DEFENSIVE LINE
Georgia returns plenty of big bodies, even after veteran nose tackle John Atkins used up his eligibility and former top overall prep recruit Trenton Thompson elected to bypass his senior year and wound up not getting drafted. Several Bulldogs were overshadowed last season by the play of Butkus Award inside linebacker Roquan Smith, with that list including Tyler Clark and Jonathan Ledbetter. That duo wound up combining for an impressive 79 tackles and 11.5 tackles for loss. Clark, David Marshall and Julian Rochester hail from Kirby Smart’s first signing class in 2016, and all three have been plenty effective, with Marshall and Rochester combining for 48 stops a season ago. DaQuan Hawkins-Muckle is a senior with seven career starts and can relieve Rochester at the nose, while the newcomer to watch may not be a freshman but Notre Dame graduate transfer Jay Hayes, who was a 13-game starter last season for the Irish.
LINEBACKERS
Senior outside linebacker D’Andre Walker is poised for a big finale after amassing 40 tackles and 13.5 tackles for loss last season while vying in the shadows of former seniors Lorenzo Carter and Davin Bellamy. How Walker fares as an every-down player and not just a third-down specialist will be a storyline to follow. The top candidate to start opposite Walker is Walter Grant, a sophomore who showed flashes last year with 2.5 tackles for loss. Smith has left the biggest shoes to fill after becoming the first Butkus winner in Bulldogs history, but there are four veteran players ready to give that a go: Natrez Patrick, Juwan Taylor, Monty Rice and Tae Crowder. There are plenty of talented youngsters at this position, with Robert Beal, Jaden Hunter, Brenton Cox, Adam Anderson and Azeez Ojulari on the outside and Nate McBride, Channing Tindall and Quay Walker on the inside.
SECONDARY