Georgia has an All-American at one safety spot and a TBD at the other entering 2024.
Malaki Starks put together an outstanding sophomore season on his way to consensus All-American status. Starks excelled alongside Javon Bullard, who held his own in his only season at safety before leaving for the NFL.
Starks is primed for another excellent season in Athens before likely heading to the pros himself. The question is who will fill the other spot at safety, where there are a number of obvious candidates.
There will be a number of players vying to fill Bullard’s role in the secondary, a list that includes super senior Dan Jackson, senior David Daniel-Sisavanh, junior JaCorey Thomas, sophomore Justyn Rhett, Alabama transfer Jake Pope, and true freshman KJ Bolden. Bolden seems like the wildcard in this chase, as the five-star prospect was seen as a huge get for Georgia but will have to learn quickly if he’s going to have a shot at starting in Year 1.
As I mentioned with cornerback and STAR, it’s no guarantee where all of Georgia’s defensive backs will line up this year. Georgia loves shifting guys to different spots in order to create the optimal lineup, and with two new defensive backs coaches on the staff, this edition of the secondary may look considerably different than what we expected.
The question at safety who will be in the mix to start opposite of Starks. It feels like Jackson, Daniel-Sisavanh, and Bolden will be obvious players there, but the talent in the room opens the door for several others to make their case. There’s also the possibility of Joenel Aguero moving from STAR to join this race, though I predict that will not happen.
Leave a Reply