Jake Fromm and J.R. Reed enter new season as Georgia football’s veterans

If Jake Fromm would watch Georgia’s film from two seasons ago, he would see several handoffs to Nick Chubb and Sony Michel. 

As reported in The Red & Black, Chubb and Michel are gone but Fromm is still leading Georgia’s offense into a new season as one of the team’s veterans. 

“Now, it’s a whole lot easier to pick up coverages, what they’re doing on defense,” Fromm said. 
“You kind of get into a rhythm and understand what certain coaches [and] certain opponents are willing to do against our football program.”

As the Bulldogs get ready for their first game of the 2019 season against Vanderbilt on Aug. 31, Fromm and senior safety J.R. Reed are helping freshmen such as Nolan Smith and Nakobe Dean adjust to the college game. Georgia also has offensive coordinator James Coley and defensive coordinator Dan Lanning as their two new top assistants. 

The newcomers have been through fall camp, but have not yet experienced an actual collegiate game. Fromm and Reed, on the other hand, have been around a couple times. 

Head coach Kirby Smart sent them to SEC Media Days with junior left tackle Andrew Thomas this summer. 

The veterans are partially responsible for letting the freshmen know what’s expected of them in the coming months.

“It starts with our culture,” Fromm said. “How can we get these guys in our culture to understand what we’re about as a football program … It’s win-now, win-now, and hopefully they’re ready for that.” 

Reed, who has recorded 145 tackles in the last two seasons, said starting with a conference opponent will be goodl for the freshmen. 

“They will learn,” Reed said. “They will be able to get their feet wet … When they go in, I’m just going to tell them to relax and have fun.”

Starting against Vanderbilt might add to the pressure, but Reed isn’t too concerned.
“Pressure is privilege, y’all know this,” Reed said. 

In the last two seasons, Fromm has thrown for 5,384 yards and 54 touchdowns. Smart said Fromm’s confidence has been boosted since handing the ball off to Chubb and Michel in 2017.

“Jake is a comfortable quarterback,” Smart said. “He believes in who he is. He trusts in his offense. He has a really good grasp of what plays we’re going to be running versus what [defensive] looks. It’s like having an extra coach on the field.”

Georgia knows what to expect from Fromm and Reed, but there are other unknowns. A new group of freshmen arrive every season and it’s not often that two new coordinators take over.

So how will the Georgia offense look under Coley?

“We’ll see,” Fromm said. 

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