Leading up to the 2023-2024 college football season season, Red & Black assistant sports editor Bo Underwood will count down the top 10 Georgia players at each individual position.

10. Asher Allen (2006-08)

Asher Allen is one of the lesser-talked about names on those late-2000s Georgia teams that were filled with NFL talent like Matthew Stafford, Geno Atkins and Knowshon Moreno.

While he only finished his career with three interceptions, Allen was an athletic cover corner who also showed great tackling ability, despite being undersized for the position. He was a finalist for the Jim Thorpe award in 2008 and was named All-SEC third team that same season.

9. Paul Oliver (2004-06)

There’s only one game you need to look at to justify Paul Oliver’s appearance on this list is practically justified by one game. In 2006, Georgia entrusted him to stop one of the most dominant wide receivers in the history of football: Georgia Tech’s Calvin Johnson, otherwise known as “Megatron”.

Oliver shut Johnson down and allowed just two catches for 13 yards. He knocked away three passes intended for Johnson, and intercepted a pass on the game’s final drive to secure a narrow 15-12 Georgia victory. Johnson’s Yellow Jackets never beat the Bulldogs with Oliver on the other side.

Across the three games that the two suited up together, Johnson caught just nine passes for 71 yards. Oliver is one of Georgia’s most underrated players of the mid-2000s, and should be remembered forever by Bulldog fans for shutting down one of football’s greatest players of all time.

8. Ben Smith (1987-89)

There may not be a harder hitter on this list than Ben Smith. He played one year at a junior college before transferring to Georgia as a sophomore. Once on the team, he immediately became the starter at left cornerback. Smith’s playing style was nothing short of violent and, in his three years at Georgia, he forced a staggering seven fumbles.

Smith also spent time at safety and his 10 interceptions in 1989 — when he was named Second Team All-American — remain second in school history. He eventually moved to safety full time and became a first round NFL draft pick, which is why he isn’t as high as he could be on this list, but his physicality and fearlessness on the outside still earns him a spot on the cornerbacks list.

7. Brandon Boykin (2008-11)

Brandon Boykin was one of the only bright spots for some mediocre Georgia teams in 2009 and 2010. He was the team’s No. 1 cornerback and doubled as one of the best kick returners in SEC history.

Boykin intercepted nine passes in his college career and was also a great tackler, making an impressive 20 tackles for a loss as a Bulldog. He also has over 1,000 more kick return yards than anyone else in Georgia history, and returned a school-record four kickoffs for touchdowns. Boykin was an incredible athlete with the ability to hurt teams in many different ways, and he was even given the Paul Hornung Award in 2011 for being the country’s most versatile player.

6. Tim Wansley (1998-2001)

Like Oliver, Tim Wansley is remembered by many Bulldog fans for his heroics against Georgia Tech.

In 2001, his fourth-quarter pick six sealed the deal against the Yellow Jackets, and out of his nine career interceptions at Georgia, he took three to the house. He helped Georgia snap a nine-game losing streak against Tennessee when he intercepted two passes against the Volunteers in 2000.

A speedy corner with great coverage instincts, Wansley simply had a knack for coming up big for the Bulldogs when they needed it most, and he finished his career with two All-SEC nods.

5. Tim Jennings (2002-05)

Back to back Tims on the list.

Tim Jennings was an integral part of Georgia’s 2005 SEC championship squad and tied for the SEC lead in interceptions that year. He had a stellar performance in that SEC title game, recording six tackles — including a sack — and a pick-six in the fourth quarter that helped wrap up the Bulldogs’ 34-14 win.

Though he was undersized at just 5-foot-8 and 185-pounds, he had blistering speed and a willingness to hit. Jennings finished his college career with 170 tackles, one sack, seven tackles for loss, 28 pass breakups and 10 interceptions, and went on to become a Super Bowl champion and multiple-time Pro Bowler in the NFL.

4. Kelee Ringo (2020-22)

Kelee Ringo made arguably the biggest play in Georgia football postseason history, so it might seem odd to see him fall outside the top three on this list. He has a case for the most athletic cornerback to ever play for Georgia, possessing a 6-foot-2, 205 pound frame and plenty of speed to go along with it.

While he was inconsistent in coverage at times and tended to give up his fair share of big plays, Ringo was a fearless tackler with a habit of making big plays at the right time. Look no further than his pick six against Alabama that sealed Georgia’s first national title in 41 years for proof of that.

Ringo was recently taken in the fourth round of the NFL draft by the Philadelphia Eagles. While he has his whole professional career still ahead of him, his place in Georgia history is all but solidified.

3. Deandre Baker (2015-18)

When he was at his best, there was not a better cover corner in college football than Deandre Baker. Over the final two years of his Georgia career, he didn’t allow a single touchdown in 870 coverage snaps, and only allowed one overall in his four years.

Baker was dominant as a senior in 2018 and only gave up 175 yards through the air for the entire season. He won the 2018 Jim Thorpe Award for the nation’s best defensive back and was a consensus All-American.

For his career, Baker made 116 tackles, one sack, forced two fumbles, and snagged seven interceptions. While he was never the best raw athlete, he more than made up for it with his elite instincts and ball skills, and is one of the best pure cover corners in recent college football history.

2. Scott Woerner (1977-80)

It never really mattered where Scott Woerner was on the field, he was almost guaranteed to make an impact. He was the No.1 recruit in the state of Georgia coming out of high school and switched to cornerback after initially coming to Georgia as a quarterback. Woerner also spent significant time at safety and was one of the best return men in program history, with over 1,000 punt return yards in his career to go along with two touchdowns.

At cornerback, Woerner was an immediate star after becoming Georgia’s starter as a sophomore. He snapped up 13 interceptions in his career and was an integral part of the Bulldogs’ 1980 national championship team. It might be sort of cheating to have him on this list because he also played so much safety, but Woerner was so good in the defensive backfield that he warrants a high spot on both lists. He is a College Football Hall of Famer and one of Georgia’s all-time best players.

1. Champ Bailey (1996-98)

As stellar as Woerner was, Champ Bailey has him beat — along with every other Georgia player ever — for the title of most versatile player the Bulldogs have ever seen. It just so happens that he’s the best pure cornerback to ever play for Georgia too.

Bailey was a two-time First Team All-SEC selection at the position, and his 1998 campaign is one of the best seasons a Georgia player has ever had. He won the Bronko Nagurski Trophy that year for the nation’s best defensive player, was named a consensus All-American, and finished seventh in Heisman Trophy voting. That year, Bailey made 52 tackles and three interceptions on defense, and also caught 47 passes for 744 yards and five touchdowns as a wide receiver. He finished his three year college career with 147 tackles, including nine for a loss, eight interceptions, and 27 pass breakups.

Bailey was a generational athlete with natural coverage skills to match, and his career in the NFL somehow wound up being even better than his time at Georgia. With the way football is evolving, it’s unlikely that Georgia will ever have another player like him.