Rusty Mansell, who covers Georgia for Dawgs HQ, tells McElroy & Cubelic why he's not worried about the leadership at Georgia & what questions the team actually face heading into the season
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Listen online, joxfm.com. The app is in your app store, iPhone, Android. You can download that for free. Before we get to Rusty Mansell, continue talking Georgia GMAC. Tell our listeners about Polar Bear Services.

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Also, chiming back in before we go to Rusty on the phones, Jolly tweets in at Mac and Cube, that view in regards to Georgia and the issues off the field is pretty insightful. I worked under good leadership, and people did dumb stuff off the clock. Nothing the leadership could do. It was dealt with and not in a manner I knew about or should have known about. Brian Trawick tweets back in, true leadership doesn't force anything. It inspires others to follow. Outside influences affect how you play ball at Mac and Cube.

Okay. Rusty Mansell will join us now on the Buyer's Right Hotline. Some folks kind of talking about with us, Rusty, the leadership on this team, culture of this team. Is that a concern for you at all?

Not at all. I know a lot of those guys, covered a lot of those guys. Tate Ratledge, specifically one of the guys in the locker room, Malachi Starks, one of the guys on the defensive side of the ball, three-year starter, very high academic young man, high character kid. I've covered out of Jefferson High School a lot.

That would be a top 20 draft pick. So you bring back Carson Beck and those types of things, there's a million questions going on. I think Kirby Smart yesterday addressed that pretty quick with Rod Rod Thomas. And, yeah, there's off-the-field stuff that is documented. And I think when Kirby said that at the SEC Media Days,

about finding players, it kind of shocked me. I never thought that side of it. I did some digging, and listen now, this isn't your, you know, to not have a better term, this isn't a mom-and-pop type taking your allowance away. This is some NIL big-time fines. Like, they've laid it down. If you get a ticket, like, it is a very costly deal to these players. So, you know, there's different...

Different angles, different ways to do this. But, you know, in particular, you know, two or three weeks ago, you know, a player got a ticket on an afternoon. Well, they had someone in to talk to the team that day, specifically that day. So it's not like they're not trying different things. But the NIL deal now, Cole, you know this and Greg, you know this too, as a 20, 21 year old young man, if you get a lot of corn in your pocket and somebody takes it away from doing something like that, it should get your attention.

Yeah, there's only one way to get their attention nowadays because, I mean, you start to say, hey, you're not playing, you're not doing this, you're not doing that. All right, coach, I'm in the portal. It's just hard to change behavior nowadays, and coaches have been saying that now for weeks, and people are blaming Kirby Smart and all these things. I don't know what else Kirby can do. I mean, he's not – unless he sets up personal drivers for all their guys, there's just nothing that can be done as far as the field is concerned.

I feel like we are, for whatever reason, overlooking something about Georgia's team last year that was pretty dang human. We keep acting like their front seven is one of the best in the sport. It still is. It just wasn't the best in the sport. It's still an elite possible team, a team with a super high ceiling, but that group really wasn't very good last year by Georgia's standards. So how do they get that addressed this fall camp? Greg, that's a great point, man. I go around and speak to all these places and speak to these Georgia Bulldogs fans and listen –

Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, Trayvon Walker, all those guys, that's never going to happen again. That's never going to happen again, ever.

That was a once-in-a-lifetime type run. It doesn't mean that Georgia doesn't have damn good players. Desir Stackhouse, really good player. He's not a first-round draft pick. Warren Brinson, really good player. He's not a first-round draft pick. What you saw in 21, 20, 21 and 22 from Georgia was one of the most incredible runs you'll ever see on about Devontae White. Like six or seven defensive linemen, they were all there together. It's like having Derrick Brown like four of them. And they

and they had them all at one time. It doesn't mean they're not going to be a really good unit, a group. I think they had to have more depth. You saw the second half, the Alabama game, always watch Cole's breakdowns, always watch what he does film-wise. And you see what happened to Nazeer Stackhouse when he went from playing about 28 snaps a game to 44 snaps. Those 16 additional snaps, he was done.

And Alabama was moving him, especially in the middle. So you've got to have some increased depth there. I don't want to say that poor, pitiful me with Georgia's front, but

But to say they're going to have Devontae White, Jordan Davis, and all those guys, Jalen Carter, that's not happening right now. Rusty Mansell joining us on the Buyers Right Hotline talking Georgia Bulldogs. Who around them can maybe offset a little bit of that? It feels like the linebacker group could be great. You brought up Malachi Starks. You lose a couple guys on defense, specifically on the back end. I know Tykee Smith really stepped it up last year. Bullard was great last year. But what other part of the defense can maybe offset that front if it's not as dominant as we've seen prior?

I think the most underrated player at Georgia is Jalen Walker. And I've talked to quite a bit of NFL people. They absolutely loved this guy. They loved his versatility. I think you're going to see him be more of an impact player this year. Damon Wilson was a five-star. It was a huge recruiting battle between Ohio State and Georgia all the way to the end.

