The Georgia Bulldogs will face off in a ranked matchup at home this weekend against the Missouri Tigers. The Dawgs haven’t played in Sanford Stadium in almost exactly a month, but will finally host the No. 22 Mizzou squad in Athens on Saturday.

Kirby Smart and Eli Drinkwitz are good friends and they have both brought in a lot of talented players. Let's take a look at some of the players Drinkwitz has assembled for his Mizzou squad:

Missouri QB Austin Simmons

Austin Simmons has not disappointed in his first year in Columbia. He’s thrown for 18 touchdowns against just two interceptions. The lefty has shown the ability to make all kinds of throws this season.

He transferred from Ole Miss after losing his job to Trinidad Chambliss early last season. This will not be the first time he takes the field against Georgia. He was Jaxson Dart’s backup in 2024. Dart got dinged up against the Dawgs. Simmons stepped in and went 5-of-6 passing for 64 yards. He helped Ole Miss fly down the field. 

Now, he is the guy against Georgia. He got a little banged up at the end of the Texas loss the other day, so he might not be in full health, but he is arguably the best passer the Dawgs will face in the regular season. 

Missouri WR Cayden Lee

Cayden Lee is Simmons’ favorite target. He leads the entire SEC with 62 catches for 835 yards. He has also reached the end zone five times. 

Lee got dinged up on one of Missouri’s final plays of the Texas game - he took a monster hit. Drinkwitz said that Lee didn’t suffer any structural damage and is giving practice a go this week. His status needs to be monitored, but he is a dangerous weapon when he is on the field. 

Smart had a both very positive and very long-winded comment about Lee when he was asked about the Georgia-native on Monday:

“I love Cayden Lee. He's a kid that I feel like I've seen for so long. He trained withTerrence [Edwards] and got to see him kind of grow through those years with him. The guy loves football, and he played so well even the last couple years while at Ole Miss. He gave us problems, and then he's had an outstanding year this year. Just incredible. The catches he's made, the tough catches, the meaningful catches, the third down catches. They utilize him really well. They have a really good system to utilize his skill set. Just so impressed with a kid that I watched grow up coming to our camps, and he's just done a tremendous job. I have so much respect for his competitive character and his family. I spoke to him after the Ole Miss game last year. To see what he's done this year, he's been really incredible.”

Missouri LB Nicholas Rodriguez

Missouri has a player with seven sacks and a guy with six sacks this season. Those are impressive numbers, but their middle linebacker has even more impressive stats. 

Nicholas Rodriguez ranked third in all of college football with 98 tackles on the season. He has also sacked the quarterback 2.5 times and forced two fumbles. There are few players in the country who have put up the numbers that Rodriguez has this season. 

Missouri has put some linebackers in the NFL recently, and he will have his chance, especially if he can put together good tape against a fine-tuned Georgia offense that is coming off of one of its best games.