Here’s an opening thought:
To be honest, I kind of expected that from Bell. He’s always been a sort of “utility” guy and became a bigger player last year, chiefly out of necessity. Since the receiver room was bolstered it’s not surprising to see lesser numbers from him.
As a Thought Provoker for today, who for the 2025 team has exceeded, met, or underperformed from your perspective. My thoughts:
- Exceeded – The Offensive Line – while not yet quite “elite”, this group has overperformed in my eye this season, mainly thanks to some guys stepping up who are young, like Juan Gaston, who is clearly exceeding, and to also see Freeling and Bobo playing up to their potential. I perceived this group to be a potential weakness heading into the season, but they collective and the few guys above are really getting at it.
- Meeting – Gunner Stockton – I know a lot of people would put him in the exceeded category, but I wasn’t ever really low on Gunner in the first place. I figured with a good spring and repeated reps with an improved surrounding cast, Gunner would do great things.
- Underperforming – Elo Modozie – For all the hype surrounding picking him up in the portal, I thought I’d be seeing his name on Saturday’s a lot more, but, alas, he’s collected stats in only five games in 2025.
How about you?
I had hope for more from Bell, which may sound like I put it on him. But, given changes it is some what epect but he is still likely under utilized.
He can be used as a RB which could create some scenarios where you use him as RB where the defense may have the personnel and play call to account for him as a WR.
Donnie Glover…EXCEEDING! That kid has great season. He will likely be a Freshman All-American. He and Gaston are an incredible nucleus for the OL going forward. Unfortunately, they could be the reason Georgia loses some OL depth to the portal.
Agreed
Until highlighted this tweeter about Dillon Bell’s stats, I would have thought he had more catches, yards and td’s. It just seems like he is on the field more and I have heard his name more frequently during games.
He is a DGD and has shown tremendous selflessness and leadership. Glad he is on our side.
I might reverse your exceeding/meeting. Even with the injuries and youth on the offensive line, I think the OL is starting to play to where to the standard our OL usually plays.
FWIW, at least to me, Gunner is exceeding expectations. If he had not played this well, I don’t think we would be 7-1 in SEC play, 11-1 overall and #4 in the CFP poll.
I would’ve thought the same about Bell. Seems like his name gets mentioned pretty often in games. Probably because he has 11 carries for 86 yards and 2 TDs to go with those receiving stats. And he’s 0-for-1 passing.
Imagine if Beck were our QB this year! Oy!!!!
I hope you’re right about your prediction at the end (11-1)!
Bell is an all-around player. He can make explosive plays and is a really good blocker. An NFL team is going to get a good team guy in April.
Bell is a RB.
Under – Bolden, every OLB/DE
Over – WR, OL, QB
Way over – Bobo, Searels. Pains me to type that.
That said, you have to admit that Q Johnson and G Harris have been showing out some the last couple of games.
Yes. I’m going on 10 game performance. D Jones is light years better than game 1.
Exceeding = Gunner Stockton and the WR corps. I was very nervous about Gunner after the limited sample size last year, and the slow start this season didn’t do much to put those worries to rest. He won me over with the Tennessee game. And I’m not going to say anything about the receivers for fear of jinxing them.
Meeting = Peyton Woodring. We’ve been spoiled with good place kickers for years, so it’s an admittedly high expectation, but he’s always met it.
Underperforming = defense, especially on 3rd down, before the last couple of games.
Given student athletes ability to basically come and go as needed, expectations were really week to week, UGA football staff is where mine expectations sat, getting the roster to buy in to eating off the floor, the pressures that CKS places on those student athletes growth/progressions, accepting what it means to be a Georgia Bulldog, graduation and the like…UGA staff has to live up to chopping wood every fucking day that CKS walks the sidelines…GO DAWGS!!
Gunner has exceeded expectations by the largest margin. Really impressive development. Getting better every week.
Bolden maybe the guy I would point to as an underperformer and without knowing anything that may be unfair. Still annoyed about the dropped pick…
I would say that the OL has been about what I expected.
