Georgia football: JT Daniels’ breakout game is an indictment on Kirby Smart

JT Daniels’ first game for Georgia football has us questioning Kirby Smart’s judgment.

Health is the only reason Kirby Smart could have kept JT Daniels out of the starting lineup.

In the latter part of November, the Georgia Bulldogs saw something they had not witnessed since 2013 when Aaron Murray was their star quarterback: A 400-yard passer. A lack of a vertical passing game has been the biggest reason the Dawgs have not won a national championship under Smart. While he is a defensive-minded coach, how could he not start Daniels from the jump if he was healthy???

Georgia has its quarterback in JT Daniels, but Kirby Smart ruined the season

Ultimately, we may never know. Daniels did tear his ACL in the first week of the 2019 season playing for the USC Trojans. Obviously, you want a player of Daniels’ talent to get healthy and not rush back from such a devastating injury. However, Georgia would not have two losses on its resume if Daniels had been the Week 1 starter over D’Wan Mathis or Stetson Bennett IV.

Never trusting Smart’s judgment at the quarterback position has been the defining characteristic of his five years as the Dawgs head coach. We know he can recruit, we know he can coach up the defense and we know that he can assemble a phenomenal staff. But if he could not see that Daniels was the best quarterbacking option he had entering the season, I cannot help him.

During the summer, it was all about who was getting the Week 1 start vs. the Arkansas Razorbacks. I know because I wrote about the quarterback battle between Daniels and Wake Forest graduate transfer Jamie Newman constantly. We thought it was going to be Newman until he opted out. We heard good things about Mathis in camp, but what a train wreck it has been.

Mathis’ accuracy was a major red flag. Bennett played well at times, but his lack of dynamism in the passing game, as well as his proclivity to throw an untimely pick, were his undoing against great teams like the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Florida Gators. Georgia is a good team that was being held back from being great by lackluster quarterback play. Daniels changes everything.

Georgia will be favored to beat its final three SEC East opponent before bowl season. This will be a great opportunity for Daniels to gain confidence like he did in the second half vs. Mississippi State heading into next season. Sure, he could declare for the 2021 NFL Draft, but he needs to prove he can be healthy and consistently play at a high level like this first. It is his team now and it is great.

While it is fantastic to see Georgia have a quarterback it can rely on in the vertical passing game, it is beyond alarming that Dawg Nation even got to this point. Daniels’ play had to have presented itself very early in practice. Right away, you could tell he is the most talented quarterback on the Georgia roster. Yet, Smart routinely started and played guys that could not get it done. Like, why?

Hopefully, the problem is fixed, but what an unnecessary racket that even led to this point.

For more NCAA football news, analysis, opinion and unique coverage by FanSided, including Heisman Trophy and College Football Playoff rankings, be sure to bookmark these pages.