It’s been too long of an offseason and only a little over a week remains until the Dawgs tee it up to start the season. Plenty of content out there about our 2026 team, how we stack up against college football’s elite, projected win/loss record, how Lane Kiffin impossibly became even more dislikable over the offseason, etc. I don’t have anything unique to add in those arenas. But, I do have some thoughts on what I’d like to see, maybe some things I’d rather not see, and a warm/hot take or two for Georgia’s 2026 season. Enjoy and let me know your thoughts.
- More Dwight Phillips. He’s the fastest guy on the team and has shown some big play promise. I get it, he’s not a huge guy and isn’t going to remind anyone of Earl Campbell. I’m not asking for him to play the Josh McCray role from last season and I’m not asking for 15+ touches a game. I just want us to scheme some ways to get him the ball with a little space to work with. Maybe 4-5 touches a game in non-garbage time moments?
- Could we ease up on the 3rd and long WR screens a little bit? I know, I know…Branch was a unique talent and he averaged over 7 yards per reception on WR screens last year. He even broke a couple for really big gains and/or touchdowns. But, we also killed more than a couple drives when we telegraphed WR screens and/or got holding penalties on the outside. If we’re using the WR screen on early downs and getting 7+ yards to get us in favorable down and distance, you won’t hear a complaint out of me. But, running an essentially announced WR screen on 3rd and 12…not a fan.
- Wouldn’t it be cool to see our TE’s catch more passes? Todd Hartley has put together the deepest TE room in the history of college football (hyperbole?) with a blend of size, speed and skills. It would seem criminal to finish any game where the TE group has 2-3 receptions for 20 yards. Surely we can create some mismatches with this group and take advantage of this crazy deep situation.
- Can we do something about the slow starts on defense? It definitely got better towards the end of the year, but DAMN…those games against Tennessee, Bama and Ole Miss gave me some stomach ulcers. We’ve got some great defensive personnel, playing experience and coaching stability…surely this won’t happen again, right?
- Get to the quarterback. I’m not talking about just sacks (although more would be nice). If we can at least get consistent pressure (especially on obvious passing downs), mess up the timing of plays, force incompletions and get off the field on third down, that’s good enough for me. I don’t want to have any more sleepless nights thinking of Trinidad Chambliss playing sandlot football in the Sugar Bowl. Maybe Chris Cole turns into Jalon Walker? Loved what I saw out of Zayden Walker to close the season, is he one of the answers? Will Elijah Griffin be the catalyst to get more pressure? Harris and Johnson should only be better. We’ve got some guys like Linton, Ikinnagbon and Gibson entering their second year…at least one of them can help the cause, right? My point being…we don’t lack talent to get this done. It needs to happen.
- Use the whole field on offense. We have a quarterback entering his 5th year in the program. We almost certainly have the best TE room in the country (see #3). Humphreys has shown his receiving versatility, we went to the portal and landed a proven commodity in Canion, Sacovie is in his 3rd year, Talyn Taylor was a borderline 5-star talent, CJ Wiley and Craig Dandridge were both top 20 WR recruits. I don’t see any reason we shouldn’t be able to competently throw and complete passes somewhere other than the sidelines. Last I checked, a football field is 53.3 yards wide, but we tend to focus on that space 10 yards inside of each sideline. Hell, I’d be thrilled to see us target receivers running more than 5 yards beyond the line of scrimmage. If we get a nasty case of the “dropsies” or our receivers prove they can’t get separation, I’ll (un)happily admit I’m wrong.
- Who is going to be the player that has “been killing it in the offseason” that will not meet impossibly high expectations. This could be called the Carlton Thomas award. Note: This does not mean I think someone is a bad player. I’m going with Talyn Taylor on offense. It’s not because Taylor isn’t a supremely talented dude, or I have a low opinion of him. I think he is likely the best wide receiver on the team. I just don’t think he’ll get the targets for one reason or another. On defense…I’ll go with Elijah Griffin. He’s a total dude and I think he’s going to be great…but I think a lot of people are expecting a Jalen Carter level of play and that’s unicorn stuff. I’ve been wrong many times before. I definitely don’t want to be right on either of these takes.
- Who will be the player who produces more than expected? Maybe this could be called the Donald Glover award. Can’t say Zykie Helton because he’s already appeared to crack the OL starting lineup. I’ll take a guess with Craig Dandridge. I know he’s made some noise in the offseason and had a lot of targets at G-Day, but I think he still qualifies. It’s tough for freshmen WR’s to get a lot of opportunities, but I think Dandridge will earn some snaps and make some meaningful plays…also biased because Dandridge attended Cambridge High School, where both of my boys go currently. On defense, I’ll go with Tyriq Green. He’s a total Kirby “football player” guy…played for a great HS program, played at a high level on offense, defense, special teams…think he’s got an opportunity to make an impact.
