Kirby Smart assesses the growth of Darnell Washington from last year to now

The Georgia tight end room ranks among the most talented groups in college football regardless of position with Brock Bowers, Darnell Washington, Arik Gilbert and even freshman Oscar Delp drawing high praise for their production and intangibles.

While Bowers is the most accomplished at this point, Washington likely brings the best physical attributes to the table at 6-foot-7, 265-pounds and has already caught the eye of many NFL draft analysts. However, increased production so far has many asking even more questions about the prospect.

Head coach Kirby Smart broke down the growth of Darnell Washington at tight end during a recent press conference, explaining what unique traits mean when the work ethic matches.

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“The combination of athleticism and displacement, probably none,” said Smart first evaluating who he could compare Washington to. “We’ve had a couple guys when I was at Alabama – Michael Williams – we had some really big, more blocking Ys, offensive tackle type guys. But he has a receiving skillset that’s unique, combined with that size.

“The best thing right now about Darnell is he has been working so hard. He has practiced – you see it usually in year three in guys – where you go ‘wow, that guy’s matured. That guy knows how to practice. That guy knows how to push himself.’ They sort of start trusting that if I go really hard during the week, the game will be easy. And I’ve seen more of that out of Darnell this year and you’re able to see it in the game because he doesn’t get tired, he pushes, he makes plays.”

Kirby Smart on 2022 Georgia roster

Georgia looks the part early in the season. Maybe it shouldn’t be a surprise, given they’re the defending national champions, but there were plenty of people who expected Georgia to regress. After all, how could Kirby Smart replace all the talent that Georgia lost to the NFL? Well, through three weeks, it doesn’t seem like an issue at all.

During a press conference, Kirby Smart was asked to compare this year’s team with last year’s team. The obvious question is, are they potentially better than last year’s national championship-winning squad? However, Smart quickly shut the question down.

“I don’t do comparisons,” Kirby Smart said. “I’ve said that repeatedly. You can’t compare anybody to last year because last year’s team, 15 of them are in the NFL.”

So, it’s one of those things that–this team has a long way to go. The worst thing that can happen to this team is to start and believe in what people say about them.”