Based on his comments back in the spring, Georgia defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt is seeing some improvement in the Bulldogs’ secondary during preseason camp. But he’s still a long way from tossing any bouquets toward that unit.
“I feel like right now I’ve got one guy who’s playing the way it’s supposed to be played in the secondary,” Pruitt told reporters on Tuesday. “We’ve got to find a lot more than that.”
Pruitt confirmed that one player to be senior cornerback Damian Swann. The rest of the defensive backfield, he said, remains a work in progress.
Georgia currently has underclassmen playing prominent roles at every other position in the secondary. Pruitt said he’s not anywhere close to establishing a depth chart.
“They’re just not complete football players yet,” Pruitt said. “But they’re young; they’re babies. And that goes back to realistic expectations. I’m not disappointed in any of them. But we’re talking about guys who can play winning football. That’s what it’s all about. Right now we’ve got one guy that can play winning football. We’ve got probably 10 or 11 other guys that possibly could.
“Are they there yet? Probably not.”
Defensive line coach Tracy Rocker was similarly unflattering about his group.
“No, ain’t no headliner. We ain’t done nothing yet,” he said of his nine charges. “I just need them to stay together and play together and the rest of it will take care of itself. But a headliner, that ain’t going to help against Clemson. We’ve got to play and learn to play correctly and play for great effort as a unit and wait for our time.”
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