REACTION: Georgia Ranked No. 5 In Preseason Poll
The Associated Press released their preseason top-25 poll on Monday, and the Georgia Bulldogs were tabbed as the No. 5 team in college football.
Georgia came in ahead of Texas A&M, Iowa State, Cincinnati, Notre Dame, and North Carolina. The only schools in front of the Bulldogs were Alabama, Oklahoma, Clemson, and Ohio State.
Georgia has been the odds on favorite to win the SEC East for quite some time now, and this poll reflects that. The only other ranked team from the division is the Florida Gators, who came in at the No. 13 spot.
No. 5 feels fair at this point. Georgia has a wealth of all-conference talent on both sides of the ball and has a few question marks in key areas.
The biggest question surrounding the team at this point is who will be the No. 1 playmaker? Wide receiver George Pickens is coming off an ACL surgery and won't be available for months.
The team brought in LSU transfer Arik Gilbert to fill that void, but Gilbert is away from the team dealing with personal issues at the moment. That leaves sophomore wideout Jermaine Burton as the No. 1 target to start the season.
Burton had a strong freshman campaign but hasn't been asked to be the guy in an offense to date. Sources say that the Bulldogs could fill the void with multiple players, creating an X-receiver by committee.
Georgia is also counting on players to take that next step this season. They have multiple players who carved out rotational roles for themselves in the past, but now will have to become starters.
With all that being said, the Bulldogs are in a good place. They have cornerstone pieces set up: their coaching staff is in lockstep, quarterback JT Daniels and defensive tackle Jordan Davis are returning, and the team plays a friendly schedule.
There are only four teams above Georgia in this poll, and you can make a well-reasoned argument that the Bulldogs should expect to compete with them this year. Keep in mind that this is not an argument for why Georgia should be No. 1, rather, an argument for why they can compete with the teams in front of them.
Alabama and Ohio State faced off in the national title game a year ago. The two schools have rich traditions but are both entering similar scenarios. They will be installing new quarterbacks into their offenses, whereas Georgia returns one of the best signal-callers in the nation.
Oklahoma returns Heisman candidate quarterback Spencer Rattler this year. By himself, Rattler figures to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. However, the Bulldogs have more collective defensive talent than the Sooners.
Clemson is very similar to Georgia this year. Both schools return the majority of their roster and staff and have quarterbacks that have big-game experience. You are splitting hairs with these two, but you get a definitive answer come September 4.
