QB JT DANIELS HINTS AT RETURN NEXT SEASON

ATHENS — It was far from definitive, but JT Daniels’ Instagram post on Monday was certainly encouraging for those Georgia Bulldogs hoping he’ll be back for at least one more season.

That’d be most of them, by the way.

The redshirt sophomore quarterback f rom I r vine, Calif., posted a picture of himself dressed out in the Georgia locker room with the caption “To be continued … .”

Daniels is draft- eligible as a third- year college player, but indications all along have been that he would return f or a second season with the Bulldogs. What Daniels displayed in just four games as Georgia’s starting quarterback definitely left them wanting more.

The 6- foot- 3, 210- pound transfer from USC went 4- 0, completing 67% of his passes for 1,231 yards and 10 touchdowns and only two interceptions. He passed for 401 yards and four touchdowns in his season debut against Mississippi State and passed for 392 yards Friday in the team’s 24- 21, come- from- behind win over No. 8 Cincinnati in the Chick- fil- A Peach

Bowl.

Daniels’ return would be a major block for the foundation the Bulldogs are trying to build for another run at the College Football Playoff next season. Daniels is one of at least 10 Georgia underclassmen who are considered NFL draft prospects. Georgia already has seen redshirt sophomore outside l i nebacker Azeez Ojulari, redshirt junior cornerback Eric Stokes and junior center Trey Hill enter the draft.

Offensively, the Bulldogs are eager to hear from redshirt sophomore t ailback Zamir White, junior tailback James Cook, redshirt sophomore receiver Kearis Jackson and junior offensive lineman Jamaree Salyer. Georgia is also hopeful senior guard Justin Shaffer will return.

Defensively, coach Kirby Smart is awaiting the decisions of junior nose guard Jordan Davis and junior cornerback Tyson Campbell.

You can expect a record amount of ingress and egress on Georgia’s roster this year. The Bulldogs are way over t he 85- scholarship maximum for the 2021 season, and that’s not counting the number of players that might elec t to return under the NCAA’S blanket waiver for seniors who played during the pandemic. Meanwhile, there are numerous highlevel players already in the transfer portal that Georgia might want to add to its team. LSU tight end Arik Gilbert, an All- SEC freshman and former 5- star prospect from Marietta, is one such player that could already be en route to Athens.

Players are due to report to campus Sunday and classes begin Jan. 13. The Bulldogs will have to have their numbers worked out by then.

Quarterback is the one position Georgia must have settled heading into the 2021 season. Daniels did not take over as Georgia’s starter until the seventh game of the season. By then the Bulldogs already had losses to Alabama and Florida.

After quarterback Jake Fromm turned pro as a junior last January, the Bulldogs had two quarterbacks transfer in, projected starter Jamie Newman opt out 3 ½ weeks before the opener, D’wan Mathis start Game 1, Stetson Bennett start Games 2 through 6 and Mathis transfer out over the course of the season.

Bennett, who will be a fifthyear senior, plans to return in 2021. Georgia also will have redshirt freshman Carson Beck and true freshman Brock Vandagriff at quarterback. But Daniels would be as close to an undisputed starter as Georgia has had since Justin Fields transferred to Ohio State after the 2018 season, leaving Fromm as the incumbent.

With both Daniels and offensive coordinator Todd Monken in the fold, and as many as eight or nine returning starters back on that side of the ball, Georgia’s offense is expected to be potent in 2021.

Trey Hill draft- bound

Georgia has lost another underclassman to the NFL. Trey Hill, a junior center from Warner Robins, announced via social media that he intends to enter April’s draft.

“Playing in the NFL has been a lifelong goal and I am excited and grateful for the opportunity to follow my dreams,” Hill said via his Twitter account.

Hill started 26 games for UGA, including the first seven this season before electing to have arthroscopic surgery on both knees last month. Hill signed with Georgia in 2018 as a 4- star prospect out of Houston County, where he was teammates with Fromm.

CURTIS COMPTON/ CURTIS. COMPTON@ AJC. COM In four games as Georgia’s starting quarterback, JT Daniels, a 6- foot- 3, 210- pound transfer from USC, went 4- 0, completing 67% of his passes for 1,231 yards and 10 touchdowns and only two interceptions.