Kirby Smart discusses speed of wide receiver group

The Georgia wide receiver room has plenty of speed in it this year, as head coach Kirby Smart said during spring practice. However, he isn’t quite sure if it’s the fastest group he’s had at UGA.

There’s plenty of returning production coming back, notably Ladd McConkey and Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint. But redshirt freshman C.J. Smith will join the group after sitting out last year and four-star freshman Anthony Evans also joined the ranks this spring as an early enrollee. Add in Arian Smith, who’s gearing up for his fourth year, and the Georgia wide receivers look like they could play fast this season.

That said, Smart wasn’t ready to say this was the fastest receiver room he’s had.

“I don’t know that,” Smart said. “[It’s] hard to say that because you throw Arian [Smith] in there and you know he’s fast. He’s as fast as we’ve had. He’s been part of the recent receiver groups. C.J. Smith is really fast, has done a good job growing up. Anthony Evans has been dealing with a little bit of an ankle sprain. He went early in practice, but he didn’t get to finish out. He didn’t re-injure it. He’s just got a nagging injury. But he’s fast.

“It’s hard to say. It’s one of the largest shear group we’ve had in numbers. We’re able to put ones, twos, threes out there, and I can remember past springs, we were just depleted at that position. I can’t answer whether it’s the fastest or not.”

Georgia also added some pieces from the transfer portal this offseason after he didn’t do so last year. Former Texas A&M wide receiver Rara Thomas and former Missouri receiver Dominic Lovett are both in the fold after becoming the Nos. 11 and 12-ranked players to hit the portal this cycle, according to the On3 Transfer Portal Rankings. They’ll look to add to the depth at the position as Georgia tries to sort out its quarterback situation.

The competition between Carson Beck, Brock Vandagriff and Gunner Stockton is still ongoing, especially since Vandagriff opted to stay at UGA instead of enter the portal, as On3 and DawgsHQ’s Jake Rowe reported. That was one of the biggest storylines through spring practice, and DawgsHQ owner/publisher Rusty Mansell provided an update on the quarterback decision on On3 Roundtable earlier this week.

“About the last two weeks, Carson Beck really separated himself a little bit and he (carried) that into that spring game where he had a great game,” Mansell said. “But here’s what I’ll say: nobody on that roster has played a meaningful minute yet. Nobody has been the guy on Monday that’s gonna face Auburn. A guy that’s gonna face Florida. A guy that’s gonna face Tennessee in Knoxville. I caution sometimes to say, ‘this job is done.’ It’s not done. I am right now still thinking Carson Beck is the guy, but you’ve gotta see it play out on the field. That will not be answered until some point in the season. But right now I think Carson Beck is that guy.”