Georgia football preseason practice report, what we saw on Day 1

[ASFN Admin]

Georgia football didn’t let a little rain stop it from getting after it in its first practice of the preseason.

Media members were granted access Wednesday afternoon to about 25 minutes of a practice. The first 15 minutes or so were in the indoor facility, and then when the weather cleared up, practice moved outdoors.

It was a rare opportunity to set eyes on the Bulldogs outside of game days and was a reminder of how fast-pace the practice is under Kirby Smart.

“We’re on the clock,” Smart told the players on his ever-present mic at the end of the final period while we were out there. “We’ve got less than three minutes left.”

Here are some quick hit observations of what we saw.

Georgia football first fall camp practice observations​

• Nate Frazier has that burst. He looked quick during an early drill as the running back jitterbugged down the field after making a catch. Later, a Ryan Puglisi pass on a quick hitter with Frazier at the line of scrimmage was low and Frazier got a second chance and made the catch.
• Defensive lineman Jordan Hall, who was limited to eight games last season due to a knee injury, was practicing in a regular jersey with the defensive lineman.
• Freshman running back Jae Lamar stayed on his feet after getting a knock from linebacker Zayden Walker in a drill where players weren’t tackled.
• Terrell Foster, Zayden Walker and AJ Kurah worked in an inside linebackers drill right behind Raylen Wilson, Chris Cole and Justin Williams.

• We made sure to check out offensive coordinator Mike Bobo sporting a mustache, a fact that tight end Lawson Luckie was asked about earlier in the day. “We were joking with the O-line,” Luckie said. “We couldn’t pinpoint who we thought it looked like, but we’re alright with it. I like it.”
• Working at the safety spot opposite KJ Bolden in one individual drill were Zion Branch, Khalil Barnes, Kyron Jones, Rasean Dinkins and Zech Fort. Smart instructed forcefully to defenders to knock the ball down from the wideouts.
• The offensive linemen were going through a drill in groups of 3. Offensive line coach Phil Rauscher called for the ones on the right side of the line with Drew Bobo at center, freshman Zykie Helton at right guard and Juan Gaston at right tackle. Working with support staffer Warren Ericson, the former Bulldog lineman, were left tackle Earnest Greene, left guard Dontrell Glover and center Cortez Smith. Behind the Bobo three-man group were Malachi Toliver, Michael Uini and Jahzare Jackson and behind the Greene group were freshman Ekene Ogboko, Marcus Harrison, Henry Peagler. Daniel Calhoun is listed at 6-foot-6 and 325 pounds but he looked bigger than that to me.
• Didn’t notice any injuries, but tight end Jaden Reddell did ask for some eyedrops once the practice moved outdoors. “Feel the heat and the humidity,” one coach could be heard saying elsewhere on the field. Temperatures were a relatively cool 80 degrees.
• Georgia’s new radio broadcasters were spotted: Jeff Dantzler and Jon Stinchcomb.
• I feel like I’ve written this before. Kirby Smart loves him some guys who are on the punt coverage team. He said on the mic that the highest draft picks and best players were on the punt team.
• Saw punter Drew Miller boom a kick that seemed to hang in the air for a good while before Sacovie-White Helton caught it. Craig Dandridge also caught punts with White-Helton earlier from a ball machine.

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Georgia football preseason practice report, what we saw on Day 1

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