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Podcast: Georgia Bulldogs Football podcast : HBTFDAWGSCAST Episode: 5 Most DANGEROUS SEC Players Georgia Will Face in 2026 Transcript: The SEC is full of dynamic playmakers. Tonight, we're going to look at which five represent the biggest threat to the Georgia Bulldogs this year on this edition of the How about That Dogs cast. And we could talk about a can lead their teams to an upset against the dogs this year. And we're going to start this conversation by looking at the schedule. If you're going to look at who and where the threats are going to come from, you have to make sure you're you're straight on who the dogs are playing. And when I did this, I was looking at the SEC threat matrix for Georgia. So, what that means is I only looked at the teams that the dogs were playing or are scheduled to play, and I was only going to take teams from the SEC. So, when you look at Georgia's outofconference schedule this year, the really only threat from outside the conference that might produce a person that might land on this list would have been Georgia Tech. And yes, Justice Haynes has transferred into play for the Jackets, but I did not feel that he rose to the level of these other players that we're going to talk about tonight. So, if you quickly take a look at Georgia's 2026 schedule, the SEC slate looks like this. They open on the road on September 19th against Arkansas. Then they come back home to play Oklahoma between the Hedges. They follow that up with Vanderbilt at home. Then a trip to Alabama. Now, if we look at those first four SEC games, we have to say, okay, who and which teams might produce one of the threats there? I think you know that Oklahoma is going to be one of those teams because I've talked about them before, but which player? If you look at Vanderbilt, yes, they have a piece here or there. They have the true freshman Jared Curtis, which everybody wants to talk about. Who knows if he's going to be playing though. Then you have Alabama. Now, Alabama is an interesting case because there's certainly players on that team that are going to be award level players that are going to make splashes for the Tide this year. Will they get a player on my list? We'll see. Let's move on to Auburn. They come between the hedges on October 17th. Then the dogs head down to Florida or head to play Florida at the cocktail party. except this year it's in Atlanta. As we all know, it's not down in Jacksonville. From there, the dogs are going to continue on the road and make a trip to Miss where they've had a bit of a rough time under Kirby Smart. Then they're going to come back home, play the Missouri Tigers, and then they're going to finish on the road in the Rock that will be the game against South Carolina at the end of November or late November. So, from this list, from the SEC schools that we talked about here, if you look at Auburn, new head coach, new quarterback, stellar players on defense. Will they be somebody who gets one of these players? When you look at the Gator, yeah, they had a lot of movement in the offseason, also have a new head coach, but who might rise up there? Could be a wide receiver, maybe. When you look at Miss, they are a clear and present danger, not only to Georgia, but to everybody in the conference. So, who and how many of the Old Miss Rebels might end up on this list? Missouri's kind of hanging around the chicken coop. They might be able to do something here that you don't expect. And then of course you have Carolina and they may not have the depth across their team that you would look at them and say they're a threat to Georgia, but they certainly have star power at multiple positions. So who is going to make my top five list of the players that are the biggest threats to Kirby Smart and his Georgia Bulldogs as we head into this 2026 football season. Now, the one thing we know about Kirby Smart is that yes, there are threats everywhere. This is the SEC, but he has a pretty good track record of game planning against both teams and individual players when necessary. So, who is it going to be? Well, again, there are playmakers everywhere, and we could have picked any number of them. But my list tonight is gonna begin at number five with Jaden Ball of the Florida Gator. And you might say, well, okay, that's an interesting choice. Florida's going through a bit of a a retooling. They've got pieces that are moving. How did Ball make this list? Well, keep in mind that the Georgia Bulldogs were looking for a running back in the transfer portal this year. And there was a lot of smoke, a lot of rumor about whether or not Jaden Ball was going to jump into the portal. And if he had, there was very, very real interest based on everything that we know from the Georgia Bulldogs that they would be one of his main suitors. Now, that didn't happen. ball never entered the transfer portal, but it shows you that he is a player that Georgia values and respects highly. Now, as we go through this list, there are going to be a couple of names that you're going to say he absolutely should be on there before this guy. And we could argue about that, but the way I'm looking at it is it's not just the player. It's how will that player be featured in the system for the team that they represent? And inside that idea, how will they impact the players on their team? Can they raise their level? How will they play together? So, I tried to factor all that in as I put my five