Oscar Delp takes advantage of opportunity against South Carolina
Georgia’s tight ends have been the biggest talking point when it comes to the Bulldogs for quite some time. Brock Bowers is back for his sophomore season after breaking all sorts of records as a freshman. Darnell Washington is a freak of nature at 6-foot-7, 275 pounds and still being able to run well in space. Expectations were high for Arik Gilbert, the former No. 1 tight end in the country. And sometimes lost in the mix of all that is Oscar Delp. He’s just a freshman and is far from the focal point of the offense, but on Saturday, Delp showed why he should be just as much a part of the conversation as the rest of the room.
Coming in at 6-foot-5, 225 pounds, Delp is exactly what you want in a tight end. According to On3 Director of Scouting Charles Power, Delp is a ‘very fluid, functionally athletic tight end who excels at picking up yards after the catch.’ He goes on to mention Delp primarily lining up as a wide receiver in high school at West Forsyth, saying that he ‘runs with natural body lean and shows good reactive quickness within his routes.’ He has the ‘ability to out-run linebackers and some defensive backs in space,’ even with the size. In a way, it’s similar to the matchup nightmare that Georgia has in Bowers.
But because Bowers is a big part of the offense, as one would expect after a freshman season that saw him lead the team in receiving, Delp doesn’t get nearly as many opportunities to shine. Saturday at South Carolina when he did, Delp took advantage of his chance as he scored his first career touchdown.
“Well, I think it’s a good confidence boost,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said about Delp and the touchdown. “But he’s done well in our offense the entire camp. He practiced well, had a good spring. He’s competing out there. He’s learning how to be a complete tight end, both in-line blocker, outside blocker, how to adjust to things when things don’t happen the way you quite expect them to. There’s just a certain number of reps and things you have to go through in order to improve. You just happened to see one play where he got the fruits of his labors. But there’s a lot of labors in there that you don’t get to see. But he’s done a good job in working at it and putting his nose down and grinding to become a better player.”
So far this season, Delp has seen action in all three games, totaling 51 snaps including a season-high 23 Saturday at South Carolina. The touchdown grab, a 28-yard score from Carson Beck, was the first catch of his career, but it wasn’t the first time he’s shown that kind of potential. Back in the spring at G-Day, Delp led all receivers withs even catches for 91 yards in the intrasquad scrimmage.
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“He makes a lot of good catches in practice as well as you see on Saturday,” Georgia safety Christopher Smith said, speaking about Delp and what he’s seen from him in practice since he stepped foot on campus. “He just continues to work with the tight ends. He’s learned a ton of things from Brock and Darnell and coach Hartley. They pour a lot into him and you can see the improvement he’s made as the season has gone on.”
We’ll have to wait and see whether Delp slowly starts to become a bigger part of the offensive plays for Georgia this fall. It’s not necessarily an easy task to accomplish with Bowers and Washington in the same room. But he’s shown the tools to be able to do so. Now, based on what Smart said, it’s about continuing to get the reps to improve his play as the season goes along.
Georgia takes on Kent State Saturday at Sanford Stadium. Kickoff time is set for 12:00 p.m. ET, streaming on SEC Network+.
