Here’s what stood out about Georgia football as fall camp gets underway

Because of the House settlement last year, roster limits are now capped at 105 players. Georgia has a larger roster than that because former walk-ons have been grandfathered in.

Last Friday, Judge Charlotte Sweeney ruled that players from the 2022 signing class would have another year of eligibility. However, those players are not able to enter the transfer portal at this point in time, meaning their only avenue to return would be to their former team.

Georgia has five players from last year’s team who were not drafted and fit the criteria to return. Three of them are currently with NFL teams. The only two players who could potentially return would be safety JaCorey Thomas and wide receiver Cole Speer. The former has indicated he’s open to returning to play college football.

It would appear that Georgia is at the 105-man limit right now. But Smart did seem to indicate the Bulldogs could be flexible with that number.

“We’re always at or around the 105 limit,” Smart said. “That technically could be changing all the time. It’s not like a defined target in time that we’re at this or this. We’re always open to bringing on a new player if we have room. And if we don’t have room, then we can’t do that, and we’re stuck at it.”

There’s still a long way to go in terms of whether the Bulldogs will actually add anyone to their roster. The NCAA plans to appeal Sweeney’s ruling.

While Georgia’s roster was one of the big questions on Wednesday, those were not the only comments made by Smart that caught our attention. Below are the rest of our takeaways from Georgia’s first day back on the practice field.

Chris Cole had one of the best offseasons

Junior linebacker Chris Cole knows he didn’t do a good enough job as a pass rusher last season.

“I feel like last year, I left a lot on the table, a lot of missed sacks, but this year, I wanna come for it all,” Cole said.

For a group that ranked last among the 12 College Football Playoff teams in sacks, Cole may as well be the face of the Georgia pass rush. The potential is there in the room.

But Georgia knows it has to produce when it comes to disrupting the opposing quarterback.

Cole is at his best dropping back into coverage. He knows he needs to get better as a pass rusher. He led Georgia with 4.5 sacks last season.

Smart believes Cole has done that this offseason, praising the linebacker for having one of the best offseasons of anyone on the Georgia roster.

“This guy is the hardest worker; he hits the highest speeds; he plays with the most energy and enthusiasm,” Smart said. “There’s not a day that we don’t show a clip in the team meeting of a guy that’s chasing down a ball and running down a ball. He never saves up.”

Georgia has had a string of third-year linebackers win the Butkus Award. Jalon Walker, Nakobe Dean and Roquan Smith all won the nation’s top linebacker award.

Cole would need to have a massive year to win that award. But Georgia seems to think he’s capable of doing so.

KJ Bolden knows what is on the line in 2026

It’s hard to believe that KJ Bolden is entering his third year in the program. It seems like just yesterday he was learning from Malaki Starks and Dan Jackson.

Now, he’s prepared to be the face of the Georgia team.

“I’m just excited for this year, man,” Bolden said. “There’s a lot of things I didn’t know my freshman year, and then coming to year three and fall camp now, I feel like I’ve grown a lot. Just when it comes to football, play recognition, just learning the defense, communication, being a leader.”

Bolden has always been comfortable with the expectations placed on him. He was the first player to sign with Georgia out of Buford in over a decade. He took less NIL money to come to Georgia after originally committing to Florida State.

Georgia has had a long line of great safeties. Bolden looks to add to the lineage. With a great year, he could be among the best.

“He’s not afraid to confront and demand excellence from them,” Smart said. “He’s not afraid to say, ‘Hey, man, jog all the way off the field.’ ‘Hey, run to the ball.’ Hold them accountable because when he’s doing it himself, it’s a lot easier for him to hold them accountable.”

Nothing else matters to Lawson Luckie

Georgia has done a lot of winning during Lawson Luckie’s time in Athens.

But as for this 2026 team, he notes it hasn’t accomplished a thing.

“The big mantra is every year is independent of last year. We started over yesterday. Our first practice is today,” Luckie said. “The 2026 Georgia Bulldogs have done nothing yet. We’ve won the last two SEC championships. This team’s won nothing. You start from scratch every year.”

Luckie leads a tight end room that might be among the best position groups in the sport.

As a senior, he wants to play at 245 pounds. That’s a good 10 pounds heavier than where he was last season for Georgia.

With Oscar Delp now with the New Orleans Saints, Luckie wants to be the guy that can do everything for Georgia and thus not have to come off the field.

“I think I am extremely versatile,” Luckie said. “I don’t think there’s one particular trait that I’m lacking in, especially coming into this season. I’m a lot heavier than I was last year, and I think that was one thing that was lacking. So now I might not be the best at everything, but I can do everything at a very high level.”

A smaller Juan Gaston could be the best Juan Gaston

During Georgia’s first practice on Wednesday, Juan Gaston got the first look at right tackle.

Expect there to be a competition between junior Jahzare Jackson and the second-year Gaston.

After carving out regular playing time as a true freshman last season, Gaston wants more. And it seems like he’s put in the work to play a role as large as he is for Georgia in 2026.

“Juan changed his body a lot,” Earnest Greene said of Gaston. “That was one of the biggest things. He dropped a whole lot of body fat and really changed his body around. So I’m really proud of him for doing that in return in that aspect. Coming in out of high school was kind of hard for some bigger guys to do that.”

Gaston did most of his work at guard for Georgia last season. With Dontrell Glover manning the left guard spot, the Bulldogs will use the month of August to sort out the right side of its offensive line. Freshman Zykie Helton is a major name to know at right, as he’s expected to do what Glover did a season ago as a true freshman.

Getting to play next to Gaston could make things much easier while giving the Bulldogs their best possible combination on the offensive line.