Georgia Football: 3 reasons Bulldogs will win SEC title in 2021
Kirby Smart and his Georgia football team have been frequent travelers to Atlanta in December for the SEC title game over the last four years.
Here we will take a deeper dive into why the Dawgs are primed to not only get back there this season but also win it and be crowned champions of the SEC.
1. JT Daniels
Last season was the first since 2016 that the Dawgs were not representing the East for that game. Georgia was beaten by its bitter rival, Florida, which ultimately ended up being the division representative in the SEC title game.
An unsettling quarterback situation last year combined with some untimely injuries contributed significantly to that loss in Jacksonville against the Gators.
As previously mentioned, one of the Dawgs’ most glaring weaknesses in the first half of last season was quarterback play. Both D’wan Mathis and Stetson Bennett logged snaps in more than one game. While we cannot predict the future, the overwhelming feeling around the country and Georgia fanbase is one with much more confidence in the quarterback that can catapult them into that elite offensive status. Bulldog fans know that having a high-powered offense that can produce like the best in the nation is all it needs to win championships.
JT Daniels is coming into his second year with the program but it is the first that could be classified as “normal.” The pandemic really hindered a lot of the typical operations of a football program. He now has a full spring, offseason, and preseason to get this offense ready for the upcoming season.
Second-year offensive coordinator Todd Monken said in a recent interview, “As we keep evolving offensively, he really appears to be in control of what we want done.” That’s exactly what you want to hear from your offensive coordinator leading up to the season.
The new coordinator was handcuffed a bit last season by the pandemic restricted season and his quarterbacks available, but this season appears to be different.
Daniels was a five-star prospect coming out of high school even after reclassifying to the 2018 recruiting class. He has the ability to make every throw you want from a quarterback. While he is not a dual-threat, he is athletic and mobile enough to maneuver within the pocket and buy time for his receivers to get open when necessary. He has been applauded by many for his commitment to the mental aspect of the sport: film study, pre-snap reads, and ability to move through his progressions if the first read is not open.
The largest piece missing from the passing game for the Bulldogs the last few seasons was the ability to consistently drive the ball downfield and make big plays.
Kirby Smart has done a fantastic job of recruiting almost every single position on the field. But if you want to be SEC champions then you need an elite offense — just ask 2019 LSU or 2020 Alabama.
If Daniels lives up to expectations, many believe he can help lift Georgia into that upper offensive echelon and he can be a major impact en route to an SEC championship.