together here. And I understand that there could be some arguments and I want you to drop those arguments in the comments below or put them in the chat because I want to know who you're thinking about if maybe I missed them. Maybe I just didn't think they deserve to be on the list. Let me know. So, when we're talking about Jared Ball, let's keep in mind that even though he may not be a household name across the SEC, he's certainly well known to Georgia Bulldog fans and absolutely well known to Gator fans. He finished third in the SEC in rushing last year with over,00 yards. So, it would have made perfect sense for Ball to be a hot commodity had he jumped in the portal, but he chose not to. He's gonna line up and play for the Florida Gator again here in 2026. And that is why I put him as one of my top threats to Georgia football because I can think back to maybe it was 2020 and the dogs go down there and I didn't think there was any way that they were going to lose to Florida and then all of a sudden they couldn't contain the edge. They got run all over that day. That was the last time Florida beat Georgia. And if Georgia is going to lose to Florida, it's going to be because one of their star players has a wonderful day. In my mind, in this case, if that player exists, it's going to be Jaden Ball. And that's why he makes my list at number five for the one of the biggest threats to the Georgia Bulldogs here in 2026 that they will face from an SEC opponent. So, moving right along, coming in at number four on my list is Ahmad Hardy from the Missouri Tigers. Now, the thing about Ahmad Hardy last year, and I'm going to get this out of the way right up front, is he had tremendous numbers. He led the SEC in rushing with over 1,600 yards, and he had a lot of touchdowns. He made big plays, explosives all over the field for the Tigers. But it seemed like when they showed up against better competition, Hardy sort of disappeared. So, was his production, was his overall hype something that was a little overblown because he didn't actually get it done against top tier competition inside the conference? or was that just the first year where he was figuring things out and Missou's quarterback situation wasn't that great and everybody knew that he was going to have the ball when they played the top tier competition and then they were able to game plan for it. I don't know. And frankly, I'm not really concerned about arguing that fact because what I'm doing now is looking at 2026 and we know that Austin Simmons transferred in to play quarterback for the Missouri Tigers. That's going to give them a little pop and a dual threat at the quarterback position. and we know he's already been named the starter. So, we can see these two in the background together in the back field together. I think between the RPO and the Reed game and the traditional run game that Eli Drinkitz and Missouri like to deploy, I think Ahmad Hardy is going to have another big year here in 2026, assuming he stays healthy and is able to come back from his offseason injury that he suffered in a freak accident. So, if all that holds true and Hardy comes back, I think he is going to be a threat for the Georgia Bulldogs. And I thought long and hard about putting running backs on here anyway, because you've heard me say already that I expect Georgia to be good against the run again here in 2026, much like they were in 2025, potentially better. So, why did a running back get on the list? Well, it's because of exactly what I said. It's not just the running back. It's not just their production numbers. is how they fit into the system, where the games fall, so on and so forth. So, if Missouri is going to come in between the hedges and pull the upset and beat the Georgia Bulldogs, it's going to be because they manage to run the football and control the clock and play keep away a little bit and put points on the board when they have an opportunity. And Ahmad Hardy is going to go a long way in making that happen for them. And all the while he possesses a very real possibility of being an explosive playmaker from the running back position. So at number four, I have Ahmad Hardy as one of the biggest threats to the Georgia Bulldogs here in 2026. One of the things you don't have to be threatened about is just what kind of quality of information and technique you're going to get over on How about Them Dogs Plus. Because I'll tell you what, we have new updates, new videos, exclusive live streams, premium giveaways. If you want to take your dog fandom to the next level, and support independent Georgia Bulldogs football coverage, this is how you do it. Check us out over at How Them Dogs Plus. The link is in the description right below. Now coming in at number three, we have Lenores Cellers, the South Carolina Gamecocks Mercurial quarterback. And why do I say mercurial? Because he's a guy that when he's on, he can absolutely take a game over and change the outcome of it. Just think back a couple years to the performance he put on against Clemson. The Gamecocks were down. He rolls out there and single-handedly does what he has to do to bring the Gamecooxs back on the road and pull the upset against the Clemson Tigers in a huge victory for Shane Beamer and South Carolina. Then last year, Sellers comes back, has a little injury issue along the way, but still had them in position right there at the end against teams like Alabama and other games where they could have broken through, but just couldn't