Since Jamie Newman’s unexpected decision to opt out of the 2020 college football season due to COVID-19 concerns, all the hype has been surrounding redshirt freshman quarterback D’Wan Mathis.
Mathis had surgery to remove a cyst on his brain last year but has since been cleared for football activities. He now sits as the frontrunner to win the Georgia QB job for the 2020 season.
Mathis has been getting the majority of the first team reps in practice leading up to Week One in Fayetteville, Arkansas against the Arkansas Razorbacks.
In an SEC Inside video of Georgia’s practice, Mathis and sophomore wide receiver George Pickens hook up multiple times for some unreal connections, previewing what we could witness this fall.
WATCH:
"Like takin' candy from a baby!" 😂
SEC Inside: @GeorgiaFootball ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/5sWQDz5XUk
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) September 19, 2020
Pickens looks like he’s ready to take the conference by storm this year, catching nearly every ball thrown in his radius. Mathis has also been doing an excellent job of recognizing Pickens’ ability and delivering balls where only he can catch them.
There was a lot of leadership and fire seen in the Dawgs’ practice. Senior defensive back Richard LeCounte was seen motivating and pushing the younger players throughout the video, and that is something that head coach Kirby Smart has been preaching since the beginning.
“We have to look ourselves in the mirror, the leaders on the team, the ones that are out here trying to push guys, trying to challenge guys, and say ‘hey man I need more effort out of you,’” Smart said.
“We’ve got to challenge ourselves to get in shape and condition,” he said. “I need somebody on the team to say ‘You know Coach, we’re going to fix that. We’re not afraid of work.
“I need ownership from our team. I need self pride. I need conditioning pride. I need toughness. I need guys to play good.”
With USC transfer JT Daniels still nursing an ACL tear back to full health, Mathis was the only quarterback featured in the video, hinting that the job is likely his.
If we see anything like the highlights from this video, Georgia’s air raid offense will be firing on all cylinders in 2020.