Kirby Smart praises young Georgia pass catchers
New trends are always forming in College Football. One of the most recent is the emphasis being placed on getting as many talented pass catchers into a program as possible. Georgia brought in four wideouts and one tight end in its No. 3-ranked 2022 haul, all of whom have seen the playing field this season.
None of them have broken out or put up big numbers for the Bulldogs, but they’ve gained valuable experience. As for the ability to have an impact, Kirby Smart believes that he has seen it on the practice field.
“There’s something about playing receiver that you really need to do it in a game to get the utmost confidence,” Smart said on Tuesday. “Dillon [Bell] probably has got a little bit of that, De’Nylon [Morrissette], he’s played more than most freshmen, but still not a lot. C.J. Smith has really come along well but hasn’t had a ton of opportunities.”
“Those guys are getting a lot of reps and getting better in practice, but it’s hard to gain the confidence and experience you need until you get live game reps, and those guys have not gotten a ton. They’ve gotten some, Oscar [Delp] has gotten some. I’m very pleased with that class of guys. It’s probably the first wide receiver class that we can say across the board, man, they got some good players in it, they’re just not there right now. There’s a couple guys in front of them, too.”
Bell’s name came up first because he has had the biggest impact thus far. He has played quite a few snaps the past four weeks, catching eight passes for 77 yards and a touchdown. The Georgia freshman’s playing some shouldn’t come as much of a surprise for two reasons — injuries and preseason buzz.
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After enrolling in late spring, Bell put together a preseason camp that had insiders talking. When AD Mitchell went down with an ankle injury in a week two Georgia win, Bell was thrust into a bigger role.
Next up is Delp, who serves as the Bulldogs No. 3 tight end. He has hauled in five passes for 61 yards and a touchdown this year. Brock Bowers and Darnell Washington are clearly ahead of him on the pecking order but the young tight end is one snap away from becoming a rather large part of the offense.
Morrissette, C.J. Smith, and Cole Speer are all on the cusp. Morrissette was close to a bigger role coming into the season but Speer has played a similar amount of snaps while traveling to both SEC road games this year. Smith possesses the type of skillset Georgia might be able use sooner rather than later seeing as how he’s one of the fastest players on the team.
The next two weeks could prove huge for the young pass catchers. Georgia is a heavy favorite over Vanderbilt and that means a chance for each of those guys to play if the Bulldogs handle business. Then comes the bye week, a time where young players who are close to breaking through have a chance to show what they can do.
