Georgia Bulldogs: Five Potential Breakout Freshmen

Georgia Bulldogs defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt coaches against the Troy Trojans during the second half at Sanford Stadium. Shattle Fenteng will miss the remainder of the 2014 season, leaving Pruitt to fill the gap. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

It looks like Georgia came out on the winning side of the Roquan Smith sweepstakes.  Remember when he committed to UCLA over UGA on national television only to de-commit after hearing that his primary recruiter Jeff Ulbrich was taking a job with the Atlanta Falcons.  Smith opted to not sign a National Letter of Intent before giving a verbal commitment to the Georgia Bulldogs a few days later.

I think Dawg Nation exhaled collectively in relief when Smith showed up with his fellow classmates a few weeks back.  Now that he’s enrolled in classes at UGA, we can official say that Roquan Smith is a Dawg!  Like his classmate Natrez Patrick, I think Roquan can come in right away and compete for playing time at inside linebacker.  But part of me thinks that he can play a bit on the outside as a pass rusher, too.

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His versatility to play multiple linebacker positions has to make DC Jeremy Pruitt excited for Roquan Smith’s tenure as a member of the Georgia Bulldogs defense.  I doubt a pure talent like Smith gets red-shirted, but I think he would have to break the rotation on this inside if he wants to get meaningful snaps this fall.

However, I could see Smith being used in multiple defensive sets and line up in many different spots in the Dawgs defense in 2015.  I would liken it to how Lorenzo Carter contributed as a true freshman last season.  If Leonard Floyd isn’t able to play ILB like Pruitt wants, then perhaps we will get to see Roquan Smith play a lot on the inside in 2015.

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