ESPN.com - UGA week in review: Talking DBs and OL

ESPN.com: Georgia Bulldogs

Saturday, March 16, 2013
UGA week in review: Talking DBs and OL

By David Ching

ATHENS, Ga. -- With Georgia on spring break, it has been a fairly quiet week around DawgNation before spring practice resumes on Tuesday and the NFL-bound Bulldogs hold their pro day on Thursday.

But we still kept readers up to date on football practice and recruiting with a number of updates this week.

On the team side, we took a look at a couple of key positions to watch this spring. The offensive line was by far the biggest question mark last year at this time, but the group returns everyone and should enjoy more reliable depth this spring and fall. And the secondary must replace three starters this season, so we took a look at some of the contenders who can help their causes this spring.

We also provided a quick update on former five-star defensive end Ray Drew, who hopes to continue his progress from late last season and emerge as a starter on the line this fall.

In addition, our friends at the SEC blog, Chris Low and Edward Aschoff, took a look at the top three teams in the SEC East -- Georgia, Florida and South Carolina -- and projected whether those teams will be pretenders or contenders this fall.

On the recruiting trail …

On the recruiting front, Kipp Adams and Radi Nabulsi were busy this week looking ahead toward the Bulldogs’ 2014 signing class.

Nabulsi took a look at some of the top tailback prospects on Georgia’s radar and where the Bulldogs stand in their recruitment.

And Adams identified some of the top offensive and defensive sleepers within the state who could become hot commodities this year.

Among the recruits they provided updates on this week were:

* ESPN Watch List tight end Jeb Blazevich

* ESPN Watch List defensive end Lorenzo Carter

* ESPN Watch List defensive end Dante Sawyer

* ESPN Watch List linebacker Bryson Allen-Williams

* ESPN Watch List safety (and UGA commit) Nick Glass

* ESPN Watch List offensive guard Rod Taylor

* Running back Shai McKenzie

* Outside linebacker Jacob Pugh

In non-football news …

Georgia’s NCAA tournament hopes went up in flames with a 68-63 loss to LSU in its first game in the SEC tournament, dropping the Bulldogs to 15-17 overall.

The Bulldogs applied for a spot in the NIT tournament, but as a team with a sub-.500 record they are unlikely to receive a spot in the 32-team field when selections are announced Sunday at 9 p.m. on ESPNU.

If their season is indeed over, the Bulldogs will next wait to see whether sophomore guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope -- who earlier this week was named SEC Player of the Year and scored a career-high 32 points against LSU -- will return for his junior season. Some draft projections list Caldwell-Pope as a late-first-round pick and ESPN’s Chad Ford lists him as the No. 31 prospect in the 2013 NBA draft should he leave school early.

Looking ahead to the 2013-14 season, our Recruiting Nation cohort Bob Przybylo caught up with UGA signee Juwan Parker to discuss his future as a Bulldogs guard.

Georgia’s baseball team opened SEC play on Friday night with a 4-1 loss at Texas A&M. The Bulldogs and Aggies square off Saturday at 3 p.m. and again Sunday at 1 p.m.

The Bulldogs (8-10, 0-1 SEC) wrapped up a nine-game homestand by splitting two midweek games against Appalachian State. The Bulldogs were 6-3 on the homestand, including a sweep of UAB and two wins in three games against Liberty.

They return home to face Furman at 5 p.m. on Tuesday and will host Alabama for a three-game series that starts Friday at 7 p.m.