Who Is Going to Join Malaki Starks in The Back End?

Georgia is heading into the off-season with a battle brewing in the back end. Christopher Smith declared for the draft in late January. Georgia is returning Malaki Starks who had a tremendous freshman season. That leaves a spot open and there will be many guys trying to win that spot.

Dan Jackson suffered a stress fracture in his foot last year in October. That was when Malaki Starks started to take the majority of the reps in the second slot. Dan Jackson played a huge role on the 2021 team and that pathed the way for him to be the starter during the 2022 season. He has a nose for the ball and has plausible speed on the back end to get to a pass. You could probably say that Dan Jackson is the early favorite to be the starter next to Starks in the 2023 season.

Tykee Smith is the next man that will get a good look for that position. He has a lot of experience on the field and has battled through some injuries in his time. It looks like he will finally be fully healthy and going to have a great opportunity to compete for this job. He got a good amount of playing time throughout the season at the star position. I think Javon Bullard has that spot pretty locked up, so if Tykee is going to see the field it’s going to be at the safety position.

David Daniel has also been a guy who has gotten consistent playing time in garbage time. He has shown that he is a very confident tackler and when he hits you he is going to let you know. However, in limited action his pass coverage and communication has been poor. That might be from lack of in game reps but he has had time in practice to fix it. If he wants to make a run for this job the coverage will have to step up.

The final name is Jacorey Thomas. He was a freshman last season, but like most of these freshman got some good playing time last year. He recorded a tackle in the national championship game against TCU and against Mississippi State. In limited film, he has some good coverage instincts and has some good sideline to sideline speed. He would be my dark horse to win this job. It will take a lot of effort and a great spring, summer, and fall camp. However Jacorey Thomas is definitely up for the challenge.