Gamble, King have starting nods

Lots of depth chart news emanating out of conversations with Georgia assistant coaches after Thursday's practice. Let's get to it:

- Caleb King will probably start at tailback over Washaun Ealey, according to running backs coach Bryan McClendon. That's a mild surprise. The pair will almost certainly alternate and they'll go with the hot hand.

"Caleb does sort of get the lean right now because of his pass protection," McClendon said.

- Darryl Gamble appears to have edged past Cornelius Washington to be the starter at outside linebacker opposite Justin Houston. That would've been a surprise before camp, but not after Gamble kept earning praise from coaches.

Georgia defensive coordinator Todd Grantham said after Thursday's practice that Gamble would be out there, but Washington would play too. Gamble, a senior who's had an up-and-down career, impressed the staff with a good camp.

- Hutson Mason is definitely the No. 2 quarterback right now, according to offensive coordinator Mike Bobo. That doesn't mean the decision has been made to burn Mason's redshirt. Logan Gray's injury factors into the equation too.

"He's pretty much No. 2 right now," Bobo said of Mason. "A lot has to do with Logan Gray's injury. ... That's a call (whether to play Mason) from a head coach, not me."

- The top two receivers, after A.J. Green, are Kris Durham and Marlon Brown.

"That's fair to say," receivers coach Tony Ball said.

Durham earned a heap of praise from Bobo for his performance in Wednesday's scrimmage.

Tavarres King is suspended for the opener. Otherwise, Israel Troupe, the injured Rantavious Wooten and Gray remain in the mix.

Michael Bennett will probably redshirt, it sounds like, but Ball hasn't committed to that yet.

- Elsewhere on defense, Akeem Dent is "on track" to play in the opener, and will obviously start if healthy. Otherwise, Christian Robinson and Marcus Dowtin have been the most impressive at the inside linebacker spot, and Grantham said those two and Dent would all rotate.

- Grantham also said that DeAngelo Tyson will play both end and nose tackle. He indicated that Justin "Bean" Anderson has retained his edge to start at nose, which would push Tyson to end. Demarcus Dobbs, who sprained his ankle earlier in the week, should return to practice Friday.

- The punt return job remains ... pun intended ... up in the air. The main kick returner will remain Brandon Boykin.