If there’s one thing you can count on with the Georgia Bulldogs, it’s an intense focus on defense. It’s not surprising, considering Kirby Smart presided over some of the nation’s top defenses at Alabama before replacing Mark Richt. His approach bore fruit in his 2nd season: The Dawgs were a top 5 team in points and total yards allowed. But it’s their ability to stop the run that has become their trademark, ranking 1st in rushing defense in 2020, 3rd in 2019 and 12th in 2017.

That being said, Georgia has been susceptible to a few substandard performances from its secondary. Granted, Mac Jones and Kyle Trask were a challenge to almost everyone a year ago, but it’s a little more head-scratching when Will Rogers is picking your defense apart.

So the defense was good but far from perfect last year. This year will feature a number of questions as the Dawgs look to establish themselves as a championship contender out of the gate as Clemson looms for a Week 1 matchup in Charlotte. Here are 5 things that will define it in Smart’s 6th season:

1. A new-look secondary and how quickly everyone can mesh

The turnover (no pun intended) in the secondary is probably my No. 1 concern with this team going into 2021. With JT Daniels, a strong wide receiving and pass-catching corps even without George Pickens, and a stacked running back room, Georgia shouldn’t struggle to pile up yards and points.

But look at the names in the secondary who aren’t here anymore: DJ Daniel, Eric Stokes, Richard LeCounte, Mark Webb, Tyson Campbell. Oh, and Tyrique Stephenson, who’s at Miami now. That’s a great deal of experience out the door, and it’s bound to have some effect on the defense. And that’s no disrespect intended to players like Christopher Smith or Lewis Cine, who should be 2 of the focal points in 2021, or Latavious Brini, largely untested but a player who had a strong finish to the year.

Cornerback is where it gets tricky. We don’t know what we’ll get from Kelee Ringo, who was expected to push Daniel and Stokes in the rotation before a labrum injury sidelined him last year. Nyland Green, a true freshman, might be in the mix to get some immediate playing time, along with 2nd-year freshman Jalen Kimber. Ameer Speed should hold down the 2nd CB slot across from Ringo but hasn’t seen significant time there since his arrival in 2017.

2. … but Tykee Smith changes the equation in a big way

While Cine and Christopher Smith should be focal points, all eyes will be on Tykee Smith. And Smart has Jahmile Addae, who came over from West Virginia to take Charlton Warren’s place as defensive backs coach, to thank for luring an experienced and talented defender from Morgantown to Athens.

For all the jokes about Big 12 defense, Tykee Smith ranked as one of the top players in the conference, and by all accounts, it shouldn’t take him long to get acclimated to his new surroundings. At West Virginia, he played a position called a “Spear,” a safety/linebacker hybrid position similar to the Star spot in Smart’s defense.

Having Tykee Smith in a secondary that will already include Cine and Christopher Smith should help Bulldogs fans feel much better about the situation heading into next season, especially considering the number of players who have departed.

3. The defensive line continuing its tradition of dominance in the Kirby Smart era

As mentioned, Georgia’s strength is its defensive line. The Dawgs held 8 of their 10 opponents to fewer than 100 yards last season — and 4 managed 40 yards or less. Their best performance came against Tennessee, with the Volunteers frustrated into negative-1 yards of rushing on 27 tries.

It’s probably a matter of when defensive line Tray Scott will depart for a defensive coordinator or head coaching job elsewhere and not if, but he’s built an absolute top-line unit in Athens. And it should be more of the same in 2021 as the group largely stays intact outside of Malik Herring on the end — but Travon Walker will have no issues filling that spot.

It’s fair to say that this defensive line is the best in the SEC and will be hard to break down once more this coming season.

4. Nolan Smith and Adam Anderson picking up where Azeez Ojulari left off in the pass-rushing department

The secondary wasn’t the only unit that experienced departures. Azeez Ojulari, in a non-pandemic world, would have been a 3-and-out player anyway, and the redshirt sophomore confirmed his status as a top-level NFL prospect with a league-leading 8.5 sacks and 12.5 tackles for loss overall. A full season would have seen the Atlanta-area native easily hit double-digit sacks, maybe even taking a run at Jarvis Jones’ single-season record of 14.5 in 2012.

Enter Adam Anderson, who delivered 6.5 sacks and will settle in at Ojulari’s Jack linebacker slot in 2021, along with Nolan Smith, who added 2.5 sacks and will be a much bigger part of the pass rush. But Anderson should be the standout, and if the Rome, Ga., product cracks that double-digit sack number, it shouldn’t come as a surprise. It certainly won’t surprise Ojulari, who predicted as much during an interview in April.

Simply put, the Dawgs should be OK here with Anderson running the show.

5. How much will we see of the new guys, anyway?

The 4th-best recruiting class in the country featured a number of highly-ranked defense stars, none bigger than 5-star linebackers Xavian Sorey and Smael Mondon. Green, mentioned earlier, was also added to the mix, as was safety David Daniel (no relation to DJ), 4-star defensive end Jonathan Jefferson, defensive tackle Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins and Marlin Dean, and cornerback Javon Bullard, who all enrolled early. Linebacker Jamon Dumas-Johnson and cornerback Kamari Lassiter are among those that will arrive in the fall.

Georgia’s depth might make it difficult for Dean, Ingram-Dawkins and Jefferson to see significant time, but there’s certainly a case for Mondon and Sorey to see the field immediately with some gaps to fill behind the returnees at linebacker. The absence of depth at cornerback, on the other hand, provides a path for Green to place himself in the mix along with Lassiter.

Outside of cornerback, they won’t need to do the heavy lifting this year, but how the incoming recruits do will set a course for how the program will look in 2022.

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