One of the main questions reporters and fans want to know about incoming freshmen, such as the 20 who signed with Georgia, is how quickly they might get on the field.

That was certainly true during Wednesday’s Zoom session with head coach Kirby Smart Wednesday.

Based on the rankings, one would think five-star offensive lineman Amarius Mims would be a shoo-in to start as a true freshman. And what about highly-touted four-star Micah Morris or UGA's other two new linemen?

Smart, however, was quick to warn against any overblown early expectations, especially for the big men in the trenches.

“It’s a developmental position. I say it every year—offensive lineman, it’s really hard to come in and play,” Smart said. “I'm really excited about this group. They're athletic. They have great size. They're really bright, good kids. Jared Wilson was one of the guys we targeted early on—size, width, hand-size, athleticism—really good target and works really hard. He comes from a really athletic background family; he's a great kid.

“All of those guys, I can’t say enough about each one of them. Matt Luke is excited to get those guys in and start coaching them.”

Just don't expect an immediate impact, Smart stressed. The same could be said for new outside linebacker commit Xavian Sorey, who made his announcement live on ESPN2.

“He’s extremely athletic, talented, but raw. He’s a developmental player,” said Smart of Sorey, using the description for a second time. “This means we think he’s got size; we think he’s got speed, athleticism.”

However, until he went to play at IMG Academy, Sorey’s exposure to big-time college recruits was basically slim and none.

“He played at a really small school, one I'm very familiar with and grew up near down there. I got to watch him play a basketball game—one of the few guys I got to watch play basketball, and just thought he was a really good athlete on the basketball court, dunking, very talented, and he’s really a good kid,” Smart said. “He made the decision to go to IMG for his senior year, which I think, put him in a position to be more successful in college, because he got exposed to other players like him, where he hadn't seen that in his hometown.”

Smart believes the move served him well. “That kind of gave him an awakening, thinking, 'Whoa, there are a lot of players like me; these guys are pretty good,” Smart said. “He’s going to grow and get better. He’s going to have to be patient and really understand the defense and grow as a player, but I think he’s willing to do that.

"He's committed to the relationships he has here. He’s got a lot of relationships with a lot of coaches that are going to push him to excel; it’s just not going to happen overnight.”

With the likelihood that Georgia could lose up to three members of its current secondary due to the NFL Draft, Smart was asked what he thought of the four secondary players he was able to add.

“I’m pleased with what we have, and I’m excited about the guys we get to coach in that position,” Smart said. “We have some guys coming in that I feel great about, and I think the guys we got early were really good players—really high-character players when you look across the board. I think the guys we finished late with are really great players.”

Of the four, Newton’s Nyland Green comes in with the most accolades, ranked 127th nationally by Rivals, with Savannah native Kamari Lassiter and David Daniels both ranking as four-star prospects. Three-star defensive back Javon Bullard may be underrated.

“A lot of really good football teams wanted those guys to join their team. With not having camp, that's one of those positions that's harder to evaluate, and we were very pleased that we got to see guys’ workout footage,” Smart said. “Guys sent us tape over the summer, and it made the decision so much clearer and easier to really target the guys you wanted, and go out there and get those guys.”

• TE Brock Bowers (6-4, 230): Rivals four-star prospect enjoyed a sterling junior season in 2019, finishing the season with 1,499 all-purpose yards and 18 touchdowns (1,098 receiving yards and 14 scores).

• DB Javon Bullard (5-11, 175): Led Baldwin High with 74 tackles, 10 pass breakups, and two sacks.

• RB Lovasea Carroll (6-1, 195): At IMG, the four-star back averaged 10.3 yards per rush, 99 yards per game, and scored 40 touchdowns (34 rushing).

• LB Chaz Chambliss (6-2, 250): Four-star totaled 251 tackles in three seasons at Carrollton High, including 73.5 tackles for loss and 31.5 sacks.

• DB David Daniel (6-2, 185): Made 123 tackles, one sack, two interceptions, and three fumble recoveries. Is the first SEC recruit from Woodstock since former Bulldog Tripp Chandler signed with Georgia in 2005.

• DE Marlin Dean (6-5, 275): Finished the regular season at Elbert County with 18 tackles, two sacks, and an interception.

•LB Jamon Dumas-Johnson (6-1, 235): As a junior, helped his high school St. Frances Academy to an 11-1 record and the No. 3-ranked high school team in the country.

• OL Dylan Fairchild (6-5, 300): Helped West Forsyth rush for 1,422 yards in 12 games.

• DB Nyland Green (6-1, 176): Finished his junior season with 34 tackles and six interceptions.

