Arian Smith, Georgia receivers working on translating track speed to football field
ATHENS, Ga. — Ask Arian Smith who the fastest on the team is, and he’ll ask you a question. “What y’all think?” The non-answer answer says it all. Smith still believes he’s got the best speed on the team, even with a few burners coming in in the Class of 2023.
“Nah, they don’t want to challenge me. I let the film speak for itself,” Smith said. “They know.”
Georgia signed C.J. Smith in the Class of 2022. The 6-foot-3, 180 pound product of Mt. Dora High School (Orlando, Fla.) ran a 10.28 in the 100-meter his junior year. He also won the region with a 20.62 200-meter. Then, in the Class of 2023, the Bulldogs added Anthony Evans and Yazeed Haynes, both of whom are also known for their speed. Evans ran a 10.27 100-meter last spring while Haynes has sub-4.4 second marks in the 40-yard dash to him name.
None compares to the elder Smith’s time of 10.18 in the 100-meter to finish eighth at the SEC Outdoor Track and Field Championship in May of 2021. That qualified him for the NCAA Championships as well. Smith originally planned to both play football and run track, but injuries have kept him from doing that as consistently as he would have wanted. Thus, his career on the track is over, and he’s simply looking to translate that speed to the football field while staying healthy.
“It’s tough to give up,” Smith said. “Like, me and Matt [Boling], we go a way back before we even got here. I do want to run. I came here to run track and play football, but my first priority was football. It’s going to be tough, but I know what I’m here for so.”
“My mindset is to get better at football as a whole, not just going deep,” he continued, speaking specifically about this spring and how he wants to take advantage of focusing solely on football. “Just, like, the small stuff too, everything, details, blocking, catching short routes, taking it for 50. Mostly everything, [trying to be] an all-around receiver … My long speed’s there. My short speed is what I’m focusing on. In and out of cuts. I can run, but can you stop and go?”
As he does that, he’s also trying to help out the other speedsters in the receiver room. In CJ Smith, Arian said he sees a younger version of himself. Then, with the early enrollees – Haynes and Evans – he sees the possibility of them making an impact immediately, once they get the playbook down.
“Zeed, he’s going to be good. He’s got a lot of potential. He’s going to be good. He’s just quick. He’s just a natural receiver — like, he don’t have to get taught to, like, run routes. It’s just him learning the plays,” Smith said about Haynes. “Once he learns the plays and learns the offense, he’s going to be good.”
“He’s fast. He’s going to be good too,” he added on Evans. “He reminds me a lot like Percy Harvin with the way he runs. It’s like effortless.”
Georgia is seven practices in to their 15 session spring. The Bulldogs will go again on Thursday, passing the midway point, before their first scrimmage on Saturday. Spring ball wraps up on April 15th with the G-Day spring game at Sanford Stadium at 4:00 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
