Georgia Football: Position-by-Position Midseason Grades for Bulldogs

The Georgia Bulldogs are seven games into the 2013 season, and they are right where they want to be in terms of having a chance to play in the Georgia Dome in December.

It has not been an easy ride to say the least. After a dominating performance against Clemson, the Bulldogs fell short against South Carolina, eased past Troy, won a back-and-forth game against Tennessee and finished the month of October undefeated with wins over Vanderbilt, Missouri and Arkansas.

The schedule is not easier as the Bulldogs still have to face Florida, Kentucky and Auburn to end the SEC leg of their schedule. But even without their best player, Todd Gurley, the Bulldogs are improving and look to be the favorite to win the SEC East.

Here are position-by-position midseason grades for Georgia.

Quarterback

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Hutson Mason is not Aaron Murray. He’s not Nick Marshall, Dak Prescott, Bo Wallace or Blake Sims. But he’s also not Jeff Driskel or any quarterback on Vanderbilt’s roster.

Mason is the leader of the No. 1 scoring offense in the conference. And while he has only thrown for a shade over 1,000 yards and 10 touchdowns, he is accurate, and he’s smart with the football.

Some may say Mason is a game manager because Georgia is a run-first team. But based on what he has shown the previous three games, Mason can make plays with his arm and can also run with the football if he needs to.

Grade: B+

Running Backs

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We all know Todd Gurley is the best running back in the country, and some could argue he’s the most outstanding player in all of college football. But when Georgia had to lay the hammer down on Gurley two weeks ago, there were questions about the success of the run game continuing.

Those questions were answered quickly, as Nick Chubb picked up the slack, and the running offense for the Bulldogs has been just as good.

Despite all the suspensions and the injuries, the Bulldogs are the No. 1 rushing attack in the SEC. Just think, once the Bulldogs get Gurley, Sony Michel and Keith Marshall back, no defense in the SEC will want to face the Georgia offense.

Grade: A+

Receivers/Tight Ends

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The receivers for Georgia are not having great years, but it’s not their fault because Georgia is having so much success running the ball.

Michael Bennett and Chris Conley have been good targets for Mason. Bennett leads the team with four touchdown catches, and Conley leads the Bulldogs with 336 yards and 17.7 yards per catch.

The one thing to watch for the rest of the season is how the Bulldogs will use Malcolm Mitchell and Justin Scott-Wesley as they are coming off knee injuries and easing their way back into the lineup.

Jay Rome and Jeb Blazevich have also been solid in the receiving game, as each player has seven receptions so far this season.

Grade: B-

Offensive Line

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The real reason the offense has scored over 40 points per game this season is the play of the offensive line.

John Theus, Greg Pyke, David Andrews, Brandon Kublanow and Kolton Houston make up one of the best offensive lines nobody is talking about. They have done a great job opening up holes in the run game and have also done a good job protecting Mason, allowing 10 sacks in seven games, per cfbstats.com.

This is a veteran group that has seen a lot of playing time the last few years, and it will only get better moving forward.

Grade: A

Defensive Line

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Like the offensive line, the defensive line is a group that has its share of experience. Ray Drew, Lorenzo Carter, Mike Thornton, Josh Dawson, Sterling Bailey and Toby Johnson make up the defensive line rotation, and all had made their share of big plays this year.

They are not the most dominant line in the country or in the conference for that matter, but this is another positional unit that’s getting better each time it steps out on the field.

Grade: B

Linebackers

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The strength of the defense is the linebackers, and all four are making plays in their own way.

Amarlo Herrera leads the team with 57 tackles, and he also has three sacks. Ramik Wilson has 55 tackles and one sack. Jordan Jenkins leads the team with 6.5 tackles for loss, and Leonard Floyd is fifth in the SEC with five sacks.

The reason the Bulldogs are ranked fifth in the SEC in total defense and scoring defense is the play of the linebackers, as they are good at working the sidelines as well as making plays in the backfield. All four players make up one of the best sets of linebackers in the country.

Grade: A

Secondary

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The secondary has been a weakness for the Bulldogs the last year-and-a-half, but it is starting to get better. At the start of the season, the group was giving up a ton of big plays. But as the players are getting more familiar with Jeremy Pruitt’s system, they are getting more comfortable.

The unit already has 10 interceptions, and three of those came from Damian Swann, who has improved his play this season.

Pruitt has mixed and matched this group in terms of the starting lineup, but the foursome of Swann, Devin Bowman, Quincy Mauger and Dominick Sanders is the best because those four have eight of the Bulldogs' 10 picks.

Grade: C

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