This young man is around 245 pounds. I think Georgia has tried to manufacture pressure. They've tried to do that because they haven't had a Nolan Smith or one of those guys right now. But I do think this year on the edge, not just to set up the edge. Like, Chad Chandler is a really good player, but he's not going to beat an SEC tackle off the edge. Now, he's tough at the point of attack.

against a run and a pulling guard, but you're not going to get a lot of pressures out of him. So they had to bring it from different places. I think this year, athletically, having Mikel Williams stand up a lot more, they're going to have Damon Wilson in the game, and I think Jalen Walker. I think Jalen Walker, who really played a really good game against Alabama, he had some really good tape in that game, and I think that's what got NFL scouts really happy about him, seeing the amount of pressures he had in that game. So I think they're going to attack you a little bit different

I do think the front's going to be a little bit deeper. Again, it's not going to be four NFL first-round draft picks. It doesn't mean they can't be good as a unit, but I think you're going to see Georgia with the ability to win some one-on-ones on the edge. I think Damon Wilson's a guy that people need to know around the country.

Georgia, I know that they're most people's number one team in the country. If they're not one, they're two. Some people might lean a little Ohio State, but we're splitting hairs a little bit when evaluating both. Are there maybe more question marks on this team than people are paying attention to right now? I feel like people are just feeling, all right, Georgia's the best team, put them in. I'm not saying they're not or they can't be. I feel like we're overlooking some possible problems

Liabilities just on their roster.

I think it's more wide open. I think everybody has questions. I mean, you look at Ohio State, what are we going to get out of them at quarterback? I know because everything else around them is damn good. They had some great additions and I think everybody has some questions. I think when you look at Georgia, I think people look at Georgia from the outside of the circle and know they're a safe bet. You know what type of product you're going to get out of Georgia. You're going to be consistent. People ask me all the time, hey, can Georgia win the national championship? I'm going to say, I don't know. But

But I know that Georgia has a chance to win every single game they play. They have a chance to win 16 games. I don't know if they're going to win game 16, but they're going to be in that. That's a safe pick to be in the running. But they do have questions. You start talking about, you know, what can Carson Beck do? He's played on the road. He's played some big games. He's going to Alabama at night. He's going to Ole Miss most likely at night. They're going to Texas for the first time. So there's some –

There's still some questions there with how he's going to play in some of these games. So I do think there's some questions around Georgia, but I do think there's questions around everybody. That's what makes me so excited about this football season. I don't think there's that one dominant alpha team that you go, they're going to be there in that last game. You start making these playoffs and additional games, it's going to be a hell of a football season to watch. I do think Georgia has some questions. You want to know what they're going to do at defensive back? I think Kamari Laster was one of the most underrated defensive

corners in the country last year. He wouldn't give up nothing. He gave up nothing. And when they went one-on-one with him in Missouri in that game and some of the just shutting down receivers, I was like, this dude's for real. And you see the early news out of the Texans. I saw that last night. They're talking about Kamari Lassiter. I knew that.

Kamari Lasseter would shut down your number one receiver and wouldn't allow anything. So they got to replace him. They got to replace Bullard, who was tough in the box, could play against the run, cover all those types of things. So, yes, they do have some questions, but they have a lot of really good players. I think Georgia guys, one of the biggest things for Georgia is they got to stay healthy.

I mean, when you look at that Alabama game last year, when I watched Brock Bowers come out of the locker room, I had no idea how he even played. Like, I had no idea. He couldn't even really walk after that game. So, you know, you want to play games, you want to play big games like that and beat teams like that, you've got to have everybody together. And last year they really had some key injuries and they just didn't have quite enough depth in there. So, yeah, Georgia's got questions. I think Georgia is the safe bet to say they're going to get there. But as far as saying Georgia's clear number one, I wouldn't say that.

Rusty Mansell, publisher of Dogs HQ, a product of the On3 Sports Network. Find him on Twitter at Rusty Mansell underscore. You said something a little bit earlier that caught my attention. I've covered these guys. You've been around them. So you've been around some of the younger players a lot more than what we have seen or heard about. There are a couple of youngsters that haven't really gotten significant snaps yet that I know people are a lot really excited about, but

Like a Jaden Reddell at tight end. I think when you look at that linebacker group, we haven't seen a lot of Raylan Wilson yet. Maybe a Damon Wilson has some of these guys that have made some noise inside sort of the circles in Athens, but not all over college football. Give us a youngster or two that you think has a chance to blow up for this Georgia football team this year.

