Seniors Lead, Freshmen Impress

Georgia wide receiver Michael Moore made a point to do a little bragging with head coach Mark Richt on Wednesday.

Moore wasn't sharing praise of his own play, but instead he wanted Richt to know how impressed he was with Georgia's true freshmen, 16 of which made their Bulldogs debut at Tuesday's first fall practice session. Moore said Georgia's seniors made sure the freshmen knew the ropes this summer – an advantage Moore's fellow veterans didn't get when they first arrived on campus.

"He was halfway bragging on himself because the veterans did a good job (preparing the freshmen)," Richt said. "He said, "We did a much better job teaching these guys than those guys did teaching us."

While the players have yet to practice in anything more than shorts, Richt agrees with Moore's assessment, saying the freshmen have been well ahead of the game in the early workouts.

"We're putting in second-day installation and they don't seem lost. But I see it on the sideline all the time – whatever it is the guys are doing a great job of instructing the young players."

And it's not just the veterans on the team, Richt said. Even the sophomores and redshirt freshmen are chipping in with advice.

"Marcus Dowtin's a second-year guy and I saw him talking to (Chase) Vasser today about how crucial it is to find the ball and go pursue it, even if you made a mistake," Richt said. "So it doesn't have to be a senior."

So... what does Richt think of some of the freshmen in particular? Here are some quotes....

On Marlon Brown: "I saw Marlon Brown going up strong for a catch. Guys were trying to rake the ball out of there and couldn't do it because he's got such strong hands."

On Rantavious Wooten: "I saw Rantavious Wooten running routes looking like he's been doing it for quite a while, and he's got outstanding hands."

On the tight ends: "Orson Charles made some nice catches. He needs to be much more precise in his route running, but he just got here. He's getting a good feel of what to do, but he's got to refine his route running. Artie Lynch actually made a couple of plays in our skeleton drills."

On Washaun Ealey: "I like how Washaun looks. He's a good-looking guy and runs with a great center of gravity. He looks like he's not going to get knocked off his feet very easily. He looks like a running back."

On the O linemen and linebackers: "It's hard to say much about the linemen other than they're all athletic. Linebackers are learning, but there's so much to learn. They're good-looking kids."

On Shawn Williams: "If nothing else I see the guy practicing hard, still learning what to do. You could tell that maybe he's a little behind getting here in the middle of the summer instead of the beginning because those veterans did a very good job of teaching the young guys."

On Montez Robinson: "Montez has tremendous size and athleticism, but you could tell for him, for all those D linemen, they're just trying to figure it out. They're not getting a ton of reps, but when you're in shorts it's hard to gauge. But does have the ability we thought he did and more? Probably yes."