Georgia football coach Kirby Smart said before spring practice that everybody on his roster is a potential cornerback.
That apparently includes 1,000-yard rushers.
Lovasea Carroll, a four-star running back signee who enrolled in January, has worked at cornerback through the first two workouts. The Bulldogs had four former corners - Tyson Campbell, DJ Daniel, Eric Stokes and Mark Webb - who participated in Wednesday's pro day and received invitations to last month's NFL combine that never took place.
"It's experimental," Smart said Thursday night. "We recruited him as a running back, but we're really deep at the running back position. He's probably going to be a factor on special teams, because he's really fast, but he's embraced the position.
"He hasn't played this position, so to put him out there on some experienced wideouts and guys who have played a lot of football is probably not fair to him, but that's how you grow."
Carroll, a 6-foot-1, 195-pounder from Warrenton, Georgia, rushed 143 times for 1,446 yards (10.1 per carry) as a Warren County sophomore before transferring to IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. His two years with IMG yielded 99 carries for 1,035 yards (10.5) and 15 scores.
In the 2021 signing class, Carroll was the No. 6 running back and No. 116 overall prospect in the 247Sports.com composite rankings.
"I've had running backs I've signed at other places who have texted me and, 'Man, I wish I had played corner based on what these guys get paid in the NFL,'" Smart said. "The shelf life of a corner is much longer than the shelf life of a back, but I would not say this is permanent. It's a spring experiment, and we'll go from there."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524. Follow him on Twitter @DavidSPaschall.
UGA Athletics photo / Lovasea Carroll