Georgia outside linebacker Quintavious Johnson revealed this week that he believed he was instrumental in convincing former Auburn defensive end Amaris Williams to transfer to UGA. Johnson said he had numerous conversations with Williams in the days prior to his decision to join the Bulldogs.
This behavior is seemingly common at Georgia, but perhaps not so much in the world at large.
I joked with Davin Bellamy on DawgNation Daily on Wednesday about how even when you’re playing pick-up basketball with friends, it’s normal to encounter someone who doesn’t want to pass the basketball. Selfishness in all levels of sports, in other words, isn’t usually hard to find. Yet UGA truly seems to operate differently than that.
With the Bulldogs’ renewed emphasis on pass rush this season, Johnson could arguably stand to benefit from that more than anyone else on the roster given the position he plays. Yet Johnson seemed eager to help Georgia attract another player who could share snaps with him and almost certainly will eat into the statistical success that he could’ve kept for himself.
Johnson’s main concern seems to be making Georgia as good as it can be, and adding Williams certainly made UGA better. To him, that’s all that seems to have mattered.
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Trivia time
Which Georgia defensive leader won the Ted Hendricks Award in 2003?
Answer is at the bottom of the newsletter.
Why Georgia promoted Phil Rauscher as offensive line coach
Georgia won a national championship with Stacy Searels as the team’s offensive line coach. He turned multiple offensive linemen into NFL draft picks, with Monroe Freeling likely to be a first-rounder in next year’s NFL draft.
The offensive line, despite battling injury after injury last season, had a bounceback season. The Bulldogs went from 15th to 4th in the SEC in rushing offense while giving up 5 fewer sacks.
Coming off a successful season, Georgia still felt the need to make a change as the team’s offensive line coach. In January, Kirby Smart promoted Phil Rauscher to be the team’s offensive line coach, moving Searels into an analyst role.
“He’s a different type of coach compared to coach Searels,” Freeling said of Rauscher. “Coach Searels is super old school, kind of a hard a**. He’s got a lot of modern techniques, he has a lot to his game. A young mind. He’s given us a lot of new drills for us to run, like moving in space. Having his young energy in the O-line kind of helped us grow as a unit and rush for 190 a game last year.”
Rauscher was with the Georgia program last year, serving as an analyst focused on the offensive line. It was his first time working with a college program since 2014, when he was the offensive coordinator at Cal Lutheran.
“He reminds me of Garrett Wilson,” Noah Thomas said of Taylor. “You know how he gets out of breaks, runs his routes, how he attacks the ball. When he first came, it was like he wasn’t a freshman. He obviously has some things to work on. He knows what he needs to work on. Knowing that, knowing his personal stuff, he’s going to be a great player for sure.”
Of the receivers that were on Georgia’s roster last season, they combined for 36 receptions.
That lack of returning production is why Georgia went into the transfer portal to add help. Georgia Tech’s Isiah Canion caught 33 passes last season for the Yellow Jackets, turning them into 480 yards and 4 touchdowns.
Georgia is going to need him to produce even beyond that this season. Based on what the Bulldogs have already seen, Canion seems more than up to the task of leading the wide receiver room.
Transfer WR Isiah Canion takes part in the second day of spring practice in Athens, Georgia, on Thursday, March 19, 2026. (DawgNation staff photo)
Quote of the day
Smart on scouting Canion:
“We remember Coach Bobo going down and watching him practice. He made a couple really acrobatic catches. He was in the back of our mind all along. Of course, we got to play against him last year. He made some plays against us last year in that game. The more familiar you are with someone through recruiting, the more success we’ve had.”
Georgia confident in how it’s tackling its biggest defensive issue
Georgia knows it has a pass rush problem entering 2026.
That’s why it wasn’t all that surprising to hear Smart clarify the pass rush as an area of defensive focus during spring practice. Georgia linebacker Raylen Wilson harped on the issue as well.
“Well, our main goals on defense for this spring is to get better at creating havoc in the backfield,” Wilson said on Tuesday. “And really playing together, everybody being on the same page. I mean, if we get that accomplished, I feel like we’d have a great spring.”
Georgia will have to replace linebacker CJ Allen, who ranked second on the team with 3.5 sacks last season. He is the only player from last year’s team who had multiple sacks that needs to be replaced.
Wilson figures to fill some of the void left by Allen. Georgia has always used its inside linebackers to generate pressure.
One hopeful change for next season is that the Bulldogs get more out of their outside linebacker room. The position generated just 3.0 of Georgia’s 20 sacks last season.
