We continue our position-by-position preview of your 2024 Georgia Bulldogs with a look at a group that mixes some solid veteran returners as well as some of the most intriguing young players on the roster.
Georgia has had a lot of luck for a personnel standpoint at a lot of positions under Kirby Smart.
But it would be hard to argue that Georgia’s been much better at any position in recent memory than the Bulldogs were at safety in 2023. The Red and Black entered the season with first team preseason All-American Javon Bullard at one spot and post-season first team All-American Malaki Starks at the other. Between them they combined for 5 of Georgia’s 14 interceptions on the season, along with 12 pass breakups and a whole lot of other assorted defensive havoc.
Bullard of course is now turning heads as he battles for the starting safety position for the Green Bay Packers. Also gone from 2023 is Tykee Smith, who despite less fanfare than Bullard and Starks led the Bulldogs in tackles, tackles for loss, and interceptions in a stellar season that catapulted him to an NFL opportunity. The Bulldogs will also be without Daniel David-Sisavanh, who started in place of the injured Bullard in 2023 and was expected to vie for a starting spot in 2024, but was dismissed from the team after a speeding incident in Atlanta during which he fled from police.
Starks, however, is back for his third season in Athens, a projected 2025 first round pick and the clear leader of the safety rotation. He’s not only the best player in the Bulldog secondary. The Jefferson native is one of the veteran leaders of the entire defense, and one reason to think that unit could be exceptional this season.
The real battle centers on who will join Starks on the back end of the Bulldog defense. Among the lead contenders for the other safety spot are a couple of players who picked up valuable experience in 2023. Jacory Thomas has been a bit of a forgotten man during his time in Athens. The Orlando native came to Georgia in the class of 2022 along with Starks having never really played safety, but he’s learned on the job over the past two seasons, and now the 6’0, 200 pound Thomas is in position to contend for a starting spot at either safety or Star.
He’s not alone. Graduate student Dan Jackson returns for his sixth season in the Classic City. It’s easy to forget that Jackson is still technically a walk-on, though in the NIL era he’s actually making more money than you did from your student employment. The 6’1, 190 pound Gainesville native is the most senior member of the secondary and will be a key player at safety even if he doesn’t win the starting spot, with his veteran presence providing a nice security blanket for the staff.
Also fighting to start opposite Starks but at the exact opposite end of the hype scale from Jackson is Joenel Aguero. Aguero came to Georgia as a 5 star prospect, one of the top 30 in the nation for the class of 2023. The 5’11, 205 pound Massachusetts native saw action in 12 contests as a true freshman, accumulating 7 tackles, a pass breakup and blocked punt. Not a bad debut at all.
Aguero is a physical specimen who simply needs to put it all together to make a bigger impact. I expect that to happen, but I think it may be at the Star spot rather than at safety. I suspect there’ll be a period where we see him cross-training at both, along with Thomas, before they each settle into a more permanent slot.
The veterans discussed above are almost certain to get the lion’s share of snaps at safety. But as always, the real excitement among fans centers on the newcomers. Perhaps chief among these is true freshman KJ Bolden. The 6’1, 205 pound five star was among the Crown Jewels of Kirby’s 2024 recruiting class, the #1 safety prospect in the nation and the #15 player in the nation according to 247Sports. Bolden will absolutely see the field as a freshman. His physical tools are just too impressive to keep him off the field, and that’s before you consider the solid positive reviews he received this spring from the coaches for his field smarts and work ethic. While Bolden may yet need to acclimate to the college game, he may be the bell cow of this group by the time we head to 2025.
He’ll be joined by Alabama transfer and fellow former Buford Wolf Jake Pope. Pope enrolled in Tuscaloosa as a four star prospect in 2022, but never saw the field as a true freshman and played in only one game on defense in 2023. Nevertheless Pope turned in an exciting Bulldog debut at G Day, tallying 4 tackles with a pass breakup in the back of the end zone to prevent a score, despite wearing a club cast on one hand.
Kirby Smart has been adamant over the years that he doesn’t bring in transfers to sit the bench. There’s every reason to think he saw something that made him think Pope is more than the sum of his minimal Crimson Tide statistics. What exactly that is will be among my more anticipated 2024 questions.
Another player to watch will be redshirt freshman Kyron Jones. Jones came to Georgia having played mostly tailback in high school but drew early attention with his performance in fall camp last year at safety. He returned an interception for a score in the opener against UT-Martin before being sidelined for the remainder of the season. Jones has solid size, excellent ball skills, and elite speed. Look for the staff to find opportunities to get him on the field, if not at safety then at the nickel.
Georgia also has redshirt freshman Justyn Rhett available at safety. Rhett recorded only one tackle in 2023 in the only game in which he saw action (week two against Ball State). While it’s too early to call this a make or break year for his Bulldog career, it’s tough to see where he’d fit in the rotation if he doesn’t earn playing time this season.
Not So Reckless Safety Predictions for 2024
* Dan Jackson starts against Clemson opposite Malaki Starks.
* KJ Bolden makes an impact on special teams before moving into the rotation at safety by the Mississippi State game.
* JaCory Thomas finishes in the top 3 on the team in interceptions.
* Malaki Starks goes in the top 40 picks of the 2025 NFL Draft.
Until later….
Go ‘Dawgs!!!