Senior linebacker Reggie Carter isn’t one for hyperbole.

In fact, Carter is generally one of the most soft-spoken players on the Georgia football team, a man of few words.

There doesn’t seem to a lot that gets him excited, particularly when talking to the media. But, that wasn’t the case on Saturday when he was asked about freshman inside linebacker Monty Rice.

The very mention of the early enrollee's name caused Carter to light up in a way he rarely does.

“Ah man, he’s a pit bull. He goes,” Carter said after practice on Saturday. “I thought he would struggle picking it up, much like everybody does. But he’s doing way better than I thought he would, and he’s another one who is after practice watching film and asking a lot of questions in the meeting room.”

It’s that put bull mentality that made Rice such a high priority for Bulldog coaches during the recent recruiting period, despite the fact the native of Madison, Alabama was “only” a three-star.

“He’s always on go. No questions, he gives 110 percent every time,” said Carter. Rice was a tackling machine his senior year at James Clemens High School, making 137 stops.

“He’s a big kid. He kind of reminds me of Amarlo (Herrera) in the way he plays,” Carter said. “He gets after it. He runs to the ball. He does everything the coaches ask him to do.”

With Roquan Smith out for most of the spring due to injury, Rice is getting plenty of opportunity to show what he can do.

Carter said the uptick in competition hasn’t seemed to bother him at all.

“This isn’t high school. Everybody is good. You’re not going against a 5-foot-11, 205-pound guard, you’re going against guys like Sam Madden, Solomon Kindley and Isaiah [Wynn]. It’s not like high school,” Carter said. “But he’s handling it really good.”