Georgia football needs these spring standouts to get even better

ATHENS — The list of players on this Georgia roster who helped themselves this spring is long.

But a strong G-Day does not guarantee glory in the fall. Players have to keep improving through the summer months and brutal August practices.

So for players like tight end Jaden Reddell, offensive lineman Zykie Helton and defensive back Tyriq Green, the question entering fall camp pertains to how they can sustain previous gains.

Reddell was the most obvious star of Georgia’s spring game. He scored the game’s first touchdown while setting up another, thanks to an explosive run. Georgia hasn’t had a tight end who could do what Reddell flashed since Brock Bowers.

Reddell’s athleticism opens up potential avenues for the offense.

Through two seasons, Reddell has just three receptions. Even in a stacked tight end room, Reddell seems primed to blow past those totals.

“We had strength coaches get up yesterday in front of the team,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said Wednesday. They’ve spent more time with our team than anyone on our staff has over the last, let’s call it four months, I don’t know, end of April, May, June, July, they spent more time with our team than anyone. He was one of four players singled out by them for work ethic, intensity, PFE, buying in, but it’s not really in words with him.

“He’s not a man of a lot of words, and that’s not what PFE is. People think passion, fire, energy is words. It’s really holding yourself accountable to work at the standard or above the standard of what the team is. And they acknowledged him as one of the guys who’s done that.”

Things seemed to finally click for Reddell this offseason, now in his third year in Athens. With Oscar Delp moving on, Reddell is one of the older players at his position.

Green and Helton are on the opposite ends of the age gap. Both are freshmen.

Whereas Reddell played his high school football in Missouri, Green and Helton played for two of the better programs in Georgia. The two faced off in the 6A state championship game last season. They were the two best players on the field in that contest, won by Green’s Buford team.

Green isn’t the only Buford Wolf in Georgia’s program. Star safety KJ Bolden came from the same program. He knows the freshman defensive back has all the tools to be an immediate impact player.

“I feel like he does that great, showing up every day and just being himself,” Bolden said of Green. “And I feel like he got a chance to — he could do something this year if he just keeps his head on straight and just keeps on working. I feel like he can make a major impact.”

A year ago, Georgia saw two freshmen shine during fall camp. Juan Gaston and Dontrell Glover parlayed those performances into being instant contributors on the offensive line, a rarity at a place like Georgia.

Yet Helton is in a position to do the exact same thing just a year later. He could open the season as Georgia’s starting right guard, just as he did on G-Day.

“Obviously a hell of an athlete, a hell of a football player,” offensive tackle Earnest Greene said of Helton. “You wouldn’t be at this university if you weren’t, especially in the room that we’re in. I just like to speak to the type of person that he is, you know, the character. Really an energetic guy, bubbly, light-up-the-room type of person. Definitely a great addition for the O-line room, for what he can do on and off the field for sure.”

While there are examples of players who were able to play right away at Georgia, there are even more who can’t stack good days and sustain excellence. Lawson Luckie had a great spring as a freshman, only for an August ankle injury to derail his first season in Athens. He’s still proving to be a winning player for Georgia, even if it took him more time than some hoped.

The hype is high not just for Reddell, Helton and Green, but for most on the Georgia roster. That comes with wearing the red and black.

How they translate their spring success to the field this fall will go a long way in determining if this young Georgia team can win another national championship.