Georgia's Biggest Question on Offense
Georgia is coming off of one of their best offensive seasons in program history, which they can continue to build off of considering they return the majority of their offensive production from last season. Their offensive game is something the Bulldogs are continuing to try and elevate, but what is their biggest question heading into the 2022 season?
Some might say it resides within the quarterback room and whether or not Stetson Bennett can continue to build off of what he did last season. Another question could be if Kenny McIntosh and Kendall Milton replace the likes of Zamir White and James Cook with them now in the NFL.
While those are both legitimate questions, the more important one is: Can Georgia find depth at the wide receiver position?
This is not to say that Georgia doesn't have talent at the position. Players like Adonai Mitchell, Ladd McConkey, and Kearis Jackson have proven what they are capable of, but that's about as far as the list goes when it comes to quality in-game experience, especially considering the Bulldogs lost George Pickens to the NFL and one of their more explosive playmakers, Jermaine Burton, to Alabama via the transfer portal.
The question starts with players like Dominick Blaylock. Yes, he showed plenty of promise during his freshman campaign in 2019 but that was before being abscence due to injury for the better part of two years for consecutive knee injuries. Or even Arian Smith, a player who clearly excels as a deep threat but has also dealt with the injury bug for most of his career. After all, he has just five career receptions, and three of them have been touchdowns. It's not a question of talent, but more so a lack of depth.
Head coach Kirby Smart even spoke about the lack of depth his team has at the position earlier in the off-season saying:
“Yeah, I think we got better. We still aren’t where we need to be. I feel really good we have Ladd (McConkey) and A.D. (Mitchell). They’re SEC wideouts who can compete at a high level. But, you go past that, Marcus (Rosemy-Jacksaint) has done a tremendous job. He’s extremely smart and can play all positions. We don’t have like, OK, ‘this guy has a hamstring, who’s going in?’ We don’t have that. We’ve got to grow that. We got to get Arian [Smith] and Jackson [Meeks] and CJ [Smith] and De’Nylon [Morrissette] up to speed."
Georgia has shown strides of improvement in regards to consistently landing high-profiled players at the wide receiver position and the upcoming season will be a big test to see if those former recruits can transform into valuable contributors on Saturdays.
It's part of the reason wide receivers coach Bryan McClendon was such a pivotal hire following the departure of former wide receiver coach Cortez Hankton. He has provided Georgia with the ability to consistently recruit with the nation's premier programs at the receiver position, something that Georgia has struggled with during Smart's time.
They have a lot of potential on their depth chart, but that potential will have to turn into production in 2022 for them to continue their recent offensive success.