For me, defense overall has underperformed, but that may be as much coaching. The last couple of games we seem to be more aggressive with blitzes and press coverage, and the results have shown it.
The OL has finally met expectations once the injuries stabilized.
Gunner has met expectations. I was always high on him, and didn’t see all the nits others were picking.
Dillon Bell is a victim of the WR room. I’d say those have exceeded expectations. Bell needs more touches, but who do you take those away from?
Another thing I was thinking about. I wonder how much better, if any, this team is from last years’ team? At first glance we seem better, but how much of that is schedule? Most of our hard games have been at home this year as opposed to on the road last year.
Not to hate on Beck, but I do think the team responds better to Gunner. For whatever reason, the receivers catch the ball. Zack Branch is a baller, and Noah Thomas has taken over nicely for Young.
We do seem a little tougher, having to overcome slow starts a lot, so maybe that will help us come tournament time. Barring significant injuries, it will be interesting to see how far we go.
I think the team is better just due to how the team responds to Gunner. Beck has talent (and an INT problem), but it seems like his teammate don’t necessarily like him.
I imagine had it been Beck that took that brutal shot at the end of the SEC championship game last year, instead of Gunner, not only would he have fumbled, he may have retired from football altogether.
I believe Gunner throws a more catchable ball with better touch than Beck. Gunner is definitely a better team leader. The guys rally to Gunner like they did Bennett. Both worked their ass off to get the job.
Bell is an offensive Swiss Army knife. He’s going to be serviceable anywhere you line him up. Gunner I expected to be good his first year. Right now I’d take hime over any QB I’ve seen play this year. That is above what I expected. He’s playing at a level that I hoped by year two he would grow into. I want to add Mike Bobo to the exceeded my expectations list. I expected good I’m getting outstanding play calling.
Right behind Gunner, I’d put Zach Branch. For me, he is a welcome surprise and is a danger anytime he has the ball in his hands. He’s also tough as nails. Glad we have him and his brother. I expect his brother to step up the longer he’s in our system.
Branch is the new Bell when it comes to WR screens. I heard that Bobo likes WR screens so he’s going to scheme up WR screens. 😀
Really? Where’d you hear that at?
Restroom wall at Creature Comforts.
I think that Gunner is exceeding expectations. I know that a lot of people were high on him before the season began, but, after the Notre Dame game, I really didn’t know what to expect as his sample size was so small and his experience was 1 1/2 games. The best thing about him is that he is getting better as the season progresses and I hope that it continues (he does seem to miss wide open receivers every game, but I guess that’s normal for QBs as they sometimes already know where they want to go with the ball on each play).
I have to admit that Bobo and Searels, who both got a lot of hate from the fanbase and from Finebaum, have also exceeded expectations. I think the issue with Bobo is that, if he doesn’t have confidence in the offense, that he calls a very conservative and predictable game. Now that the offense is improving and gaining experience, we are seeing him call with comfort and confidence.
The only unit that is underperforming would be the defense. If nothing else, the defense has been inconsistent and I would like to see better play from the DBs in particular as they seem to always be playing soft and have no ball skills with several dropped interceptions and also commit 3 or 4 defensive holding and/or PI’s every game. The run defense has been OK, but not great as there seem to be gaping holes for RBs to gain 6-10 yards at times and 1-2 yards at other times.
I would put the defensive secondary as under performing expectations as well as the defensive line.
Having said that, the team at 9-1 & probably 11-1 going into the cfp has met expectations.
At Georgia, we now expect to win
I am not going to label him as underperforming, but I was expecting Nate Frazier to mature into a 1000-yard back this year. He is really good, but just does not seem to be able to break off longer runs consistently. I though we would see more of the MSU Frazier than the tough short/medium yard rusher that he has been most of the season. I think he will get there.
