Georgia is on the verge of wrapping up their 2015 spring practices, with the final workout coming later today in Athens. As is the case during this time of year, a lot of position battles are being waged.
Wide Receiver is seemingly one of those position groups that has the need for players to step in and show they can play on an SEC football field. Right now, the Bulldogs have six players returning to that group.
This group of receivers combined for 54 catches, 500 yards, and five touchdowns in 2014. The leader out of this group was senior Malcolm Mitchell with 31 catches for 248 yards with three touchdown catches.
Experience and numbers are things that are not in the Bulldogs favor right now and that is something they are trying to fix before they take the field on September 5 against ULM (Louisiana-Monroe). This is not a fact lost on head coach Mark Richt.
“We’re just very, very thin at receiver right now,” Richt said. “We were very thin when the spring began and we’re thinner now. That’s the one position where you can’t really be short on numbers, because of the volume of running that they do.”
Richt was speaking about the wide receiver numbers after the ‘G-Day’ game last Saturday, following sophomore wide receiver Isaiah McKenzie injuring his hamstring. He won’t likely miss any more than just these last two practices of the spring. However, he is still out and that takes away from their overall numbers at the position.
This year the program is also breaking in a new position coach for this group. Out is Tony Ball to LSU and in is former Bulldog wide receiver Bryan McClendon.
Luckily for Georgia, McClendon has been with the program as the running back’s coach. The familiarity is there for many of the players, because he probably helped recruit them into the program.
Right now, the numbers might be low for McClendon at that position. He has 12 players on the roster that are in his group and has had three players miss time during the spring with a hamstring issue.
In the fall, the Bulldogs are expected to get at least four wide receiver prospects to join them for fall camp. That group includes five-star Terry Godwin out of Hogansville and four-star Jayson Stanley out of Fairburn.
Last year, we heard former offensive coordinator Mike Bobo say that freshman would play the skill positions that they were thin at heading into the season. What about this year? McClendon says we’ll just have to wait and see at his group.
“When it’s all said and done I’ve got to come up with seven or eight guys that I think can play winning football for the University of Georgia,” McClendon said. “Whether they are freshman, walk-on, or seniors it’s up for those guys to compete on the field to decide.”
Getting back to Mitchell, he is the most experienced out of this group of receivers. Plus, he’s trying to be one of the top targets for whoever is named the starting quarterback this season. He says this has been an interesting spring for this group.
“It has,” Mitchell said. “We’ve been battling for that number one or two spot.”
Another player that he could be battling for one of those two spots with, is fellow senior Justin Scott-Wesley. Like Mitchell, Scott-Wesley tried coming back last season from a torn ACL that forced him to miss most of 2013.
Unlike Mitchell though, Scott-Wesley was only able to play in six games last season to pick up three catches for 52 yards and one touchdown.
He says that the explosiveness on the field is there, but other parts of his game have been a working progress to regain since the tear at Neyland Stadium.
“Basically confidence is the main thing,” Scott-Wesley said. “Coming off a significant knee injury and having two surgeries, it’s all about getting your confidence. It’s mostly mental.”
In 2013 before the injury against Tennessee, Scott-Wesley was on his way to a promising season with 16 catches for 311 yards and two touchdowns. This included his 85 yards touchdown catch and run against South Carolina.
He was frustrated about the timing of the injury, but is now focused on the here and now.
“Obviously I was hitting my stride and finding my niche in this offense,” Scott-Wesley said. “I was coming into my own, five games into the season. So, it’s frustrating just knowing the potential and all the what if’s. (But) like I said I’m passed that, I’m healthy, and I’m ready to go.”
Georgia will have until about early August to go until they get back on the field for the beginning of fall camp. At that time, the numbers will be a lot higher than they are right now.
The question will still remain on who steps up this season at the wide receiver spot.
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