Christopher Smith steps up as leader, others needed to help at safety too
Georgia Football is looking for leaders as the Bulldogs make their way into the 2022 season. Kirby Smart and company saw 15 players picked in the 2022 NFL Draft this past spring and with that, 15 leaders leaving the program. Many of those were on the defensive side of the football. And as a result, the few players that return on defense are being counted on heavily, including super-senior safety Christopher Smith.
“Chris has done a great job leading that group,” Smart said in his opening press conference of fall camp. “I think he sets the tone each day for the work ethic. He’s been a hard worker since he’s been here. Tough guy. He plays bigger than he actually is. So we’re very lucky and fortunate to have Chris back to help lead that secondary unit.”
Christopher Smith played in 12 of 15 games last season, starting 11 of them. He finished with 35 total tackles, four pass breakups, three interceptions and two quarterback pressures. Smith was on the field for every defensive snap in three of Georgia’s biggest games last season: Clemson, Tennessee and Alabama. And he played incredibly well in all three of those. Against Clemson, he returned an interception 74 yards for the game’s only touchdown. Versus the Volunteers, Georgia was struggling to slow down the explosive Tennessee offense. Smith made the move from safety to STAR for the game and did his best there. And against Alabama in the National Championship Game, Smith has a career-high seven tackles, two pass breakups, a quarterback pressure and a third quarter interception on the way to Georgia taking home the title. He capped it all off as one of the key blockers for Kelee Ringo as Ringo returned an interception 79 yards to seal the deal, a full circle moment from Smith’s pick-six in the season opener.
Ahead of the 2022 season, Smith has been named to the Preseason All-SEC Second-Team, a member of the watch list for the Paycom Jim Thorpe Award, given to the nation’s top defensive back, among other accolades. But Smith can’t be the only one in the secondary. With Lewis Cine, who started all 15 games last year, off to the NFL as the 32nd overall pick by the Minnesota Vikings, Georgia is going to need to find a starter next to Smith. And in Kirby Smart’s eyes, it’s even more important that they establish depth at the position.
“As far as who will be opposite him (Christopher Smith), a lot of guys are in that mix. Tykee’s (Smith) worked there some, Dan’s (Jackson) worked there some. The two freshmen (Malaki Starks and Ja’Corey Thomas) will factor in there. David Daniel will factor in there. We’re not looking to find the starter opposite him. We’re looking to find the best four safeties we can find,” Smart said. “We unfortunately last year couldn’t play DIME in a lot of situations because we didn’t have enough DBs. We don’t know what that’s going to look like this year in terms of, ‘Do we have six effective DBs or are we more talented at the linebacker position that we’ve got to have more linebackers on the field?’”
Georgia kicks off the season September 3rd against Oregon as a part of the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic. The Dawgs and Ducks are set to get underway from Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Ga. at 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC. Until then, they’ll go through a total of 25 preseason practices which began last week and run up until the game, trying to figure out exactly what they’ll look like when they take the field for the opener.