All the years I've known Kirby Smart, all the years I've followed him in Alabama, all the years I've covered him at Georgia, I've never seen him in a press conference as early as SEC media days mention someone like K.J. Bolden. K.J. Bolden's a kid I covered from his ninth grade on at Beaufort. He's a 10-500 meter, 6'2", 185-190 pounds safety. Some people thought he could have been a wide receiver. Huge recruiting battle, flips from Florida State to Georgia late in

and for Kirby Smart to say something about him at a press conference and then again yesterday say something like, hey, we don't think we're going to throw too much at him after seeing him this spring. Malachi Stark started game one for George as a true freshman. K.J. Bolden, he might not start against Clemson, but by the time they go to Tuscaloosa, this guy may wind up playing meaningful minutes. I think Raylon Wilson's a linebacker that battled a little bit of injuries last year, but I think his ceiling is unbreakable.

unlimited. I know C.J. Allen. I've covered him from Lamar County High School. Great kid. Played a lot. He was a freshman All-American. It would not shock me at the end of the day to see Raylan Wilson a better NFL prospect than C.J. Allen. Both of them are damn good players. I'm telling you, Raylan Wilson, I know a lot of people, he got picked on that wheel route against Alabama, and they did right going right out of freshman on the first play of the game in that red zone, but when you look at Raylan Wilson and what he brings to the table, he could

be the next great Georgia linebacker. Damon Wilson is someone else. Again, I mentioned him earlier. Former five-star edge guy. I really, really like him. I'll say this. The Georgia beat guys yesterday got 15 minutes.

You can go read any one you want, and every one of them was talking about Nate Frazier. I had seen Nate Frazier. That was the first time the Georgia beat had seen him. He was the number one running back in the country out of modern-day high school in California, 5'10", 205 pounds, last year five-star. Georgia goes to California, gets him. Yesterday was his first padded practice in Athens, and I think the Georgia beat, including my guy, Jake Rose. He called me. He goes, oh, my God, Rusty, I had no idea. I was like, well, Jake, he was ranked number one running back in the country for a reason.

Twitchy reminds a lot of people of him and DeAndre Swift. High praise there. Yeah. I remember doing that. He's number one. He's number one running back in the country for a reason. So, you know, I'm not inventing a wheel right here, but it was the first time those guys had got a chance to see him yesterday. So there's a lot of buzz about that true freshman as well.

I remember doing the Georgia Georgia Tech game that year that DeAndre Swift was a freshman and Kirby looked at me and for the game he goes that guy is our best player I go coach he's a freshman he gets like four touches a game what are you talking about guys I'm telling you that guy's the best player on the team I go all right and sure enough he turned out to be right last question uh just kind of looking at at how things set up in the Clemson game um Clemson

I mean, that game is, I think it's a big one. I think Clemson's going to come to play. I mean, their reputation as a perennial contender is on the line. If they go and get smoked in week one on national television again like last year, then it's bad news bears for how they're going to be perceived. So, knowing you're going to get a team's best shot, how will Georgia prepare for that game? Well, you've got to say you like Georgia's battle tested. I

I mean, they've been to Knoxville. They've been to Auburn. You know, these guys, Carson Beck and all these players, they've been on the road and played in these big games. They've played in playoff games. They've played in SEC championships. Here's the thing, man. I say this a lot. Georgia needs to win games and Mercedes-Benz. I mean, they beat Oregon in there and they beat Ohio State, but

you know, that, that Alabama game in there and some of those games and Mercedes Benz, I don't know the record in there, but it's, it's not great. You know, that's a big game for them too. It's a huge game for the ACC, Greg. I think you agree with that. That is an absolute monster game. And then you followed up on Miami and Florida. That is two huge ACC, SEC matchups. I know Clemson's sitting there and they look at themselves and they're,

13.5, 14.00 dog, you know, pins on wherever you go. And, you know, there's a lot of pride in that program. And I do think you're 100% spot on. I think they understand coming in that game, Kate Klubnick, this is a huge game for him perception-wise, where he is as a quarterback. Dabo Sweeney, you know, what he's done with his program, kind of, you know, he's

He's kind of refused to do the portal thing. He says we can build, recruit within, and develop our own players. So it's a huge game for Clemson. I know it's a huge game for Georgia, but I agree, man. If they were to go in there and get beat, say, 31-13, something like that, 31-14, I don't know where it goes for Clemson after that. So I do think they're going to walk in there and they're going to throw haymakers. You might see trick plays, Rob. They're not going to leave anything in the bag. I think Dabo Swinney understands the scope of this game, even though it is game one.

it's a huge game for Clemson and it's a huge game for the ACC. Rusty, great stuff, man. Really do appreciate the time. Appreciate your insight. We'll definitely have you back again soon. Thanks guys. Thank you. Rusty Mansell, dogs HQ, find him on Twitter at rusty Mansell underscore talking a lot about this Georgia football team that their fall camp is now underway as well. Before we go to break G Mac and we'll talk a little bit, Texas A&M, some other schools around the SEC, what's happening with practice there. Tell our listeners about be dry.

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