Todd Hartley, Georgia tight ends talk 2024 season without Brock Bowers

NEW ORLEANS — Replacing Brock Bowers was never in the cards for Georgia. Ask offensive coordinator Mike Bobo and tight ends coach Todd Hartley about it, and they’ll tell you exactly that.

Sunday, as the Georgia team plane landed in New Orleans ahead of the Bulldogs’ appearance in the Sugar Bowl, the former All-American tight end was just down the road passing by Puka Nakua and Mike Ditka for their respective rookie records of 105 receptions and 1,076 receiving yards. Bowers, with one game to go in the season for the Las Vegas Raiders, has 108 catches and 1,144 yards.

“I don’t think it was a surprise to anybody that stayed around Brock for the last three to four years. You knew what Brock could do. It was just trying to tell these other people outside of Georgia that he really is what we tell you he is, right?,” Hartley said on Bowers’ record-breaking rookie season. “The kid’s unbelievable and such a special one. He’s a special kid. Everybody knows the ability, but it’s his undeniable work ethic and want to to be great that makes him different, right? And that’s not gonna stop just because he’s playing in the NFL. He’s gonna continue that through the rest of his career.”

In a way, the seasons of Bowers and the Bulldogs were always going to be tied together. Filling his shoes was an impossible ask for the Georgia tight ends but one that was important to try and chase in order for UGA to come close to achieving its goals. Having won the SEC and made the College Football Playoffs already, it almost feels fair to say the group has already done its job.

“Obviously the production that Brock had, there left a void in the offense for somebody to fill those shoes and to take that role,” Hartley said. “… I think, collectively, the three guys that have played the most, they’ve done a good job of playing to the strengths of each other, while having shared roles and complementing in certain personnel packages. They’re in this part of the game plan versus this part of the game plan. They’ve done a good job of not being selfish, being truly tight end tough, feed the fire, what we talk about, being a selfless mentality. They’ve done a good job of approaching that and playing well with each other, and collectively, I think they’ve done a great job of doing what we’ve asked them to do within our offense this year.”

For the most part, Georgia has relied on a three-headed monster at the tight end position. Sophomore Lawson Luckie has stepped into the spot of the pass catching threat with Bowers in the NFL. He ranks fourth on the team with 348 yards on 24 catches this season. Junior Oscar Delp hasn’t been too shabby either, coming on strong with four touchdowns in the final four games. Then there’s graduate transfer Ben Yurosek that took some time to adjust but has been productive in his lone season at Georgia from Stanford.

“I think it just, you know, comes down to just practicing hard and just doing what we’re asked to do,” Delp said about the production of the tight ends this season. “I mean, you can never guarantee targets, you can never guarantee catches. You’ve just got to show up every day, do what’s called and just do it to the best of our ability.”

“I think we’ve shown what we’re capable of, and, you know, we’ve got a really good room. We’ve got a lot of good guys in that room, and we got a lot of playmakers,” he added. “I mean, you just got to do your job. As a tight end here, you’re asked to do a lot, so a lot of things go unnoticed and unseen. Maybe it’s blocking or protecting, but we’re out there making an impact on every play.”

Hartley, as he did during the preseason, emphasized he hasn’t asked anybody to be Bowers. Their production has come as a result of trying to be the best versions of themselves each and every day. Together, the trio combines for 58 catches, 763 yards and seven touchdowns. In his three seasons at Georgia, Bowers averaged 58.3 receptions, 846 yards and 8.7 touchdowns.

“I think what the tight end room did is they bonded close together and as this year has played out, you’ve seen them become more and more productive in our offense,” Bobo said of being the play caller for the position group this season. “We brought in a guy from the portal in Ben and he blended well with our room, and we’ve got a group a guys that go out there and have an impact on our offense.”

“You’re never going to replace a Brock Bowers in my opinion,” he continued. “There might be a guy that comes around in the next 25 years, maybe, I don’t know, but that guy is one of one, and I’ve coached some good tight ends before. That guy is a special human being.”

Bowers keeps in touch with the Bulldogs. He recently said he was hopeful to get to see them in the College Football Playoff and the expectation according to some is that he’ll be around Athens a little bit in the spring. Lawson Luckie said he’s talked to Bowers a few times while Oscar Delp does so more frequently. Those two were better friends being on campus together for longer. As for Todd Hartley, he’s got Bowers to thank for a new addition to his office wall space.

“When you have a relationship with a kid that you’ve known since junior year high school and you’ve kind of seen it all the way through, obviously we stay in touch. He actually sent me a jersey for Christmas, a signed jersey that I’m getting framed,” Hartley said. “That’ll go up on the wall of my office like the other guys that I’ve had. That was kind of a special moment for me to get that from him.”

Georgia takes on Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals at the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans Wednesday night. Kickoff time is set for 8:45 p.m. ET on ESPN.