Georgia offensive coordinator Jim Chaney is challenging his receivers to become dominant on special teams as well.How much will Justin Fields play at quarterback? How many rushing yards will Zamir White gain? What will be the interception count for cornerback Tyson Campbell?
Georgia's top-ranked signing class from earlier this year is now just three weeks away from making its debut against Austin Peay inside Sanford Stadium. While there will be plenty of storylines to track, third-year coach Kirby Smart will employ a different gauge.
Who is going to make their mark on special teams?
"The first place you impact as a freshman is usually on special teams, and that's the challenge for this class," Smart said in a recent news conference. "Can they buy into that? Did they dream last year about coming in and making a tackle on punt team? Is that something they can see themselves doing and having value in that?
"Our job as a coaching staff is to sell that and make sure that we have those guys helping our team wherever it may be. It may be starting, but that's not what you see all the time."
To hammer home the importance of special teams for this year's freshmen, Smart and his staff held a video session that had both Alabama and Georgia clips from recent seasons. Shown to the players was former Crimson Tide linebacker Reuben Foster leveling former LSU running back Leonard Fournette on a kickoff return, former Alabama running back Trent Richardson making a tackle on a kickoff return and former Georgia running back Sony Michel making a special-teams stop in his first college game against Clemson in 2014.
"There were common themes to every guy we showed," Smart said. "All the players went (to NFL teams) in the first round. None of them started their freshman year, and all of them were on special teams."
Smart coached at Alabama for nearly a decade under Nick Saban, who for years has stressed the importance of special teams to his players. Current Crimson Tide starting safety Deionte Thompson was a top-50 national prospect in 2015 who redshirted that year, and eight of his nine tackles in 2016 occurred on special teams.
Georgia offensive coordinator Jim Chaney has several receivers vying for return opportunities, most notably Mecole Hardman, Terry Godwin and Ahkil Crumpton, but he wants them all challenging for more playing time via football's third phase.
"We try to encourage all of our kids in that room," Chaney said. "When we walk out to that bus, who is going to be on the bus? Who is going to play on special teams? Maybe we have a first-round wideout and maybe we don't, but in that room, they understand the need to play on special teams in order to get on the bus, and that can be said for a lot of positions.
"We don't get to travel 110 people. We are going to travel 70. If you want to be on it, go earn a spot. We have enough competition now that the kids understand that."
Chaney said receivers Riley Ridley, Tyler Simmons and Jayson Stanley each played more than 100 snaps of special teams last season, when the Bulldogs went 13-2 and won their first Southeastern Conference title in 12 years.
"That's a game and a quarter of nothing more than special teams," Chaney said. "I've been at places where wide receivers haven't played that much."
The Bulldogs are scheduled to hold their first preseason scrimmage this afternoon.
Robertson cleared
Demetris Robertson, the top receiver nationally in the 2016 signing class who spent the past two seasons at California, has been cleared by the NCAA and is immediately eligible to play for the Bulldogs. Robertson has been practicing with them all month.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.