Projected Cornerback Depth Chart After Recent Developments

Dawgs Daily is updating the projected depth charts for cornerback and nickel to address recent additions to the defense.

Georgia football's cornerback room radically changed over the last month. The group has gone from one of the shallowest on the team to perhaps being as deep as any position.

The catalysts for that change are Lovasea Carroll and Tykee Smith. Carroll signed in December as a running back, but he moved to cornerback at the beginning of spring and has reportedly exceeded expectations. 

Smith ventures to Athens by way of the transfer portal. He earned All-America honors at West Virginia in 2020 as a centerpiece of the Mountaineers' vaunted pass defense. Smith is very familiar with new defensive backs coach Jahmile Addae, who also came from West Virginia.

Carroll and Smith changed everything we thought we knew about Georgia's 2021 defensive backfield. Dawgs Daily will attempt to make sense of the situation once again by amending the projected depth charts for the cornerback and nickel positions.

Cornerback Depth Chart

• CB1: Kelee Ringo, redshirt freshman
• CB2: Jalen Kimber, redshirt freshman
• CB3: Ameer Speed, senior
• CB4: Nyland Green, freshman
• CB4: Lovasea Carroll, freshman

Ringo has been limited recently, but he's still on top of the cornerback depth chart. He's Georgia's most talented and athletic defensive back. He still has a lot of work to do after missing 2020 with a shoulder injury.

Kimber and Speed are locked in competition for the other starting job. Kimber and Speed are on opposite ends of the experience spectrum. Kimber is a redshirt freshman who seldom played behind Georgia's veterans last season. Speed is a fifth-year senior who has a keen understanding of the defense.

Green was the lone true freshman in the equation before spring began, but he was overshadowed a bit by Carroll during Saturday's scrimmage. 

Nickel-STAR Depth Chart

• NS1: Tykee Smith, junior
• NS2: Latavious Brini, senior
• NS3: Javon Bullard, freshman
• NS4: David Daniel, freshman

The importance of Smith's transfer can't be overstated. He not only adds experience to Georgia's youngest area, but he's a bona fide superstar. His familiarity with Addae should help get him acclimated when he arrives.

Brini was the original starter at nickel-STAR because of his Peach Bowl performance. Despite Smith's presence, Brini will still play a big role in Georgia's defense. He covered passes very well in the Peach Bowl, especially on intermediate and short routes.