Making The Case: Georgia's Cornerback Battle

The battle to replace Kelee Ringo at corner is shaping up to be a fierce competition between a group of highly talented former blue-chip prospects.

While Kamari Lassiter returns to Georgia's secondary as a preseason All-SEC First Team selection, the departure of Kelee Ringo, a multi-year starter at cornerback, has left the Bulldogs searching for an answer at corner opposite Lassiter. While experience is limited among the leading contenders for the position, the group is overflowing with talent and whoever ultimately lays claim to the job will have edged out a number of other former blue-chip prospects. 

Coming out of spring drills, the competition to replace Kelee Ringo had largely evolved into a three-headed battle with true sophomores Daylan Everette and Julian Humphrey and redshirt sophomore Nyland Green, with heralded 5-star freshman A.J. Harris knocking on the door himself. However, with fall camp opening this week, nothing has been decided and the competition will be fierce throughout the next several weeks leading up to Georgia's opening game against Tennessee-Martin.

Everette, who has the most playing experience out of the group of contenders, is as complete of a player as Georgia has at the position. A former top-20 prospect nationally, his size, athleticism, and ball skills are all elite for the position. While his ceiling remains to be seen, with such a strong skill set the sophomore corner has an extremely high floor and can be counted on to be a consistent defender for the Bulldogs. 

Daylan Everette (6) backed-up Kelee Ringo at corner last year for Georgia and is looking to lay claim to the starting role himself during fall camp

Green, a former highly coveted high school prospect in his own right, has not seen much playing time at corner through his first two years in Athens but embraced a role on special teams where he worked diligently to help the team win. At 6-foot-1, 185 pounds, Green, like Everette, possesses impressive size for the position and has strong athleticism to boot. He battled Kamari Lassiter down to the wire for Georgia's cornerback spot left vacant by Derion Kendrick last fall before ultimately falling short, but is looking to take the next step and take advantage of a second opportunity to win a starting cornerback position.

Julian Humphrey, a former top-100 prospect, is perhaps the most physically gifted of the group contending for Georgia's open cornerback spot. At 6-foot-1, 200 pounds, he possesses the ideal size for the position and with a verified 10.5 100-meter time, his speed and athleticism are elite. Humphrey's challenge has been refining his technique at the position and mastering the details of playing the position at a high level. At this point, he is perhaps the most physically gifted option but is also the least technically sound of the group, something he hopes to improve upon through fall camp.

Julian Humphrey (12) lines up against South Carolina's Antwane Wells Jr.. A strong spring put Humphrey in the thick of the competition to replace Kelee Ringo at corner

The wild card at the position is freshman A.J. Harris. The top-30 national prospect in the 2023 class enrolled early and took part in Georgia's spring practice, where he made significant strides and put himself in a position to have a shot to make a move during fall camp. Harris has extremely strong physical attributes, making it impossible to completely count him out of the competition, but, like most freshmen, he also needs to continue to work towards polishing his physical skill set in order to pose a legitimate threat to lay claim to the position. 

While it is true that whoever wins Georgia's cornerback competition during fall camp will be deficient of experience, the talent in the room is palpable, giving the Bulldogs reason to hope that they can find a legitimate answer to Kelee Ringo's departure to the NFL.