Five takeaways — including standouts & position battles — from Georgia football preseason

Sunday offered a respite for Georgia football players from preseason grind. They got the day off from practices and hit up some food trucks.

Smothered and covered this time meant chowing down on some Waffle House food.

Two days after holding their first preseason scrimmage, the Bulldogs were back on the practice field Monday for session No. 10 of the preseason in preparation for a season that starts with the Sept. 3 game against Oregon.

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Here are five takeaways so far this preseason with UGA classes set to begin on Wednesday:

Kenny McIntosh seizing his opportunity

The video Georgia put out from the scrimmage featured a long run by senior Kenny McIntosh.

Former Georgia linebacker Rennie Curran, who attended the scrimmage, called McIntosh a “beast” on Twitter on Sunday.

“He had a great run, but to be honest he’s a great blocker too,” coach Kirby Smart said. “Kenny has had a great camp. He’s picked up pressures, played really physical, caught the ball out of the backfield. Everything that he wants to do at the next level in our offense, we have asked him to do, and he’s done a great job at that.”

With Kendall Milton missing time with a minor hamstring injury, McIntosh has even more chance to shine.

Georgia’s top rusher from last season worked behind Zamir White and James Cook, now in the NFL.

“He can do everything,” running backs coach Dell McGee said. “He can run inside tackles, he can run outside tackles, he’s really good on the perimeter. He has really, really good hands. Probably some of the best hands since DeAndre (Swift)."

McIntosh, working with Kearis Jackson on kickoff return, is being asked to mantain his weight. He’s listed at 6-foot-1 and 210 pounds.

“He’s definitely going to be an integral part of our offense and he will be relied upon heavily,” McGee said.

Kamari Lassiter making a claim for cornerback spot

Kamari Lassiter has been running as the starting cornerback opposite Kelee Ringo in the spot that Clemson transfer Derion Kendrick held down last season.

In the scrimmage, the 6-foot, 180-pound sophomore from Savannah made some plays, but also gave up some others, Smart said.

He more than held his own going up against what’s probably Georgia’s best wideout, AD Mitchell, in a practice last week.

“He had a really good day, the other day, where he made some plays on a fade ball on A.D.,” Smart said. “Kamari is fighting his tail off for that spot and helping us in some special teams spots.”

Another cornerback that looks to be in the rotation, redshirt freshman Nyland Green, is also making his presence felt as a tackler.

“Both of those kids are smart, savvy, tough, and physical,” Smart said. “I love the way they tackle and play. I thought Nyland had some good physical tackles for him. Kamari is one of the best tacklers on the team, so it’s a lot more about covering at that position than its tackling.”

Malaki Starks, the former Jefferson High star, is working at safety.

“Malaki is doing a good job,” Smart said. “Our freshmen DBs are going to help us.. ..It is just one of those things that those guys got to grow into those positions. Nowadays, your freshmen are your backups because you don’t have the depth.”

Starks is leaving a good early impression on multiple special teams units.

Inside linebackers a work in progress

Georgia’s inside linebackers have turned over with three players taken in the NFL draft’s first three rounds—Quay Walker, Nakobe Dean and Channing Tindall.

Jamon Dumas-Johnson is poised to be one of the starters. Smart is looking for more consistency from the group as a whole.

Fourth-year junior Trezman Marshall popped with a couple of plays on Saturday, Smart said, but he’s in and out of the lineup due to a strained calf muscle.

“We’re looking for some mental and physical toughness out of that group,” Smart said.

Smael Mondon, who missed the spring after shoulder surgery, is so athletic it may be hard to keep him off the field. Xavian Sorey “flashes, but he’s got to do it more consistently,” Smart said. “That group has got to step up and play better, and the defensive line has got to help them play better by keeping the blockers off of them.”

Running backs coach Dell McGee praised the pass rush ability of freshman linebacker Jalon Walker

“The whole room understands what’s expected in terms of running the defense,” co-defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach Glenn Schumann said. “There’s a level of pressure that applies to you and they are all trying to answer it.”

Offensive line stock rising

Tate Ratledge’s turf toe injury added another wrinkle into the already competitive offensive guard spots for Georgia.

Ratledge was working again as the first team right guard where he started last season before a Lisfranc injury in the opener against Clemson knocked him out for the season.

Xavier Truss, Devin Willock, Jared Wilson and Warren Ericson are also competing at guard.

"The battle is there at guard,” Smart said. “Those guys are competing for it. I do think we are bigger than we’ve been at guard, which is usually a good indicator that we can be physical. We’ve got Truss (6-7, 330) and Tate (6-6, 320)….When you start putting those body types out there, they are just massive.”

Georgia’s quarterbacks were able to operate without much pressure Saturday.

“We didn’t get a lot of pressure defensively, which allowed the quarterbacks to have a pretty good day," Smart said.

Broderick Jones at right tackle and Warren McClendon at left tackle are the starters with former five-star Amarius Mims a backup along with freshman Earnest Greene who has been bothered by a nagging hamstring injury.

"We have a lot of depth at guard and tackle," offensive coordinator Todd Monken said. "We can be elite up front."

Punting job still not settled

Sort of lost in the 15 Georgia NFL draft picks in April, a modern era record, is that a punter went in the fourth round.

Jake Camarda is now with Tampa Bay and his old job is up for grabs and seems to still be an open competition.

Australian signee Brett Thorson hasn’t nailed down the job yet in a competition with walk-on Noah Jones from Cairo.

“The punting job is still up for grabs,” Smart said. “Thorson is doing a good job. Noah is doing a good job. They are both punting the ball. They are not Jake Camarda… We are not trying to make them something they are not, but we have to be better at coverage around them and get great hang time. We have to go down the ball that we punt inside the 10-yard line to flip the field on people.”

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Georgia football preseason standouts include Kenny McIntosh, O-line