, making five starts in Georgia's first seven games. He had a career-best six tackles during the 24-10 loss to Florida in 2016 but suffered a high-ankle sprain in the fourth quarter that knocked him out the rest of that year.
Undisclosed injuries last season sidelined Hawkins-Muckle for nine of Georgia's 12 regular-season games, but he returned for the Southeastern Conference title game and made an impactful play. With the Bulldogs leading 10-7 midway through the third quarter and with Auburn in position to knot the game with a 31-yard Daniel Carlson field-goal attempt, Hawkins-Muckle thwarted the Tigers with a block.
Auburn never threatened again, and the Bulldogs pulled away for a 28-7 triumph.
"I was just happy I was able to help the team win," he said.
Hawkins-Muckle is practicing primarily at noseguard, a spot vacated this offseason by John Atkins. Though some of Georgia's defensive linemen work several roles across the front, Hawkins-Muckle expects to line up over the ball when he's in the game.
Which he prefers.
"You've got to be a grown man to play there," he said, smiling. "You can't be soft anywhere between the trenches."
Hawkins-Muckle will be a grown man this time next year, when he hopes to give the NFL a try. It has not been the college career he desired after a quick start, which is why he would much rather focus on the months ahead than the setbacks of the past.
"I'm not worried about what's happened," he said. "Maybe this is my year to shine."
Smart-sounding
Bulldogs sophomore quarterback Jake Fromm easily could have been mistaken for Smart after Thursday's practice. It was the first time this spring that Fromm had been made available to the media, and he echoed the coach repeatedly when asked about the quarterback competition between him and early enrollee Justin Fields.
"Everybody on this football team is competing for his job and his spot," Fromm said. "As a unit and as a quarterback room, we are competing and just trying to make the team better."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.