Young Georgia WRs starting to 'come along' per Kirby Smart
Kirby Smart has started to talk about wide receivers the way he has always talked about defensive and offensive linemen. If you listen to the Georgia head coach enough, you’ll hear him say some version of “you can never have too many.”
Nine Bulldog wideouts saw action against Oregon in the team’s season opener but, despite the blowout nature of the contest, only six of those players saw double-digit snaps. At some point, Georgia will likely need a player or two to step up.
Smart was asked about a trio of freshmen — Dillon Bell, De’Nylon Morrissette, and C.J. Smith — after Tuesday’s practice — where he hinted at how the Bulldogs might be able to expect a little more from that group in the near future. He especially painted that picture for two of those youngsters.
“Two of those guys were injured, De’Nylon missed almost all of camp, C.J. Smith missed all of camp and both of them have started to come along,” Smart said. “I’m riding them really hard because I have high expectations for them and they can help us. They each have really good attributes and they both really want to help our team. They’re great young men. They do everything right off the field, they do what they’re supposed to do, they work really hard. Dillon [Bell] has gotten a lot of reps and should be able to help us, he’s probably further along than those two only because he has not been injured but C.J. hit some high numbers on GPS recently. We’re trying to bring him back slowly because he’s had some knee issues and then De’Nylon has had a couple good practices. We need to bring those guys along to get the depth we need to support our offense.”
Bell began making noise early in preseason camp and that allowed him to become one of those six withouts that played 10 or more snaps against the Ducks. The former three-star prospect was one of the biggest August surprises.
Morrissette is a former four-star wideout and trusted sources have told DawgsHQ that if not for his injury, he would probably be a regular member of the Georgia receiver rotation. The North Cobb High School product, as Smart pointed out, has been making up for lost time since getting healthy.
Smith may possess the most upside among the trio. He possesses tremendous speed and has the frame to match at 6-foot-3 180 pounds. He’s a Florida state champion in the 100 meters and 200 meters.
Georgia is currently leaning heavily on its top three receivers. AD Mitchell played 36 snaps against Oregon while Ladd McConkey played 35 and Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint played 24. Due to the number of multiple tight end sets used by Todd Monken, slot receiver Kearis Jackson only played 14 snaps in the opener.
