No college football team has more players on ESPN’s 2023 preseason All-America team than the Georgia Bulldogs. Five Georgia Bulldogs made the team.
Alabama finished with the second-most ESPN All-Americans with three players.
Georgia has an ESPN All-American on all three levels of the defense. The Bulldogs are looking to win a third straight national championship, and they return the talent to make a run again in 2023.
What did ESPN have to say about all five of Georgia’s All-Americans?
Tight End Brock Bowers
It can be argued that Brock Bowers is the best player in the country. Bowers is having one of the best tight end careers in college football history. He is remarkably consistent and has no weaknesses in his game.
Bowers has been the quintessential tight end, whether he’s catching the ball down the middle of the field and outrunning defenders, knocking a defender on his back side while blocking inside or on the edge and even taking a handoff and sprinting in for a touchdown. … He has scored 24 touchdowns in his first two seasons (20 receiving and four rushing) and returns for his junior season as one of the most valuable and versatile players in the sport.
2022 stats: 63 receptions for 942 yards and 10 total touchdowns
Center Sedrick Van Pran
Sedrick Van Pran is the leader of Georgia’s offensive front. The former elite center recruit has started 30 straight games for the Georgia Bulldogs and helps the Dawgs’ continuity up front.
Van Pran will be one of the top centers in the country and a high pick in the 2024 NFL draft. The 2023 preseason first-team All-SEC selection helped Georgia have an spectacular pass blocking unit in 2022.
Van Pran was perhaps the most important recruit Georgia secured this offseason when he decided to return to school. … Now in his fourth season in the program, Van Pran is also one of the strongest leaders on Georgia’s team, and his experience will be especially beneficial with the Dawgs breaking in a new quarterback.
2022 stats: 15 starts
Defensive end Mykel Williams
ESPN admits its 2023 All-America team involves some projection. Georgia defensive end Mykel Williams is a case in point. Williams, a true sophomore, has an abundance of potential, but he does not have a wealth of production.
Williams is coming off foot surgery that caused him to miss most of spring practice. … The 6-5, 265-pound Williams tied Jalen Carter with a team-leading 31 quarterback hurries and played especially well in the CFP, getting a sack while matched up against Ohio State first-round draft pick Paris Johnson in the national semifinal.
2022 stats: 4.5 sacks and 28 total tackles
Linebacker Jamon Dumas-Johnson
Jamon Dumas-Johnson shined as a starter in 2022. Dumas-Johnson is the next great linebacker at Georgia. He has excellent speed and is a leader on Georgia’s stout defense.
The 6-1, 245-pound Dumas-Johnson smothers the run and is also adept at getting to the passer from his inside linebacker position. As a true sophomore last season, he led Georgia’s national championship defense with nine tackles for loss and was third in quarterback hurries (24). Dumas-Johnson was a finalist for the Butkus Award as the best linebacker in the country a year ago and will be right in that mix again in 2023.
2022 stats: 71 tackles, four sacks, and three pass deflections
Safety Malaki Starks
Malaki Starks is another player that had an outstanding true freshman season with the Bulldogs. Last season, Starks made his name known early with an incredible interception against Oregon. Starks should be even better in 2023.
The 6-1, 205-pound Starks led all Georgia defenders on its national championship team last season with 847 snaps played… while starting in all 15 games. Starks and Javon Bullard will give the Bulldogs one of the best safety duos in the country, as Bullard is moving from the nickel/star position to safety. Their combined versatility will be invaluable to a Georgia defense that has had 13 players drafted over the last two years.
2022 stats: 69 tackles, two interceptions and seven pass deflections
Snubs: Javon Bullard and Tate Ratledge
Georgia defender Javon Bullard could have easily made ESPN’s All-America team along with offensive guard Tate Ratledge. Bullard was outstanding in the College Football Playoff last season. Ratledge was an elite pass blocker in his first full season as a starter.
