Oscar Delp comfortable in role as 'unquestioned leader' of Georgia tight ends

ATHENS, Ga. — There’s been no doubt in the Georgia tight end room who the leader was the last three years. Even as a freshman, folks looked to Brock Bowers as the answer. Now with him in the NFL, that’s no longer and the Bulldogs are looking for their new leader. Georgia tight ends coach Todd Hartley says however there’s an ‘unquestioned’ answer to that: Oscar Delp.

The third-year out of West Forsyth isn’t Bowers. Odds are he isn’t going to lead Georgia in receiving as Bowers did in all three of his years on campus, and he doesn’t have the same type of game-changing ability as his predecessor. Delp isn’t even the oldest in the room (that title goes to Stanford transfer Ben Yurosek)! Still, it’s Delp that the Dawgs find themselves looking to. He’s been around the block – playing in 27 of Georgia’s 29 games the last two years – and he understands what’s expected of the position in UGA’s offense.

“The biggest growth I’ve seen from Oscar is from a maturity standpoint, from a leadership standpoint,” Hartley said. “He’s always been here with Brock (Bowers). He’s only been here with Brock and Darnell (Washington). So he’s never had to assume the responsibility of leading the room. When you’ve never done that before, you never know how they’ll respond when they’re in that situation. So from the time Brock left, Oscar just sort of naturally stepped into that head of the tight end room and really hasn’t looked back.”

Delp has felt it too. He didn’t feel forced into the role, but it’s one he slowly but surely shifted into over his time in Athens.

“Yeah, it definitely wasn’t something I was kind of like forced into. I mean, I think it just kind of happened over time. It just kind of goes back to how I felt when I was a freshman. I remember those older guys just kind of bringing me along, and now I’m in that situation to kind of help them. It just all kind of happens,” Delp said.

Leadership has different looks for different dudes. Kirby Smart said that Delp is a “leader by action.” He might not be the one to call his teammates out when they need an energy boost like Tate Ratledge might, but he knows how to help the younger guys out. After all, it was just last season that Delp was an underclassman stepping into a bigger spot himself.

“There’s days where I’ll get called to break the team down and all of that stuff, but really it just comes down to in those meetings in the room and just, like, you can tell when a guy’s down and a young guy is kind of struggling a little bit or just having a rough day. It’s little things like that where an older guy helps you out kind of can change your whole mood and change your whole day,” Delp said. “I mean, those guys, one bad play and it’s kind of the end of the world for them almost in some aspects of practice. You’ve just got to kind of help them learn. That’s how to grow and that’s part of the game. That’s how it is here. I mean, you’ve got to fail to succeed.”

Of Georgia’s five scholarship tight ends, Delp is the only one with more than two years of experience in the program. There’s a pair of true freshmen plus sophomore Lawson Luckie in their first or second season at the collegiate level. The graduate transfer Yurosek probably doesn’t need the same sort of assistance, but Delp wants to be there for his teammates regardless of age.

Delp also understands his on-field responsibilities will be increased this season. He got a taste of it last year with no Bowers available in four of Georgia’s 14 games including a couple of key ones down the stretch.

“He’s always been very physical. Run game mechanics, as far as footwork and hand placement and pad level, Oscar Delp is probably one of the best I’ve coached in the road game. That hasn’t changed,” Hartley said of Delp. “From freshman year, he’s bigger and stronger. He’s always been really good at the point of attack. We’ve worked really on consistently catching the football, he’s improved that. But the growth in his leadership ability, the growth in his maturity has been the most pleasant surprise for us. That’s really what we needed in that room and our offense.”

“I feel like at times last year I kind of tip-toed a little bit, played a little, hesitated a little bit. I’m just trying to eliminate all that, go out there and just play super free, just play natural,” Delp added about his game and areas of improvement he’s targeted. “I’ve been in this offense for three years now, so I now feel comfortable enough where I can just go out there and play now, don’t have to worry about making mistakes and all that stuff.”

Delp and Dawgs open the season on August 31st with a battle against Clemson. Georgia and Clemson have combined to take home four of the last eight national titles, and both are ranked in the preseason top-15 of the AP and Coaches polls. Kickoff time from Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta is set for 12:00 p.m. ET on ABC.