Kirby Smart is the prophetic voice of experience. From last month:

“We do not have much depth in the secondary past the group that’s playing,” Smart said. “I’ve never played a year that didn’t have an injury where one of these freshmen that are going to be running with our twos is going to have to step up and play in one of these big games.”

Sure enough, the secondary is already facing its first injury crisis.

In a potential blow to Georgia’s defense, senior cornerback Malkom Parrish could miss the start of the season after sustaining a foot injury. Parrish broke a bone in his foot and required surgery, according to a source with firsthand knowledge of the situation. Such an injury usually keeps a player out several weeks.

Georgia’s depth chart at secondary is one of extremes: “We have a void in our secondary,” Smart explained. “We have old and we have young. We have nothing in the middle.” The first team defensive backs are all upperclassmen, each with multiple years of experience. The second team is much more green with either true freshmen or underclassmen who have seen limited action beyond special teams.

The void Smart spoke of was addressed with a strong group in the 2017 signing class, but it leaves the secondary as one of the positions at which the team can least afford an injury to a starter. It appears as if the team will be without a starting cornerback against the veteran Appalachian State offense and possibly even the talented Notre Dame offense. Georgia’s response to the injury will require exposing some inexperience in nickel situations. As Seth Emerson noted, senior Aaron Davis is most likely to shift back to cornerback from the nickel/star spot. I agree that sophomore Tyrique McGhee will get a good look at star especially for the opener. If Parrish’s injury lingers, it will open up opportunities for freshmen DeAngelo Gibbs and Richard LeCounte III to become part of the solution.

The lack of reserve experience in the secondary was a big reason for the hesitancy earlier this year in deciding on a position for Mecole Hardman. Hardman, who spent last season as a reserve cornerback, showed promise on offense, but Smart was noncommittal about a permanent move until just last month. That ship seems to have sailed though. I’m a little relieved not to hear anything about yanking Hardman back to defense, even if part-time, as a knee-jerk response to this injury. It was a risk to remove a talented athlete from the secondary in light of the experience gap, but it’s a decision Smart is going to have to stick with to realize the biggest potential payoff from moving Hardman to receiver. Smart is going to have to rely on those raw but talented underclassmen and newcomers to round out his secondary.