Early enrollees are now the norm in college football.

The vast majority of Georgia's 2025 class is already on campus and has gone through spring practice. That means they made their Sanford Stadium debuts during Saturday's G-Day scrimmage.

Several of the first-years stood out.

Offensively, freshman running back Bo Walker rushed for 44 yards on eight carries, including a long run of 30 yards. Walker has generated substantial buzz with his performance this spring.

"I'm excited to see what he does, but he's got a real bright future ahead of him," running back Cash Jones said. "I'd probably say he's pretty close to like Daijun (Edwards). He can cut on a dot. He's fast, side to side, he can make some people miss and at the same time he can run you over. I’m excited to see what he can do."

The three healthy freshmen receivers - Talyn Taylor, CJ Wiley, and Landon Roldan - combined for six catches for 83 yards. Wiley had one of the highlights of the day with a one-handed catch against great coverage for 35 yards.

Earlier this spring, Smart said the coaches had to get the freshmen receivers ready to play. After G-Day he said those players are "Way, way, way further ahead" compared to when they arrived on campus.

"They've come a long way," Smart said. "They were thrown into the fire. They've been demanded to get the call, line up. I mean, they're ahead of where our typical freshmen are because they've gone with the twos. They've got a ways to go still. They had a little anxiety today. They had a couple plays I thought they should have made. But they're a good group, and Tyler's been hurt. We haven't been able to see him much. But that young group has made some plays for us."

As for their defensive counterparts, freshman corner Dominick Kelly turned heads. After reclassifying from the 2026 class, Kelly registered an interception (albeit thanks to a busted route) and a diving pass deflection in his first G-Day.

Five-star defensive tackle Elijah Griffin also had his name called often. Griffin was officially credited with just one tackle, but he registered multiple quarterback pressures and helped blow up a reverse that turned into a loss.

In modern college football, freshmen make up more and more of a team's depth than in previous years. Georgia head coach Kirby Smart knows these first-year players, even if they're not starting, will be a big piece of Georgia's success this fall.

"A lot of the mid-years got valuable minutes," Smart said. "I can remember when mid-years kind of went with the threes and fours, and now it seems like more of them are going with the twos. That's just the way of college football right now."