Dawgs set for first scrimmage Saturday
Georgia will hold its first scrimmage of fall practice Saturday, and there’s obviously a lot that head coach Kirby Smart and his staff of assistants will be looking to see.
The closed scrimmage gets underway at 1 p.m. at Sanford Stadium.
Yes, a lot of eyes will be on quarterbacks Jacob Eason, Greyson Lambert and Brice Ramsey.
Thus far, the three quarterbacks have essentially been sharing all the reps, but this first of three closed scrimmages will be an opportunity for someone to perhaps take a step up and show Smart and offensive coordinator Jim Chaney that he deserves more opportunities moving forward.
So far, that hasn’t been the case.
“I don’t think they have. We look at that each day, we look at the statistics, we look at the numbers, we look at the decision making and because there’s a lot that goes into it,” Smart said Wednesday. “But Saturday is going to be a good indicator on who is going to get more reps after that. We’ll just have to wait and see.”
Each of the three quarterbacks will get an equal chance on Saturday.
“We’ll have a plan going in where each guy gets some reps with each group,” Smart said. “We’ve kind of had that every day, so it’s pretty much the same thing – how will they respond with more of a gameday-type atmosphere.”
But as Smart is quick to point out, there’s a lot more than just a quarterback competition going on at Georgia right now.
Jobs are on the line throughout the team – both on the offensive and defensive side, and Saturday’s scrimmage will be an imperative first step for players to prove they belong on the field.
“The format is based on how practice goes Thursday and Friday and what we need to do offensively, defensively and special teams,” Smart said Wednesday. “We’ve got some things we need to knock out on both sides of the ball before Saturday.”
Saturday also figures to be another big day as far as the return of running back Nick Chubb is concerned as he starts taking more and more contact, the last step to proving he’s all the way back from the left knee injury he suffered last year at Tennessee.
“To what extent Nick Chubb goes, I don’t know that yet. We’ll make that decision closer to scrimmage time,” Smart said. “Nick’s been to the ground in several drills that we’ve had out there, so that’s not a major concern of mine. We will have a certain number of reps we’ll want Nick to get Saturday, what that number is, we’ll determine (Friday).”