Kirby Smart is ready for final spring evaluation at Saturday's G-Day

Fourteen practices are in the books. Next up is Georgia’s annual spring game Saturday, which will serve as the final spring evaluation for head coach Kirby Smart and his staff.

Georgia’s players will dress out and prepare as if it is a real football game inside Sanford Stadium. The Bulldogs are hoping for a big crowd, although capacity will be capped at an estimated 78,000 people due to recent construction efforts to build a new locker room and recruiting lounge.

Smart is hoping for a sizable turnout so that his players, especially his younger ones expected to fill bigger roles, get a feel for what it is like to compete in front of a large audience.

“I want to evaluate the players,” Smart said. “I want them to play in a big-time atmosphere. I think the more butterflies they have now, the less butterflies they have the next time. So we've got a lot of guys who will be playing not for the first time, but they'll be playing significant roles for the first time. So the more experience they get the better.”

The nature of the game should make it exciting to the fans in attendance. As it has been the previous spring games under Smart, the quarterbacks have thrown the ball quite a bit. Former Georgia quarterback Jacob Eason, who has since transferred to Washington, threw for 311 yards and two touchdowns at last year's G-Day spring game.

Rising sophomore quarterback Jake Fromm threw for 277 yards and two touchdowns, which included a 70-yard bomb to receiver Tyler Simmons. This year, Fromm and freshman early enrollee Justin Fields will be the two quarterbacks looking to make plays in the passing game.

And that is an area Smart is ready to see Saturday.

“I’m excited to see what Justin does. I’m excited to see what Jake does,” Smart said. “Probably one of the more promising things of the spring has been the depth of the receivers and the competition in the receiver room. I think the receivers have been a little ahead of the (defensive backs), and if that continues Saturday, and it could, there could be some points scored out there.”

Smart is hopeful that his players have been mindful with what the coaches have taught them throughout the spring. What he doesn’t want to see is what he calls “rat trapping,” which is when a player starts "doing his own thing" on the football field.

Playing within the confines of the defensive system is paramount to Smart, with this being something he hopes to see from his team on both sides of the ball at G-Day.

“A lot of those guys are now in our two deep. Some are challenging for starting jobs,” Smart said. “There are some good players in those mid-year enrollees. That’s probably the most exciting thing for me to see those guys. I’ve seen a lot of the other one but getting to see them respond to maybe some adversity, maybe a little awe. I want to see how they do."

This story was originally published April 19, 2018 at 7:55 PM with the headline "Kirby Smart is ready for final spring evaluation at Saturday's G-Day."