NEW ORLEANS – Another day, another Georgia player acknowledging that he’s considering a jump to the NFL.

One day after tight end Isaac Nauta and Mecole Hardman told reporters they're considering applying for the NFL Draft by the Jan. 14 deadline, junior safety J.R. Reed did the same during Saturday’s media session previewing Tuesday’s Sugar Bowl against Texas (8:45 p.m., ESPN).

“I’ll probably make a decision after this game,” said Reed. Hw has started 28 straight games at safety for the Bulldogs since transferring from Tulsa three years ago. Coming into play, Reed has 58 tackles, two for losses of nine yards, with two interceptions and one pass breakup.

One aspect that could affect Reed’s decision is that the native of Frisco, Tex. has already graduated.

“It takes a lot of pressure off, so you have a lot of options,” acknowledged Reed, who said he has not yet read the NFL’s College Advisory Board's take on his potential draft grade.

Reed said his family will help with whatever decision he ultimately makes. That obviously includes his father Jake Reed, who played in the NFL for 12 years with the Minnesota Vikings and the New Orleans Saints.

“I lean on him a lot, and listen to the coaches, too. But I really lean on my dad,” Reed said. “I’m just putting that on the back burner and getting ready for this game.”

One of the bigger storylines for Georgia has revolved around how Georgia’s young DBs will fare against a talented corps of Texas receivers, who are not only extremely athletic, but may be the largest the Bulldogs have faced this year.

Much of the focus has been on freshman Tyson Campbell, who's expected to start in place of Baker after earlier losing his starting job. Junior Tyrique McGhee and sophomore Mark Webb are also expected to be in the mix opposite redshirt freshman Eric Stokes who has started two of Georgia’s last three games.

“It’s just next man up,” Reed said. “I don’t want to say it’s a challenge—I just think those guys are built for it. They’re ready for it. They see the opportunity, and I think they’re going to go out and take advantage of it.”

As one of the leaders in Georgia’s secondary, Reed said he won’t be placing any extra pressure on his younger teammates than he hasn’t already before.

“It’s going to be nothing more, because I don’t want to make the game something bigger than what it is,” Reed said. “I don’t want to try and switch up what I’ve been doing throughout the season. I don’t want to put the pressure on one or two guys, just spread it around like we’ve been doing all season.”

Reed also had plenty so say about Mel Tucker, who left the Bulldogs to be the new head coach at Colorado.

“He was a great leader. He led this defense with a great direction. Everybody had his back, everybody loved Coach Tucker. He did a great job in calling the plays,” Reed said. “You can see we had a great defense, really throughout the three years he was here. I think he’s going to do a great job at Colorado.”

According to Reed, Tucker kept him and other defensive players in the loop while he was being considered for the job.

“He let us know we just needed to focus on the game, that his name was in the loop, although he didn’t know when anything was going to happen or when anything was going to be final. I saw him before he left. He’s going to be missed.”

The failed fake punt against Alabama no doubt remains etched in the minds of countless Georgia fans, but according to players like senior Jonathan Ledbetter said the Bulldogs couldn't be in better hands with head coach Kirby Smart.

“You can honestly see that Georgia has turned itself around with Kirby Smart,” said Ledbetter.

For example?

“It’s the smaller things. It’s the buying in, and he’s still trying to get information to make sure he’s a better coach in every situation possible,” Ledbetter said. “I remember every day we’d go into the meeting room, and we look at situations with other teams. We try to learn from other people’s mistakes, the triumphs—just to put all the knowledge into his players so they can be self-sufficient on the field and not really need him.”

Despite the loss to the Crimson Tide, sophomore Richard LeCounte feels the Bulldogs are on the national stage to stay.

“I don’t like to compare us to other universities, because we’ve got a different twist on a lot of the things we do. But from here on out, I expect Georgia to be in it, because we’ve got the guys to do it,” LeCounte said. “We’ve got the coaching staff, and we’ve got all the tools we need to be a national champion. From here on out, I think you’ll be able to see that with our plays. We’ve got extra motivation, so it’s going to be time for us to play.”