By John Frierson
Staff Writer

Micah Morris has been around a while. The Georgia offensive lineman started his fifth preseason camp Thursday, and Morris and running back Cash Jones are the only remaining players who were part of the 2021 and ’22 national championship teams.

“It doesn’t feel like I’ve been here forever, but I am starting to feel like everybody I came in with is gone now,” Morris said. “I’ve been having a great time, and I’ve had so many memories.”

Morris, who started five games in 2024, is hoping to make a lot more in his final season. He will do so with a different cast around him, both on the offensive line and throughout the team. While every team is different every season, the 2025 Bulldogs are young. There is loads of talent, as always, but there are also a lot of players who will be counted on to play large roles for the first time.

Georgia coach Kirby Smart said during SEC Media Days that 54% of the roster is made up of first- and second-year players. That’s the most he’s had as he enters his 10th season in charge.

“We are young — we talked about that in Media Days — but we are hungry,” Smart said Thursday. “We got a team that’s fun to coach. We go out to practice each day, and they’ve been enthusiastic. … A lot of them haven’t had an opportunity to play, and now this is their opportunity.”

The Bulldogs had 13 players selected in the NFL Draft earlier this year, and lost a total of 17 starters from last season’s SEC championship squad. The one group hit the hardest was the offensive line, which lost 115 combined starts following the departures of Dylan Fairchild (24), Tate Ratledge (37), Jared Wilson (12)  and Xavier Truss (42) to the NFL. Drew Bobo, Earnest Greene III, Monroe Freeling and Morris all started games for the Bulldogs last season and are back to lead a young group up front.

For Morris, this season is both a chance to be a regular starter and a team leader.

“I enjoy being one of the leaders. I like the off-the-field part, just having the young guys come up and talk to me and ask me for advice, because there haven’t been too many situations that I haven’t been in. There haven’t been too many things on the field that I haven’t seen or done.”

The same is true for senior tight end Oscar Delp, who has 20 career starts and 50 career receptions, including 21 for 248 yards and four touchdowns in 2024.

“It’s weird, I don’t feel like an old guy,” Delp said with a laugh. “Time just flew by. It’s super cool to be in the position I’m in and to see the young guys and remember that I was in their shoes at one point. I’m happy to be able to help them out in every way I can.”

Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton played the second half of the SEC Championship Game, following the elbow sustained by Carson Beck, and started against Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff quarterfinal. This will be his first season as the man leading an offense since his senior year at Rabun County (Ga.) High School in 2021.

After redshirting in 2022, Stockton appeared in four games in 2023 and five games last season. He’s been around the program for years now, and his teammates are excited to see what he can do this fall.

“I remember Gunner back when he was with the scouts or the twos and threes, and just being able to block for him then. His transition from then to now, just seeing his confidence and maturity, that’s my favorite part — just seeing him believe in himself more. Just get the wings on, get some playing time, some quality playing time against some big teams. He knows he can go out there and do it and execute it.”

On defense, Georgia returns only four regular starters: linebacker CJ Allen (76 tackles), defensive backs Daylen Everette ( 58 tackles, All-SEC and SEC Championship Game MVP) and Joenel Aguero (26 tackles), and defensive lineman Christen Miller (27 tackles). They also have back linebacker Raylen Wilson (47 tackles) and Freshman All-American defensive back KJ Bolden (59 tackles).

“CJ and Raylen have been leaders since they got here — they just haven’t had to be in the forefront,” Smart said

Wilson, who started once last season, is one of the guys who has played a lot but is looking to have an even bigger impact in 2025.

“I feel like a lot of guys are coming into this season with a chip on their shoulder, just to kind of prove themselves and just to prove that they belong here,” he said. “I feel like I got a chip on my shoulder going into this season.”

It’s probably music to Smart and the defensive coaches’ ears that Wilson said the highlight of his summer was running the Sanford Stadium stairs with his teammates. Delp also said that his time in Athens working out this summer was a highlight, and he said a lot of guys are heading into this preseason knowing that there are opportunities to take on key roles, whether as starters or valuable backups, all over the field.

“I think a lot of guys are super excited to play and show what they can do,” Delp said. “I think a lot of the freshmen that just got here are super eager to learn. I think that’s one of the best things, having guys that are here that are ready to get coached and are excited to get coached.”

Starting with Thursday’s practice, the Bulldogs will go 15 times in 18 days this preseason, with a pair of scrimmages included. Georgia opens its season on Aug. 30, against Marshall on Dooley Field.

Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men’s Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files.