Frazier is averaging 5.4 yards per carry this season. That puts him in the Michel/Chubb/Gurley/Walker/Tripping production level. Bowens is averaging 5.24 yards per carry. I am glad neither has 200 carries at this point. We are hoping UGA plays 16 games or 17 games this season and neither you or I want either worn out by December.
By the way, at Frazier’s current rate he will hit the 1,000 yard mark in the playoffs.
Please do not call that as anything close to underperforming.
I was looking more from Chris Cole earlier, but he seems to have stepped up his game. With you JP on Modozie, had high hopes for him, but this is the SEC. A bit disappointed with Thorson but he is coming off surgery.
Exceeding – Our true freshmen. What a group, freshmen starting on the OL in the SEC, wow. TE and freshman LB contributing.
Modozie could come along eventually. I have noticed that it takes quite a few top performers a few months to a full season for the complexities of the defense to become second nature. Once the light goes on the athletic ability starts to shine and the begin fucking other offenses up.
OVER – Demello Jones has been kicking ass the past month. Branch, OL, overall the freshmen, to echo others here — *really* excited about the next 2 years. Too bad Gunner doesn’t get a 6th/COVID year LOL (glad those have moved through the garden hose).
UNDER – Frazier – I’m afraid he’s just not Him. Jersey number apropos for YPC.
Wishing Rod Rob was laying waste to DBs, but alas, maybe he never will break through the lineup…
Exceeding: Gunner. Better than it looked like he’d be early. Branch…MVP for the season. Gunner doing a hell of a job, but it’s Branch making him look so good. Dude is one of best WR’s we’ve had in a while. Kirby…doing more with maybe less this season because of youth. Building culture and momentum. Plus he yelled at me (sort of) the other day, so we’re like brothers now.
Meeting: OL…started worse due to injuries. Much better now but not all the way there. Hope they keep improving too. TE’s…Delp, Luckie, Williams doing what needs to be done. Probably not a higher grade due to the performances of their immediate predecessors but haven’t set the world on fire either. DB’s…young and weakness but getting it done just enough given the lack of help from the front 7. RB’s…serviceable, but no one standing out worthy of an RBU award. WR’s…Branch exceptional as noted above. Love the others but we’re substituting so much and Gunner distributing so well no one else really stands out and no one has established themselves as a deep threat. That may be on Gunner or Bobo as Branch, Humphries and Thomas can certainly get deep with separation. We don’t have that big receiver for the back shoulder fade either though Bell is probably the closest to that. We miss Colbie who was going to exceed expectations for sure. Bobo…just meeting expectations. Has us winning, mixing things up, gets us through crunch time. Just not seeing anything that other coaches will flock to Athens in the off season to learn more about.
Under: DL front 4…no push, no sacks, no disruptions. Bending but not breaking but we expected and need even better. LBs’…same. No one creating massive fear in the hearts of the opposition. No one earning the LBU award. Serviceable and winning, but not as good as they should/can be at least yet. Schumann…it’s Kirby’s team and philosophy, but Glenn makes the play-to-play calls and runs practice. Could he do more on his own but is restricted by Kirby? We’ll know when he eventually moves on. Hard to tell, but if he were really good he’d have Kirby’s trust to call the shots on D and be really successful doing it. Bend/don’t break is gonna get you beat eventually. As Russ noted, we’ve been bringing more pressure and getting better results only as of late or in the 4thQ of earlier games. I blame Schumann until proven otherwise which is an opinion more likely than not uninformed and wrong but that’s why we bloviate here.
We are through the SEC schedule and overall the team EXCEEDED expectations as many thought 2 losses was very possible. Of course the gnats are still out but I’m not worried. All position groups are improving and the D has done better than they look…other teams will realize that and there is no one in the country that wants us right now. We are the HUNTERS! GO DAWGS!!
Maybe it’s just me, but when Branch or another player makes a play, it’s usually “GREAT!” When Bell makes a play, it’s “HOLY SHIT WE NEEDED THAT!” He seems to be a go-to clutch guy, like McConkey was. When you need to convert a big play, the ball is going to him.