Georgia linebacker Amarlo Herrera (52) tackles Nebraska’a Taylor Martinez during this year’s bowl game.ATHENS, Ga. – Georgia’s defense may prove to be leaner and quicker this football season, but the most notable difference from a year ago is its youth.
Junior receiver Malcolm Mitchell believes speed will be the bigger variance when the No. 5 Bulldogs open Saturday night at No. 8 Clemson. Mitchell detected a difference during the spring and said this week that it’s even more noticeable.
“I caught a little a screen pass the other day in practice — just a little pop pass to me — and by the time I got 5 yards up the field, there were linebackers close to me,” Mitchell said. “That’s something I didn’t see last year. You would see it with Alec [Ogletree], of course, but you didn’t see three or four coming for you.”
The Bulldogs will have an entirely new look defensively Saturday night in Death Valley, with 12 players who made multiple starts last season having moved on. Nine of those players were seniors, and Ogletree, Jarvis Jones and Kwame Geathers elected to forgo a final season of college eligibility.
Junior cornerback Damian Swann is Georgia’s lone returning defender who started all 14 games last season. Junior inside linebacker Amarlo Herrera is next with nine starts, end Garrison Smith having made eight and outside linebacker Jordan Jenkins adding six.