quite get it done. And that's because sellers had to do it all by himself. Even with that, I don't think South Carolina is going to be tremendously better this year than they were last year. They do have the former five-star uh and Nick Harour out there uh at wide receiver. They do have five-star Dylan Stewart rushing the passer off the edge. So, they have playmakers. Either one of those guys could have made it onto my list here as the top five threats, but when you're on the same team as the Norris Sers, and as the Norris Sellers at quarterback touching the football every play, it's hard to have any more impact than that. So, I went with Sellers here because if he's right, if he's healthy, if he has any semblance of a running game or offensive line protection, he is absolutely the kind of differencemaker that can spark an upset against a team like Georgia. We know this game is going to be a rock fight. We know it's going to be everything that the South Carolina fans hope it will be. They get the Georgia Bulldogs late in the year when South Carolina typically is playing their best football under Shane Beamer and it is going to be a headline game. They're going to be looking to make a statement. So Sellers is going to be riding that wave of energy and support from the Gamecock Faithful. This game inevitably feels like it's always going to be a tight one. And when the margins are so thin, a player like Lenor Sers that has the capability to make a play from anywhere on the field is exactly the kind of player that can rise up and before you know it, pull off the upset that nobody saw coming against a team like our George Bulldogs. So, is this going to be dangerous? Absolutely it will be because Sellers is not alone. And if this were any other team, if I thought he was going to have any more level of help than I believe he might actually have, he probably would have been higher on my list here. But given where I think the Gamecocks are right now, I have Lenor Sers as the number three greatest threat inside the SEC this year to the Georgia Bulldogs. Now, only two spots remain. This is a name that I've talked about before. John Matier checks in at number two as the greatest one of the greatest threats to the Georgia Bulldog season this year. And you say, "Why, Randy? Why?" Well, because think back to the video I made about the Oklahoma Sooners. I understand that Matier was a little up and down last year, but when he was on, he was right. And U was right. Once he got dinged, he wasn't quite the same quarterback the rest of the year. Well, the thing about Georgia and Oklahoma this year is they play early in the season. Yes, Georgia has them between the hedges in Athens, but if Matier is healthy, he has more than enough weapons around him to make this a dangerous situation for the Georgia Bulldogs in September. If he gets a little help from Satenia, if he gets a little help from his running game, if he gets a little support from that defense, John Matir and his dual threat capability, his raw playmaking ability from the quarterback position will have an opportunity to upset the Georgia Bulldogs between the hedges. I don't like saying that out loud, but I think that is a very real possibility. Again, this list is not about can this player by themselves beat Georgia. This list is not about who are the top players inside the conference. This list is about who on Georgia's SEC slate poses the biggest threat to them to be a catalyst for an upset against Georgia. And when I look at it through that lens, Matir is right there at the top because again, I think he has all the pieces in place to have a whole lot of help in pulling that off. And if he's right, and especially if the Georgia Bulldogs are a little off, then I think you have the makings of a potential upset there in Athens. So, we will see. And that is why John Matier checks in at number two on my list of biggest threats for the 2026 season. That means we have made it all the way down to the end. And that means I think you probably know where I'm going to go next. Number one has to be Trinidad Chamblas of the Old Miss Rebels. came out of nowhere last year, wasn't the starter heading into the season, but fate smiled upon him and he took advantage of his opportunity and his life and the SEC hasn't been the same since. He was fantastic against Georgia between the hedges last year and if it hadn't been for circumstances again with his teammates and Georgia rising to the occasion, he could have beaten Georgia in Athens last season. But it didn't happen. Georgia got the win that day. Then we met the Rebels again in the Sugar Bowl in January. And that night, in a game that Georgia was absolutely in, in a game that Georgia had every chance to win, in a game where Georgia had a fumble return for touchdown. They had a fake punt that was successful. And then they had call after call that was made at exactly the right time that you're not supposed to get beat on that they got beat on. And all of that happened simply because Trinidad Trinidad Chamblas was the quarterback for the Old Miss Rebels that night. Single-handedly he made play after play at critical moments that made the difference in that game. I don't need a whole lot of in, you know, like input here to figure out who Georgia's biggest threat is on the schedule from an individual player standpoint because I've seen it. I watched it from the sidelines in Athens. I watched it on television in the Sugar Bowl. I've seen a hundred