Five things we now know about Georgia football after spring practice

For good reason, a lot of attention has been primarily placed on Georgia’s ongoing quarterback battle.

Even though Jacob Eason had a stellar G-Day spring game performance, it’s still a wide-open race between him, Greyson Lambert and Brice Ramsey. While everyone that the hype, at least from a physical standpoint, is legitimate, nothing new was revealed on where the competition actually stands.

That doesn’t mean, of course, that there aren’t other important items that had some light shined on this spring.

In fact, here are five things learned this spring:

Wide receiver position will be fine: A big concern entering the spring revolved around a mostly inexperienced group of wide receivers. This spring answered those questions in a big way. Terry Godwin is the likely No. 1 receiver on this roster, but Georgia head coach Kirby Smart thought enough of Jayson Stanley and Michael Chigbu to run them with the first team at G-Day.

Stanley caught two passes for 87 yards and showed he can be a valuable downfield threat for the Bulldogs. Reggie Davis had a big G-Day catching the ball and offers a deep threat with his speed. It’s also apparent Riley Ridley will have every opportunity to play early in his career.

Offensive line still not settled: Over halfway through spring practice, Georgia adjusted its first-team offensive line. The original group included Kendall Baker at left tackle, Isaiah Wynn at left guard, Brandon Kublanow at center, Dyshon Sims at right guard and Greg Pyke at right tackle. After getting Sims some reps at right tackle one practice, he was shifted to left guard. Wynn kicked out to left tackle and Lamont Gaillard moved up to first-team right guard. Baker moved back to the second team.

With offensive tackle Tyler Catalina joining the program this summer, he’ll figure to compete for a starting spot. Don’t count out freshman Ben Cleveland yet either, as he’s someone who could make a move up the depth chart as well. This group still has some finalizing to do and won’t be a done deal until near the end of August.

Summer crucial for defensive line: At least for Georgia’s season-opener against North Carolina, the defensive line will be down two key contributors. Chauncey Rivers (second marijuana arrest) and Jonathan Ledbetter (underage possession of alcohol) are suspended for it, with Rivers missing Georgia’s first three games.

It’ll be imperative for Georgia’s other young defensive linemen to make strides this summer during voluntary workouts. Michael Barnett and DaQuan Hawkins are coming off of minor knee injuries and will look to heal back to 100 percent before preseason practice begins in August. Georgia lost four linemen up front, including Chris Mayes and Sterling Bailey. Sophomore Trent Thompson will be counted on to provide more of a leadership role on the defensive line in 2016.

Tight ends will be used a lot more: Judging by G-Day, Jim Chaney’s reputation of having a tight end friendly offense will continue at Georgia. Tight ends caught 15 of the 51 passes thrown by quarterbacks at G-Day, equating to a usage of 29.4 percent in the passing game. In 2015, only 14.1 percent of Georgia’s 199 completions went to tight ends.

While Jeb Blazevich was held without a catch at G-Day, Jackson Harris caught 7 passes for 53 yards and Isaac Nauta secured 6 catches for 56 yards. Jordan Davis added 2 catches for 36 yards, with both receptions going for 18 yards each. You can bet Chaney and company will look to add the tight ends much more into the passing game this season.

More pass rushers needed: Davin Bellamy and Lorenzo Carter will have big shoes to fill this season but have the talent and physical ability to get it done. Bellamy emerged last year as a productive player and Carter has been commended for his work ethic this spring, evidenced by being a recipient of the team’s Coffee County Hustle Award. Behind those two, however, are some unproven outside linebackers. D’Andre Walker had 4 sacks at G-Day and could be primed for a bigger role in 2016. Chuks Amaechi played well in spots last season and should be good to go once he’s healed up from labrum surgery.

Freshman pass-rushers Chauncey Manac and David Marshall will also have plenty of opportunities to get on the field early. It also remains to be seen how much cross-training Georgia does with Natrez Patrick, who could move from inside to outside linebacker in certain substitution packages.

This story was originally published April 22, 2016 at 12:33 PM with the headline "Five things we now know about Georgia football after spring practice."