Finding three true freshman offensive players who we believe will make an impact this season was not that difficult a task.
Settling on three for the defensive side is a bit tricker.
Oh, there is playing time to be had.
That’s especially true in the secondary, where young players are going to have to play integral roles.
Elsewhere, Georgia is deep enough at its other defensive positions where coaches won’t have to force youngsters to play sooner than they’re ready.
As a reminder, for the focus of this series, we’re separating the true freshmen from the redshirt freshmen. We’ll start focusing on the redshirt freshmen starting Monday.
Our Top Three Impact True Freshmen - Defense
Cornerback Nyland Green: This was the easiest choice to make simply because of the lack of numbers at cornerback.
Ready or not, Mr. Green, you’re going to have the opportunity to play.
The fact he was able to come to school as an early enrollee will certainly help his cause. At 6-foot-1 and 185 pounds, Green has the exact type of length and speed that Smart wants from his cornerbacks.
Although he may not start, it’s almost impossible to fathom Green not receiving plenty of opportunities as a true freshmen this fall. He has some work to do to climb the depth chart, but just from a numbers standpoint we expect Green to get some snaps in the games.
Safety David Daniel: Daniel was included because as with the cornerbacks, there is plenty of need for players at safety on Georgia's defense.
In some ways, Daniel resembles a young Lewis Cine. Although Cine is an inch taller, he came in at approximately the same weight as Daniel (185). Like Cine, Daniel is a smart, heady player, who loves to hit and covers ground extremely well.
Cine and Christopher Smith will start at safety barring some unforeseen circumstance. But after that, it’s wide open.
Daniel, who is an early enrollee and had an excellent showing at G-Day, almost assuredly will receive plenty of early reps.
Linebacker Chaz Chambliss: Seeing Chambliss’ name may surprise you. After all, Nolan Smith and Adam Anderson will no doubt receive much of the snaps at outside linebacker. But Chambliss has impressed.
We started hearing buzz about his name midway through camp, and he actually started for the Red team squad (second-team defense).
Another player we almost went with is linebacker Smael Mondon, who might be tough keeping off the field in third-down situations.
However, we went decided to go with Chambliss, who will see a lot of action on special teams as he possesses that hard-nose, lunch pail mentality that Smart absolutely craves. He was relentless in rushing the passer in the G-Day game, demonstrating a motor that will suit him well on special teams.
