There is joy — great joy — in stockpiling talent and abusing opposing defenses with all your weapons. That’s what’s happening at Georgia these days, where depth at the skill positions is off the charts.

There’s never been a time where the Bulldogs have had so many 5-star recruits on offense at the same time. The list is impressive.

The naysayers will rail on that there have been plenty of talented Georgia offenses before, and many of them fell flat on their collective faces come crunch time. That’s true, sadly, but this level of talent is different. They’re five deep with studs at running back, and basically the same at wide receiver, with a tight end in the mix (Isaac Nauta) to boot who would love to see the ball more.

Lots of 5-stars is great, right? Well, there is one person all those recruiting stars doesn’t matter to. That’s Georgia coach Kirby Smart. Once the highly-touted legends are on campus, it’s all fair game. Competition rages on, regardless of rankings.

“How they came in does not matter to us. You mention coming in highly regarded, that means absolutely nothing,” Smart said earlier this week when asked about all the talent in the receivers room. “Every time you guys print something about the receivers, it’s about how many 5-stars are in there, but the guys that are playing the best right now, none of them had 5 stars. We go off performance.

“The receiver position is where do you help the team the most? Can you cover a kick?  Can you block somebody? Can you make a play outside on the perimeter that nobody can make? Right now, that has nothing to do with what you were regarded as coming in.

“Is the culture of competition good? Absolutely. Maybe those guys that were 3-stars and 4-stars have outworked the guys that were 5-stars. All we do is say who is playing well? And right now, the guys that are playing best at receiver were not the highly regarded guys. We’re going to play the guys that are playing the best, practicing the best and bust their butt and go out and help the team. A lot of them are helping on special teams. I’m very pleased with our receivers’ room, top to bottom. I think they are competing hard, playing hard and making good plays. I’m into the team environment. Can you help our team? If you can, then I’m going to reward you by helping our team. There’s no promises of touches or catches. The goal is to win the game.”

This has been standard operation procedure for Smart since the spring. The veterans with snappy resumes who aren’t living up to his expectations have  been called out in his media sessions. It’s more general than specific, but he’s put them on notice. With so much depth around, chances for playing time are at a premium. And it will be earned. That’s a guarantee from Smart and his coaches.

For instance, at wide receiver, Terry Godwin and Riley Ridley are expected to have big years, and now 5-star transfer Demetris Robertson has been added into the mix.

And then there’s 5-star Mecole Hardman, who knows how to make plays, and in a variety of way.

Can I take you back to January? It’s just one of those plays that you  have to watch, over and over.

If 5-star recruits can fly under the radar, it seems like Hardman is doing that right now. Reeling off a list of talented players, his name often isn’t the first one mentioned, but when the time comes, he’s going to be a factor. He’ll catch passes, run sweeps and, of course, probably be a big factor in the return game.

The one problem? That issue of only one football.

“We’re trying to get the guys on the field that need to touch the ball or can play without the ball,” Smart said. “Sometimes there’s a loss for our support base, fan base for the respect for the guy who doesn’t have the ball because there’s only one ball and 11 guys out there, so the guy without the ball better have a lot more value than just the guy with the ball. ”

Hardman had 25 catches for 418 yards and 4 touchdowns a year ago, and  ran the ball eight times for another 61 yards and a touchdown. He scored both of Georgia’s touchdowns in the championship game. He also was Georgia’s special teams MVP, ranking eighth nationally in punt returns (first in the SEC) at 11.8 yards and 21st in kickoff returns (2nd in the SEC) at 25.3 yards.

There’s no guarantee yet about Hartman’s role in special teams, and even at receiver, for that matter. But when  the time comes, you can know that he is going to make plays. That’s just what he does.