We are now in the JT Daniels chapter of the ever stressful Georgia quarterback drama.
The USC transfer quarterback is set to make his first career start as a Georgia Bulldog vs. Mississippi State in Athens on Saturday night.
After redshirt freshman D’Wan Mathis’ start at signal caller vs. Arkansas in the season-opener, junior Stetson Bennett has received the majority of the snaps and has started each game until this week, which is due, in part, to a shoulder separation injury suffered in the loss to Florida.
We expected to see Daniels get on the field a bit earlier than the seventh game of the season and there were plenty of opportunities to get his feet wet, however Daniels’ mobility on his surgically repaired left knee has been an issue.
As the season has progressed, Georgia coach Kirby Smart has been more open about Daniels’ knee and mobility concerns.
“His mobility has been better,” Smart said in a press conference Wednesday.
As a freshman at USC in 2018, Daniels threw for 2,672 yards with 14 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He entered the transfer portal in mid-April after his sophomore season was derailed by an ACL tear.
Daniels was the third rated quarterback in the 2018 recruiting class behind Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields and while at USC, he showed flashes of an elite passer, like here on his first touchdown pass of his collegiate career.
Hoping to see a lot of this tonight from JT Daniels! @UGAfootballLive
His first career CFB touchdown pic.twitter.com/euWve4qMeg
— J.C. Shelton (@J_Shelton_) November 21, 2020
But what kind of expectations should Georgia fans have for Daniels in his first start?
Put simply, the only expectations DawgNation should have is a Georgia win.
Coach Mike Leach and the Bulldogs from Starkville are limping into Athens. 17 players have either opted-out of this season or have transferred on top of more players being forced to miss tonight’s game because of COVID testing.
In turn, Georgia should make quick work of Mississippi State tonight and Daniels should preform well as a result, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves here and make sure to remember who we are playing.
I’m looking for Daniels to show command of the offense by hitting the easy throws that we haven’t been able to hit all season.
Offensive coordinator Todd Monken and company have done a good job of getting guys open, but Bennett and Mathis’ inaccuracy has been the issue.
If Daniels can hit those easy throws, show leadership and protect the football, I think we can walk away from this one feeling good about 2021.