JT Daniels, Jordan Davis to represent UGA at SEC Media Days

ATHENS – Georgia chose JT Daniels and Jordan Davis as its player representatives for SEC Football Media Days, which get underway Monday in Birmingham.

Neither choice is particularly surprising. Daniels, a junior, is the Bulldogs’ incumbent starter at quarterback and carries some of the best odds among SEC players to be a Heisman Trophy contender at the end of the season. Davis, a 6-foot-6, 340-pound senior nose guard, bypassed the NFL draft to return for one more season at Georgia.

Normally, the SEC invites three players from each school for Media Days. But after canceling the annual preseason talkfest last year – scheduled to be held in Atlanta – amid the growing coronavirus pandemic concerns, the league opted to proceed cautiously this year by cutting down on the number of players and credentialed media members in attendance.

Of course, Georgia’s sixth-year coach Kirby Smart will be in attendance. Smart and the Bulldogs are to take the main stage in the grand ballroom at the Wynfrey Hotel at 10 a.m. ET on Tuesday. The event begins Monday with Florida coach Dan Mullen, LSU coach Ed Orgeron and South Carolina coach Shane Beamer, a former UGA assistant. It will conclude Thursday.

The SEC Network is providing 46 hours of live coverage of the four-day event.

Daniels, a 6-3, 210-pound junior, started Georgia’s final four games of the 2020 season after sitting out the first six contests because of precautions from a 2019 knee surgery. The Bulldogs went 4-0 in those games, as Daniels completed 67% of his passes for 1,231 yards and 10 touchdowns with two interceptions. He threw for 392 yards and a touchdown while leading the Bulldogs to three fourth-quarter scoring drives in Georgia’s come-from-behind win over No. 8 Cincinnati in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.

Daniels transferred to UGA last summer after spending his first two seasons at Southern Cal. Daniels started every game he played for the Trojans as a freshman, but had to sit out his sophomore season after suffering an ACL injury in the season-opening game. He left USC with 2,887 yards passing, 15 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.

Davis earned second-team All-American honors last season despite missing three contests because of injuries. A 15-game starter at nose guard, Davis has developed from a 3-star signee into an almost unblockable force in the middle of Georgia’s defense. In the Peach Bowl last season, he had three solo tackles, a sack and a blocked field-goal attempt in the Bulldogs’ 24-21 victory.

2021 SEC Media Days players

Alabama

· Phidarian Mathis, DL, Senior

· John Metchie, WR, Junior

Arkansas

· Myron Cunningham, OL, Senior

· Grant Morgan, LB, Senior

Auburn

· Bo Nix, QB, Junior

· Owen Pappoe, LB, Junior

Florida

· Zach Carter, DL, Senior