Georgia football star DB Richard Lecounte makes first team defense

The USA Today has released their college football preseason All-America team for 2020 and UGA star safety Richard Lecounte makes the list.

The USA Today has released its preseason All-America team for 2020 and Georgia football is represented by senior safety Richard Lecounte on the first team defense. 

Lecounte, from Riceboro, Georgia, is now the elder statesman in a strong Bulldog secondary.

As a junior in 2019, Lecounte finished ranked third on the team in tackles with 61 stops, while finishing tied in the SEC for interceptions with four and leading the league in fumbles recovered with 3. 

Lecounte was a part of Georgia’s No. 1 ranked recruiting class of 2017. He was rated as the No. 2 safety overall, the No. 3 player in Georgia and the No. 25 ranked prospect overall, according to 247Sports. 

A large part of Georgia’s record-setting defensive play in 2019 was due, in part, to Lecounte and his knack to always find the football.

Turnovers are always what coaches want from their secondaries, especially at the safety position and Lecounte does just that for the Bulldogs.

Here is the full list of the preseason All-America team for 2020, per the USA Today. 

FIRST TEAM

Offense

QB: Trevor Lawrence, Clemson (Jr.)

RB: Travis Etienne, Clemson (Sr.)

RB: Chuba Hubbard, Oklahoma State (Jr.)

WR: Ja’Marr Chase, LSU (Jr.)

WR: DeVonta Smith, Alabama (Sr.)

TE: Charlie Kolar, Iowa State (Jr.)

OL: Penei Sewell, Oregon (Jr.)

OL: Wyatt Davis, Ohio State (Jr.)

OL: Creed Humphrey, Oklahoma (Jr.)

OL: Alex Leatherwood, Alabama (Sr.)

OL: Cole Van Lanen, Wisconsin (Sr.)

Defense

DL: Gregory Rousseau, Miami (Fla.) (So.)

DL: Marvin Wilson, Florida State (Sr.)

DL: Jaylen Twyman, Pittsburgh (Jr.)

DL: Kayvon Thibodeaux, Oregon (So.)

LB: Micah Parsons, Penn State (Jr.)

LB: Hamilcar Rashed Jr., Oregon State (Sr.)

LB: Dylan Moses, Alabama, (Sr.)

CB: Derek Stingley Jr., LSU (So.)

CB: Shaun Wade, Ohio State (Jr.)

S: Trevon Moehrig, TCU (Jr.)

S: Richard LeCounte, Georgia (Sr.)

Special teams

K: Keith Duncan, Iowa (Sr.)

P: Max Duffy, Kentucky (Sr.)

RET: Jaylen Waddle, Alabama (Jr.)

ALL-PURPOSE: Kenneth Gainwell, Memphis (So.)

SECOND TEAM

Offense

QB: Justin Fields, Ohio State (Jr.)

RB: Najee Harris, Alabama (Sr.)

RB: Jaret Patterson, Buffalo (Jr.)

WR: Rashod Bateman, Minnesota (Jr.)

WR: Tylan Wallace, Oklahoma State (Sr.)

TE: Pat Freiermuth, Penn State (Jr.)

OL: Samuel Cosmi, Texas (Jr.)

OL: Trey Smith, Tennessee (Sr.)

OL: Nolan Laufenberg, Air Force (Sr.)

OL: Darian Kinnard, Kentucky (Jr.)

OL: Walker Little, Stanford (Sr.)

Defense

DL: Levi Onwuzurike, Washington (Sr.)

DL: Quincy Roche, Miami (Fla.) (Sr.)

DL: Jay Tufele, Southern California (Jr.)

DL: Carlos Basham Jr., Wake Forest (Sr.)

LB: Carlton Martial, Troy (Jr.)

LB: Nick Bolton, Missouri (Jr.)

LB: Chazz Surratt, North Carolina (Sr.)

CB: Patrick Surtain II, Alabama (Jr.)

CB: Shaun Jolly, Appalachian State (Jr.)

S: Jevon Holland, Oregon (Jr.)

S: Kyle Hamilton, Notre Dame (So.)

Special teams

K: Riley Patterson, Memphis (Sr.)

P: Blake Hayes, Illinois (Sr.)

RET: Ihmir Smith-Marsette, Iowa (Sr.)

ALL-PURPOSE: Rondale Moore, Purdue (So.)

Notre Dame’s 2019 Season Gets a Grade

I tend to agree with Kelly who said immediately following the 33-9 win over Iowa State in the Camping World Bowl that it was a good team who had one bad night.

What letter-grade would you give Notre Dame for their 2019 football season?

Perhaps this is an exercise that myself and Jeff Feyerer will do in the coming days but the USA TODAY’s Paul Myerburg did exactly that, giving all 130 FBS teams a letter grade.

One thing to remember about the grade is that it was given strictly on final win-loss record but it’s also graded based on expectations back in the pre-season.

24 teams nationwide received a letter grade of at least an “A-“, but Notre Dame was not one of them.

The Irish instead checked in with a “B+”, as did 14 other teams including Wisconsin, Penn State and Week One opponent, Louisville.

I don’t have much of a fuss to make about Myerburg’s grade for the Irish as it was a successful failure to quote “Apollo 13”.

Brian Kelly’s Fighting Irish accomplished a lot, winning a 10 or more games for the third time in a row, something that had only been done once previously in school history.

But they lost their two biggest contests of the year at Georgia and Michigan, with the loss in Ann Arbor being a 45-14 disaster that will unfortunately be the first thing many remember the 2019 squad for.

I tend to agree with Kelly who said immediately following the 33-9 win over Iowa State in the Camping World Bowl that it was a good team who had one bad night.

Unfortunately that one bad night kept them from potential A-territory and out of the College Football Playoff conversation in November.

For that I can’t be as generous and give them even a B+, as good as some things were.

My grade for the year is a solid “B” as the Michigan disaster did occur while the biggest wins came against two teams Navy and Virginia who you won’t find in any post-season top 15.

For what it’s worth, Notre Dame’s 2019 opponents received the following grades:
A: Navy
A-: Georgia, Virginia
B+: Louisville
B: Iowa State
B-: Michigan, Virginia Tech
C+: Duke
C: Boston College, USC
D+: Bowling Green, Stanford
D: New Mexico