It's well-known at this point that Georgia is going to need players to step up in the secondary, especially cornerback and the STAR/nickel position. The good news is that the Bulldogs have a guy who might have one of the highest ceilings of any player at any position on the team ready to show what he can do.
That guy is Kelee Ringo, a former five-star prospect who was the nation's No. 1 cornerback in the 2020 class. Ringo missed the entire 2020 season after undergoing surgery to repair a torn labrum in August. It was an injury sustained while at Saguaro High School (Scottsdale, Ariz.) and it kept him from at least getting his feet wet in his first year of college ball.
Missing a season almost certainly stunted his growth. The inability to play kept him from clearing certain hurdles that can only be cleared with game action, but Kirby Smart was still impressed at how Ringo locked in and learned what he could while knowing he wasn't going to get a shot.
"Fortunately for Kelee, he's a really bright kid," Smart said on 680 The Fan's National Signing Day show. "He didn't miss a meeting last year. He knew he wasn't going to play. He had had surgery but he was in every meeting, front row, edge of his seat, answering questions which told me right away this guy is made of the right stuff. Because a lot of kids check out once they get injured. They don't focus as well. He was very focused on learning while he was out."
The Bulldogs can benefit in a major way if Ringo even begins to meet his potential in 2021. He was the nation's No. 4 overall prospect for a reason. At 6-foot-2 205 pounds, he possesses the combination of size and speed that coaches covet at the position. He showed that speed off recently when he posted a photo of the GPS numbers from UGA's winter workouts.
Ringo posted a mile-per-hour speed of 22.3, just ahead of noted speedster Arian Smith. Smith, who plays wide receiver and had two catches for 86 yards and a touchdown after coming back from preseason knee surgery, was listed at 21.9 miles per hour.
Smart joked that he had to call Ringo out for posting that. He told the young cornerback that if he's going to post his good days, when he bests Smith, he had also better post the days when Smith comes out on top. The sixth-year head coach also noted that Smith probably posts the better number more often than not.
But when it comes to the mental aspect, it's a good thing that Ringo took last season seriously. UGA is going to want him to play winning football at the highest level in 2021 and that's not an easy thing for an inexperienced player to do.
"The SEC is not for the faint of heart out there on the perimeter," Smart said. "You've got to be able to be a good player, you've got to have a good pass rush around you, you've got to have great guys that can communicate. Our system is one that you need some experience in to learn and develop."
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February 06, 2021 at 06:14PM
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Kelee Ringo 'made of the right stuff' per Kirby Smart - 247Sports
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