• DL Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins (6-5, 300): Named Mr. South Carolina football after finishing the year with 70 tackles, 17 for loss, including eight sacks.

• DL Jonathan Jefferson (6-3, 285): Led Douglasville High with 19 tackles for loss and 10 sacks in just 11 games.

• DB Kamari Lassiter: (6-0, 180): A native of Savannah, Lassiter finished his career at American Christian High School in Tuscaloosa with 210 tackles, 20 for loss, and 10 interceptions.

• WR Jackson Meeks (6-2, 205): A late-bloomer, Meeks came on strong at the end of the year and finished the season ranked as the No. 13 player in Alabama.

• OL Amarius Mims (6-6, 320): Five-star prospect was considered the top-ranked offensive lineman according to Rivals, helping Bleckley County average 378.8 yards per game.

• WR Adonai Mitchell (6-4, 190): Caught 49 passes for 795 yards and 11 touchdowns his senior season.

• LB Smael Mondon (6-3, 220): Recorded 83 tackles for Paulding County in his career, while also playing quarterback, running back and receiver.

• OL Micah Morris (6-5, 330): Helped Camden County rush for 1,170 yards and 13 touchdowns in 13 games this year.

• LB Xavian Sorey (6-3, 214): An extremely talented two-way player, who prior to transferring to IMG, rushed for 638 yards and three touchdowns at Graceville High. Also played linebacker, where he made 57 tackles and picked off three passes.

• QB Brock Vandagriff: Five-star performer has thrown 93 touchdown passes so far in his high school career.

• OL Jared Wilson (6-3, 330): Recorded 71 pancake blocks his junior season at West Forsyth High in Winston Salem, N.C.

On Georgia’s ability to land top targets in the state of Georgia and what made that possible: “I don’t know. Like I said, I thought the pandemic was the number one factor that helped in-state recruiting. Their inability to go on all of these trips might have played—maybe that's one guy, I don't know. The quarterback being from our state, that probably played a little bit of a factor. I don't know. I know a lot of people have reached out to me and said, ‘Georgia’s success in the last four to five years is starting to take its toll.’ These kids grow up seeing Georgia in the top five, top six in the country, most of their high school, even middle school lives. That plays a factor in it. Georgia is a great place to go to school academically. I always think we should be one of the leaders of Georgia. There’s different years where different things happen for strange reasons, but we're very pleased with how we did in the state this year.”

On whether there were any players who signed that Smart and his staff were not able to meet face-to-face: “The answer to that question is really tough, because I can’t think back to all of them. I'd think that every one of these kids had been to a game or been to a camp or been here at some point in time. I know that someone like Adonai Mitchell, he was here as a sophomore in camp, so he was really, really young. We had experienced camp with him but at that time, he was young. We liked him, but we didn't get to see him after that for a while. Looking down the list, I would say yeah, we’ve seen every one of these guys face-to-face at some point.”

On whether Florida securing the East signals a shift in or balance of power in the SEC, and if something like that can play into recruiting: “I think everybody will have their own opinion on it, but I think it has to do with not playing well in a game. I don't think it has to do with a balance of power. I'll say that a lot of football boils down to the line of scrimmage, and I still think that we have really good line of scrimmages. Obviously that game, we didn't play well enough, and they out-competed us and outplayed us. I am very comfortable with where we are in terms of the team and program. So much of a game falls, and I hate to say it, falls on the quarterback position. At the quarterback position, they make a decision every play, and they have a really good quarterback. They have a guy who has played for a long time. We caught him on a younger year the year before that, we caught Feleipe [Franks] one of his younger years before that, and we've had Jake Fromm prior to that. So, we had a lot of experience at that position, but I'm not pointing or blaming anything, I'm just comfortable where we are. I think the SEC East will always be competitive, and it’s one of those things we know we have to win that, to get to the big show.”

On what changed in the relationships he built with the players over Zoom this year compared to previous years: "Not much has changed, because I knew them before Zoom. I had a relationship with most of these guys. I'd seen them in camp, play basketball, or whatever the context was. The Zoom part was what we were forced to do. After Zoom, it became FaceTime and phone calls, which is what it is every year. The biggest dynamic was not going into their homes, and they didn't get to come to games. That's the part where you really get to know them; the recruiting staff spends three to four hours with them at a game, and I get to go to their homes. That way you know their sister, brother, grandma, aunt, uncle, or whoever makes them tick. That's the hardest part to me. There's not as much attachment and long term, three years from now, there could be more transferring, because there's not that relationship. There's not a grandparent telling them to stick it out and work. They may not have that relationship, because no one ever came in the home."