replays since then. The young man simply made play after play when plays needed to be made for his team. He elevated them that night to the victory. He elevated Old Miss in their season last year. And with him coming back, Miss is absolutely a threat. Throw in on top of that that Georgia is having to travel back to play Miss in Oxford where under Kirby Smart, they have not been doing very well in their two trips back there. And things don't look great for Georgia. You will hear many prognosticators look at Georgia season this year and say Georgia will lose to Miss in Oxford. I'm not saying that here tonight, but I am telling you that if Old Miss wins that game again, Trinidad Chamblas is going to be one of the main reasons why that happened. Could be because of the players he have around him and they just run the offense, but I would be willing to bet it's because he has a performance like he had in the Sugar Bowl where things are just going right. And I want to throw in here that there's a little bit of an honorable mention. Kiwan Lacy absolutely could have been on this list, but I really didn't want to put multiple players from one team on the list, but Kiwan Lacy finished second in the SEC in rushing yards last year. We saw what he could do firsthand the two games that he played against Georgia. He's absolutely one of the most dangerous players Georgia's going to play this season. He just also happens to be on the team with Trinidad Chamblas. So, there you have it. my top five threats to the Georgia Bulldogs heading into the 2020 2026 season. And like I said off the top, Kirby Smart, none of this is going to surprise him. He knows exactly who and what the SEC is. He understands what his team is in relation to those players. They're going to line up. They are going to head right out there and take every one of these challenges on headtohead. Kirby's going to have the guys ready. They're going to have a good game plan and they're going to be fired up and ready to go. But that's where I come back to sometimes you can do everything right and you just lose. Sometimes the tiger gets you. And I think these players that we talked about here tonight are the ones who are capable of being the catalyst for that kind of upset if George is going to get nipped here in 2026 across the SEC schedule. When you look ahead to the new season, it's always interesting to think about how things could shake out. And when I started thinking about Georgia and the schedule and the way it looks as I start to think about how I'm going to pick the games heading into 2026, I had to say, well, it's about the Jimmies and Joe's. It's not always about the X's and O's. And yes, there is a lot of circumstantial stuff that figures in like schedule, when you play teams, where you play them, who are you playing them after, so on and so forth. But at the end of the day, again, it comes back to the players. The last time Georgia was on the field, they lost because of the play of individual players led by the guy who checked in at number one on my list tonight, Chamblas. That's why if I'm looking at where the threats come from, I'm going to look at players first. And if I'm looking at players first, these five that we've talked about tonight, well, they've got all the alarm bells ringing for me. I'm certain that the dogs would be ready to meet this the standard to meet the challenge. But the game is a game. That's why we play them. And there's no guarantee of victory. Go Dogs. Told them. How about theming dogs? That's what I told them. Show notes: 💥 HBTFDAWGS+ SUMMER INSANITY 👉🏻 https://hbtfdawgscast.com/summer-insanity/ 5 Most DANGEROUS SEC Players Georgia Will Face in 2026. ⏱ TIMECODES ⏱ 0:00 5 BIGGEST SEC PLAYER THREATS 4:37 JADEN BAUGH 7:33 AHMAD HARDY 10:51 LANORRIS SELLERS 14:01 JOHN MATEER 16:05 TRINIDAD CHAMBLISS 19:22 KIRBY SMART KNOWS THE ROAD ***************************************** 🔴 SUBSCRIBE 👉🏻 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1BUdwYcH1FSJpq3hRH1sng?sub_confirmation=1 ******************************************** ******************************************** 💥 FROST BUDDY 👉🏻 https://frostbuddy.com/RANDY37 💥 STORE 👉🏻 https://www.bonfire.com/store/hbtfdawgscast/ ******************************************** ✍🏻 Newsletter 👉🏻 https://hbtfdawgscast.com/ringthebell/ https://www.instagram.com/hbtfdawgscast/ https://www.tiktok.com/@hbtfdawgscast 🟢 Spotify🎙️: https://open.spotify.com/show/0RNySMalyoqdyZUHA3DbN3?si=f168123bdfa3446c 🟣 Apple 🍎: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hbtfdawgscast-georgia-football/id1676190678 🔴 ⭐️ My livestreams are powered by E-Camm Live, the leading all-in-one livestreaming production platform built for Mac! 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For any questions, please contact randy@hbtfdawgscast.comFor any questions, please contact randy@hbtfdawgscast.com 🔴 Copyright Disclaimer: Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976, allowance is made for fair use for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, scholarship, and research. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use. Any other use of this video or any pictures, descriptions, or accounts of this video without the expressed consent of Randy Powers, Rikins Creative, and/or A Damn Beast Media is prohibited. Any alteration of this video, or use outside of this specific YouTube channel requires a contracted agreement and license fee. For any questions, please contact randy@hbtfdawgscast.com