Georgia Football: Bulldogs 2017 season preview and predictions

After a humdrum 2016 season, Georgia football is looking for what has been an elusive SEC East title in 2017.  Can the Bulldogs pull it off?

It’s not that UGA was bad in 2016–far from it.  There are teams out there that would sell their souls for a 8-5 regular season and a definitive postseason bowl game win. Considering that it was also Kirby Smart‘s first year coaching the Dawgs it was not a bad inauguration.

I could natter on about the SEC and high expectations, but anyone that knows anything about football has analyzed that to death. Smart comes from the SEC and was well aware of the pressure on him when he took the job.  All in all, Georgia had a few games that could have been better (Ole Miss and Vanderbilt come to mind) and a few games that were on point (Florida).

But this is a new year and a new season. Georgia has landed one of the best recruiting classes in the country, according to Scout.com.  UGA preseason practice just began and there are definitely some interesting questions facing the Dawgs in 2017. The Dawgs have 19 starters in the Scout Top 300. They do have some glaring issues starting the 2017 season though, particularly on offense. In addition, special teams are unsettled at best and completely chaotic at worst. There are no standout punters, kickers, or returners. That could really hurt the Dawgs in the high-scoring circus of the SEC.

The SEC East will most likely be a three-team race between Georgia, Florida and Tennessee.  If the Bulldogs’ outstanding defense can shine, Georgia has the chops to make it to Atlanta in the fall.