Georgia Bulldogs' Defense Hanging in the Balance Due To Draft Pull

While the Georgia Bulldogs allowed 471 yards to Texas A&M in the Independence Bowl, their defense gave an inspiring effort that actually left me somewhat comforted.

Without every defensive coach from the regular season except for ends coach Rodney Gardner, the Bulldogs were able to hold Texas A&M's high powered offense to 13 points until late into the fourth quarter.

They did so by creating turnovers and making big plays on special teams, along with controlling the clock with a powerful running game in the second half.

This game, to me, was very indicative of how Georgia's offense, defense, and special teams are sure to perform in the near future. Sure, the stats were nasty, but holding Texas A&M to 20 total points was promising in my book.

And, the units we have seen are staying in place and are only going to get better. With so much youth it was the youthful players who were standouts during the season.

Washaun Ealey, Orson Charles, Rantavious Wooten, Brandon Boykin, Branden Smith, etc.

The best parts of Georgia's offense, their running game which sparked from nowhere half way through the season, returns.

The best part of special teams: all of it.

Blair Walsh and Drew Butler make for the best kicking and punting tandem in the nation, and return specialist Brandon Boykin recorded three touchdown returns in one season as a sophomore.

Granted, those kickoff returns were pretty well blocked, but Boykin's best returns might have been the ones that didn't go for six.

Basically, having the top heavy portion of the talent in freshman and sophomores is a perk in this day in age. Draft eligibility makes it so hard to retain players.

For Georgia, they are in no trouble of losing any offensive or special team weapons as of now.

However, on defense, the strength isn't staying. As a matter of fact it might all be leaving.

We already know that the defensive interior is going to soften up a tad. Georgia loses three NFL-caliber defensive tackles in Jeff Owens, Geno Atkins, and Kade Weston to seniority.

However, the pending decisions to stay or leave from Rennie Curran and Reshad Jones could be just as impactful as the decisions Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno made last year.

Curran and Jones are both juniors and redshirt juniors, respectively. Curran has been quiet about his decision making, however as of late many have speculated that despite his small stature he could very well get drafted in a good spot if he leaves this year.

Jones nearly left last season as a sophomore, and in a last second decision decided to return to school. Now he's filed paper work to see where he could fall in the lottery this time around.

Would Jones really pull out two years in a row?

In my mind Jones is a second- to fourth-round pick, and Curran is a fourth- to seventh-round pick.

Yeah, I might not be a draft analyst, but I have a decent feel for these things.

However, these decisions are similar to the one Asher Allen made last year. I felt Allen was someone who wasn't quite ready for the NFL, but he was more than ready to become an impact player for our Dawgs.

I feel the same way about Curran and Jones.

Curran doesn't have the highlight tape material some players do, but he is no doubt a special linebacker who doesn't come around but once in a blue moon.

I've been more excited about Reshad Jones than any other defensive player on roster for the past few years. He is obviously NFL material, however I feel like he has not come close to peaking at the collegiate level.

His ball hawking abilities and his sure tackling (despite what some people might say based on ONE missed tackle against Georgia Tech) make him a complete safety.

If anyone stays I think it might be Curran, however I have a gut feeling Reshad Jones is on his way out.

Players leaving too soon has become something that I think has affected the lack of consistency within college programs.

The eligibility for redshirt sophomores to leave has literally prompted the forces of the NFL draft to hit players a year earlier than they used to.

More players are leaving, therefore the units aren't gelling.

This defense has not had a chance to gel, and with the loss of their five best defensive players their chances of being vastly improved may have more to do with the personnel than it will with whoever takes over as the coordinator.