PFF won't be caught off guard by Oscar Delp breakout season
It’s that time of year when next football season feels so far away, but Pro Football Focus is trying its best to pass the days with offseason preview content. Recently, the publication took a look at some of the NCAA’s top candidates to breakout in 2024 including one name Georgia fans know: junior tight end Oscar Delp.
The Cumming, Ga. native has been a contributor already. He saw action in 13 of 15 games as a true freshman including significant action in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl against Ohio State, filling in for an injured Darnell Washington. He scored a touchdown on his first collegiate catch – doing so against the team he grew up watching but chose UGA over (South Carolina) – and was prepared to step into an even bigger role as a sophomore.
Starting 10 times and playing in all 14 games this past season, Delp totaled 24 catches for 284 yards and three touchdowns. In no world was he Georgia’s top target at tight end with Brock Bowers available, but when Bowers went down and missed some time, it was Delp that was looked to as TE1.
Statistically speaking, a few games stand out from the rest. He had a career-high three catches against UAB, Missouri and Florida State. He found the end zone against the Tigers – also doing so in the season-opener versus UT Martin and Kentucky – and put up 50 yards on two grabs against Ball State. A few of the games mentioned didn’t feature Bowers. That allowed Delp to shine, and this season without Bowers, he’ll be looked to as the most experienced tight end in Georgia’s system.
Yes, the Bulldogs are bringing in Stanford transfer Ben Yurosek, and yes, there are other talented options in the room like Lawson Luckie and Jaden Reddell. However, the time spent in UGA’s offense and the trust built up with the coaching staff is going to earn Delp first dibs at the opportunities in all likelihood.
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“It will be hard for any tight end to follow in the footsteps of Brock Bowers — or any Georgia tight end, for that matter. But Delp certainly has the talent to do so,” PFF wrote. “We saw him featured in the Bulldogs offense to a degree last year, especially while Bowers was out. He finished the season with 284 receiving yards and three scores across 24 catches to finish with a 66.3 PFF grade. Exactly 50% of his yardage came after the catch, and he forced five missed tackles across those 24 catches. We will likely see him get a much larger target share this year. It’ll be on Delp to make the most of it and raise that overall grade.”
The excitement to see Delp get more looks isn’t only shared by PFF. Others around the industry believe big things are in store for him this season. It’s part of the reason why Georgia’s tight end room is regarded as the best in the country – even without Bowers – and why Delp could be the one to extend UGA’s streak to seven years straight with a tight end taken in the NFL Draft.
“He’s shown great toughness, great maturity, durability. That’s what Oscar Delp has been,” Kirby Smart said after the spring game. “Oscar Delp is the one guy, when Darnell (Washington) was out Oscar took all the reps. When Brock was out, Oscar took all the reps. So Oscar’s taken a lot of football reps and gotten better for us.”
Delp and the Dawgs are expected to enter the season as the top-ranked team. They open the season August 31st in Atlanta against Clemson.
