Georgia football: D’Wan Mathis projected to win starting QB job over JT Daniels

Georgia football has a tough decision to make as to who their starting quarterback will be in what’s surely going to be a unique 2020 college football season. 

Georgia football was put into a bit of a bind when their star transfer quarterback, Jamie Newman, made the decision to opt out of the season due to concerns over COVID-19. With Newman off the depth chart, the Bulldogs now have to choose between J.T. Daniels and D’Wan Mathis for that QB1 position.

As of now, it’s looking like Mathis is leading the pack. Jake Rowe of 247 Sports projected Georgia’s offensive depth chart and had Mathis over Daniels in the quarterback race:

“Things have changed quite a bit at this position since the start of preseason camp. The prevailing thought was that it would be between Jamie Newman and JT Daniels but Newman opted out. In stepped Mathis, who had impressed early on but didn’t get many first-team reps in the first scrimmage. He has taken advantage of the reps available when Newman left and we believe he gets the nod.”

Mathis taking the majority of the first-team reps is certainly an indicator that he will be the starting quarterback for Georgia in two weeks when the Bulldogs head to Fayetteville for a date with the Arkansas Razorbacks.

The starting quarterback job became an open competition when Newman opted out and D’Wan Mathis has taken full advantage.

Daniels is still recovering from a torn ACL. He spent the first two years of his collegiate career at USC, but transferred to Athens this offseason in hopes of competing with Newman for the starting spot. Now, he’s competing with Mathis, who provides a dual-threat quarterback for the Bulldogs offense.

Georgia wasn’t in an ideal situation when Newman shocked everyone by opting out, but this is a prestigious program who are the favorites in the SEC East and a College Football Playoff contender each and every year. Just three years ago they were forced to move to their second string quarterback, Jake Fromm, when Jacob Eason was injured in the season opener. We all know what happened after that.

This isn’t to say that Mathis is going to have the success Fromm had for the program, but more to say that Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs are a successful program for a reason. They’ll be fine with whoever wins the QB1 job.

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