Kelee Ringo addresses defending Georgia offense when Arik Gilbert, Darnell Washington are both on the field

Georgia cornerback Kelee Ringo has seen firsthand just how dangerous the Bulldogs tight ends can be. The Bulldogs leading pass catcher this past season — true freshman Brock Bowers — set the tone for the position by finishing with 882 yards and 13 touchdowns, but he is far from the only weapon.

Georgia also has former five-star prospect Arik Gilbert, the No. 1 tight end in the country in 2020 according to On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average. Gilbert missed all of the 2021 season for personal reasons after transferring from LSU. But the tight end still has plenty of hype surrounding him after finishing with 35 catches for 368 yards and two touchdowns as a freshman

“I feel like that will be huge,” Ringo said this spring. “There’s so many different ways that we can spread defenses. We get that every single day, so I feel like going against that in practice definitely helps the defense and the offense as well. Because the offense sees what we bring to the table as well.”

Georgia finished a middling seventh in the SEC in passing offense this past season with 251.9 air yards per game. The Bulldogs also lost Jermaine Burton, who led all wide receivers on the team with 497 yards, to the transfer portal this offseason. With that being the case, they may be forced to lean on their talented group of tight ends even more this upcoming season than they did in 2021.

Bowers and Gilbert aren’t the only tight ends who will be targets for quarterback Stetson Bennett, however. Georgia also returns Darnell Washington, who played eight games to finish with 154 yards and one touchdowns last season. On the recruiting trail, the Bulldogs added Oscar Delp, the No. 2 tight end in the 2022 class according to On3 Consensus.

With this knowledge plus the testimony of Kelee Ringo, it makes sense that the expectations are high for the Georgia tight ends in 2022. They’ll get their first opportunity to live up to the hype when the Bulldogs open up 2022 on Sept. 3 against Oregon.