- When the throat is exposed, step on it. I can’t say this was a recurring theme last year because we played in a LOT of tight games. But, flashbacks to the Tennessee game continue to haunt me. We had two very good opportunities in the second half to extend a lead, kill their spirit and we did very little with either of them. I love a good run heavy, soul crushing drive as much as the next guy…but I’ll take points however we can get them when those opportunities arise. Instead, we got all of 3 points on those 2 drives (if memory serves me correct), Tennessee hits on a deep touchdown pass on their next drive, we’re back in a dogfight, and needed a huge play combined with a small miracle to get the win.
- Keep Gunner healthy. I’m on record as saying Gunner is the toughest QB in the nation…that’s CFB and the NFL. Some of the hits that guy took last year and was able to still get up, play the next down and lead the team was otherworldly. I don’t want to take his legs out of the game because he’s great on keepers and can move the chains on broken plays. That’s a big part of his differentiation and value. I just want to keep the guy in one piece for the entire season because it sounds like the backup QB situation is…unsettled? I don’t know how any of this looks in a game situation, but I trust coaches will make sure Gunner is keenly aware of the risk/reward scenario when it comes to potentially big hits.
- Bonus Take – Ellis Robinson wins the Thorpe award. Towards the end of the year, he began to turn into the lockdown CB many of us envisioned. Think he’ll take home some hardware at the end of the year and be a first rounder.
Would love to hear what all of you would like to see (or not see) this season and some of your warm/hot takes for this 2026 team. Looking forward to Week 1 and being back in touch with the GTP Refugee community.
I would add “crossing routes” and DBs looking for the ball to the list.
I think the answer to your #1 is going to be strongly impacted by your #2. I envision the Peanut Screen being implemented this season to get him more touches in space. He and Sacovie White will be the new Cash and Branch roles for those type plays. I wouldn’t mind seeing a little bit of the ole tunnel screen being used for Peanut though.
In those 4 minute situations prior to half time/after half time, CKS will have some field position moments where Special Teams play are front and center
….GO DAWGS!!
I want what I always want:
Domination along the los. Rtdb. Stop the run. Win special teams. Mistake free. Protect the ball. Get an early lead and slowly choke them out.
Make them quit. Make them wince when they see us on next year’s schedule. No sliver of hope. No, “we’ll get them next time.”
Deprive them of any joy in playing the game.
We score 30 and up. They never get to double digits.
For this particular year, I hope our defense is as salty as I expect as it might take a while to develop an offensive identity. We’ll know sometime during the OK game whether we are a real threat, or whether we’re a work in progress that may not be around for the big prizes in the end.
A lot of what happens on offense will fall on Gunner’s shoulders. He’s going to really need to be on point if he’s going to incorporate all the new contributors we’ll need if we are going anywhere. We basically have 2 guys on offense who were productive last year: 3 and 7. Neither are top NFL picks. Who is the AJ Green, Pickens, Bowers who you get the ball too when you need a play?
Lots of potential, but can they become a cohesive unit that has confidence when playing top defenses? TBD…
I have another “Questions” post coming this Sunday, but in the meantime, I’ll weigh in on some of your choices. I think Peanut will play plenty of downs, but until he can break tackles he won’t be a feature back. 2, 3, and 6 will improve if Gunner can see more of the field. He really struggled with getting to his third reads, early bc the OL stunk at pass pro, and late bc he was seeing ghosts. 4 and 5 will be solved by a better DL, which will be helped by an excellent secondary. Other than Griffin, who should level up this year and be unblockable by playoff time, the DL isn’t exciting to me. But giving experienced guys one more second to break through is all the pass rushers need. And I’ve been stoked about Dandridge since I saw his HS film a year ago, so I’m on that bandwagon with you.
NATTY OR BUST!
***love your eleven
Score 35 in the first 20 minutes of the first two games, then let the the backup QB situation sort itself out.
Beat Florida at the Benz. Everything else is gravy. FTMF’s.
Dominate at the line of scrimmage. Hope we have a couple line of scrimmage TE’s. Exterminate the injury bug. Average 330 yards rushing, 225 passing, 65% passing completion percentage. More 3rd and short yardage situation on offense. More 3rd and 5 yards plus on defense. Finding a Thorson replacement. Offensive linemen blocking at the 3rd level in the 2nd half.
Jury still out on Peanut. I can think of several players in the past who had extraordinary straight-line speed that didn’t translate well on the football field.
Beat Bama by any means
Break the nerd streak
Beat both of them in dominant fashion.
Your number 3 (TE involvement) and number 5 (pressuring the QB) are the only things I am genuinely hoping to see more of this year. If those two things are happening, I’m thinking everything else is humming.
Love the list. Add CMB demonstrating growth as an OC and use the 13 grouping.