Since I’ve taken over the newsletter, I have gotten so many kind and welcoming messages from the DawgNation family. One piece of feedback I’ve also received is the trivia section is important to y’all.
I totally understand and am so happy to be adding it back. I definitely wasn’t getting rid of the trivia section intentionally, and have been working on a trivia question master list for a while (y’all should see my spreadsheet — it’s intense). With the baseball postseason getting so hectic, it got away from me for a bit, but now I’m in a groove.
Thank you for your patience while I find a rhythm with the newsletter. I have tons of fun ideas that I’m excited to try out over time.
And if you ever have thoughts or feedback, don’t hesitate to reach out.
Speaking of trivia …
Trivia time
In 2016, coach Kirby Smart’s first year in Athens, this Georgia linebacker led the team in tackles with 95.
Trivia time (x2)
(Making up for having less trivia lately with two today).
Georgia catcher Daniel Jackson won the SEC Triple Crown this past season. Georgia joins this SEC school as the only schools to have a player win the SEC Triple Crown.
Answers are at the bottom of the newsletter.
These Georgia players will benefit from NCAA eligibility rule change
Now, let’s talk about how they could affect football.
The NCAA previously announced athletes will have five years to play five seasons of college sports. A player’s eligibility clock will start either five years within full-time enrollment in college or the academic year starting after their 19th birthday, whichever comes first.
This change will eliminate redshirting and have a drastic impact on Georgia football’s roster now and moving forward. Currently enrolled players will be able to opt for either the old or new rules, while 2027 recruits must adhere to the new rules.
Waivers for injury will be a thing of the past as well, as the only exceptions would be for religious missions, maternity leave and military service.
Georgia has seven players on its 2026 roster who were entering their final year of eligibility. Those listed below will now have an extra year to play in college, should they so choose.
Players such as Gunner Stockton and Earnest Greene will still exhaust their eligibility after this season, as it will be their fifth year in college.
Because of NFL rules, players have to be three years removed from high school to enter the NFL draft. That rule has not changed. Players such as Luckie, Harris and Wilson all bypassed the 2026 NFL draft to return to Georgia for their senior seasons. Now they have an additional year of eligibility.
The seven players listed above aren’t the only ones on the Georgia roster who will gain an extra season of collegiate eligibility. Read the full story for a list of every Georgia player who hasn’t used a redshirt yet and could now have a fifth season of eligibility.
Players who exhausted their eligibility before the spring of 2026 will have to adhere to the old rules, meaning they won’t get a potential fifth season of eligibility.
Smart previously came out in support of the NCAA’s proposed “5-in-5″ rule.
“I am an advocate of high school kids getting an opportunity to go to college and play, and we’re losing seats and space because of the lawsuit (House v. NCAA),” Smart said at the SEC’s spring meetings. “We were reduced. So I go into these high schools, and teams went from 130 to 105, and everybody goes from 130 to 105, the math is 25 per program. That’s a ton of seats that were lost, and now we’re losing more because kids are staying longer than five years.
“It really started with the COVID deal, so I would start with, just don’t take opportunities away from people because it’s going to ruin the game.”
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2026 season will show how important 5-star offensive tackles are for Georgia program
Smart has always prioritized the offensive line in his time at Georgia.
The best Georgia teams have had elite offensive lines, usually stocked with former elite recruits. Georgia has landed five 5-star offensive tackles in the time since Smart took over the program, with four becoming first-round draft picks. Cade Mays, who transferred out of Georgia, is the lone exception.
Monroe Freeling is the most recent 5-star example, as he was taken in the first round of the 2026 NFL draft by the Carolina Panthers. He needed just three seasons in Athens to become a first-round pick.
Georgia has options to replace Freeling this fall. But none of them carry the same lofty recruiting ranking that Freeling did during his time in Athens.
This upcoming season will be the first time since Smart’s first in Athens — 2016 — that Georgia does not have a 5-star offensive lineman on the roster.
Given how well Georgia has recruited the offensive line under Smart, this would seem to indicate the offensive line is a position of concern for the Bulldogs.
Yet that isn’t the case for Georgia, at least on paper.
Greene is likely to be Freeling’s replacement. Greene just missed out on being a 5-star prospect, finishing as the No. 45 overall player in the 2022 class.
Georgia redshirt junior OT Earnest Greene III, shown on top of Alabama safety Bray Hubbard, was a key factor in the Bulldogs 28-7 victory during the SEC championship game on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. (Jeff Sentell/DawgNation)
Georgia wide receiver Zachariah Branch (left) runs after a reception as offensive lineman Earnest Greene III blocks a Georgia Tech defender at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, in Atlanta. (Jason Getz/AJC)
Georgia head coach Kirby Smart speaks with offensive lineman Earnest Greene III after a touchdown against Missouri at Sanford Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023, in Athens. (Jason Getz/AJC)
Greene has more than 20 starts at left tackle for the Bulldogs. He started at right tackle for Georgia last season.
The worry for Greene comes on the injury front, as he’s suffered multiple back injuries during his Georgia career. He also missed time during the 2024 season because of an upper-body injury.
With Greene moving from right to left tackle, the Bulldogs are looking for someone to step in at that spot. Georgia has made a real push to get Jah Jackson in a place where he can possibly contribute. Jackson was the No. 990 overall player in the class, about as far away from a 5-star recruit as Georgia has brought in on the offensive line.
Jackson was ranked so low not because of a lack of athletic gifts. At 6-foot-10 and 350 pounds, he is the biggest player on the team. Jackson didn’t play football during his high school career, instead pursuing a basketball path.
If it isn’t Jackson at right tackle, it will be Juan Gaston. Like Greene, he nearly missed being a 5-star prospect in his respective recruiting class. He finished as the No. 52 overall player in the 2025 recruiting class.
Last season, Gaston became the first true freshman since Andrew Thomas to start Georgia’s first game of the season. Gaston did so at right guard, a spot he would rotate in at over the course of the season.
Greene and Gaston may not be 5-star prospects, but you could certainly do a lot worse on the offensive line. Especially with Drew Bobo at center and Dontrell Glover at guard. While they were both 3-star prospects, they’ve already well outplayed those rankings.
If the Georgia offensive line is able to mitigate injuries, it could well be a strength this season.
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Trivia answers
First trivia answer: Linebacker Roquan Smith
Second trivia answer: Mississippi State. Rafael Palmeiro won it in 1984, and Brent Rooker in 2017.
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