Mark Richt wasn’t talking about his tight ends there, even though as a group they’re on pace for the fewest catches in a season since he became the head coach.
Assuming the Bulldogs make a bowl game and continue on their current rate, the position will finish with 23 catches and 312 yards over the course of 13 games.
In 2007, the tight ends finished with 24 catches and 307 yards as well as three touchdowns. The current crop of tight ends have zero this season.
Richt got a little testy earlier this week when the dip in production at the position was brought up.
“The reality is we have progression reads and we are gonna throw it to this guy if he is open and if not we will throw it to that guy,” Richt said. “And sometimes the tight end is open we throw it to him and sometimes he doesn’t.”
Given the reputation that preceded Brian Schottenheimer’s offensive strategy, that’s another one of this season’s little surprises. Whether that’s on the offensive coordinator or the starting quarterback, though, I can’t say.
In any event, what Richt was referring to by that quote in the header is a completely different group.
Georgia feels it has a lot of talent at wide receiver. So why has one guy caught almost three times as many passes as anyone else?
Part of that is because it’s Malcolm Mitchell, a fifth-year senior who quickly gained the trust of transfer quarterback Greyson Lambert. But part of it is because most of the options are true freshmen.
It’s time to get those guys involved more, the coaches acknowledge.
That’s not a bad thing in and of itself, but it begs a couple of questions. First, as we know, it’s not like Georgia’s running a ton of plays on offense. If you’re going to give these kids more touches, whom are you taking them from?
Second (and perhaps more significant), when Richt goes on to say the freshmen receivers need to play, “Because that’s really the only way they’ll develop”, is he hinting that the staff is beginning to see this season’s purpose as more developmental than they did in August? I’ve said all along that Richt’s been trying to balance the need to get his young talent game experience with the goal of winning the SEC East for the first time in three seasons. Is this an indication he’s reconsidering whether those are still worth balancing?
Get The Picture 
Because of the unknowns in the passing game, it’s hard to assess how much is the fault of Schottenheimer and how much is the fault of the players, but the offensive line’s regression is troubling. I was skeptical of the hire at the time, and I’m still skeptical.
As for Richt and youth, whatever. If he starts putting more freshman receivers out there, I doubt it will make a huge difference.
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It’s certainly not going to help Lambert’s issues with trust and timing, at least in the short run.
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This is true, but I didn’t exactly notice him developing trust and timing with anyone but Mitchell anyway.
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He got half of it on that throw Davis dropped. 😉
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HA
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The issue with the OL is depth and talent. The recruiting, or lack of, is very much showing up there. There’s also been a lack of real competition for starting spots because of the depth and talent issues. It’ll be a challenge next year for the same reasons.
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I’m pretty sure Kublanow, Pyke and Theus will be drafted.
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They probably will. Houston? No. Wynn is still smallish. Talent is still a problem. You can say it isn’t, but it is and has been for a while. That’s why Kublanow moved to center after NEVER playing the position. There was no one behind Andrews. If Richt wants to have success versus LSU, Florida and ‘Bama they’re going to have to recruit elite level talent on the O-line.
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How many Georgia lines do you think had 3 draft picks on them over the years? If you’re expecting five first rounders on the line you’ll be waiting a while for a “talented” line.
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I’m not expecting five first rounders. It’s a small and less physical line. It is what it is. They looked like midgets against Bama.
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Didn’t Blazevich catch a TD pass in the season opener?
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Yep:
http://espn.go.com/college-football/player/gamelog/_/id/3128723/jeb-blazevich
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I said last season when the Dawgs lost to Florida that Ramsey should have taken over the QB spot merely for developmental reasons. It is possible that Dawgs may not be in the position that they currently find themselves in now if Ramsey had played. As for this season, I do not believe that Richt is in a position to play out the schedule from a development standpoint. Actually, I believe that Richt is coaching for his job for the remainder of 2015.
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He’s not.
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Any other year and I would believe you. However, I have seen and heard more grumbling from the fan base this season than ever before. Apathy has set in with more fans than ever before during Richt’s tenure. One more crappy loss and I think that there is a very real possibility that Richt does not return in 2016. The question that I am not sure of is just how much is B-M willing to put up with?
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You think if they get beaten badly by Florida and win the rest that “there is a very real possibility” that Richt will be fired after a 9-3 season? Unless your definition of “very real possibility” is “less than 1%”, I disagree.
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Unless the recruits start fleeing or the money stops coming in, Richt isn’t in trouble with his bosses. There is no way B-M is going to pay large buyouts and sign new coaching contracts unless the powers that be feel like they have no choice. One more crappy loss won’t be the trigger for that.
Don’t equate blog comments with the fan base at large, either. Most fans aren’t nearly as disgruntled as you think.
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In my personal experience, the fan base was much angrier five years ago than it is now.
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Justifiably so. There are at least glimmers now that indicate the program is headed in a better direction. Plus, Richt can show he has experience driving the car out of the ditch.
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Fans were angry 5 years ago that is certain. However, the number of fans that are unhappy this season far outnumber what we saw in 2010. the major difference between 2015 and today is that there are a much larger number of fans that no longer have faith in Richt.
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Dead on Senator, it is much more of an internet thing. I do find it runs in groups though, the alpha in some mature fan groups can poison the others. But at least they keep their opinions somewhat balanced and don’t hope to undermine the program.
As to utilizing the TE more and getting the short to intermediate passing game going, if we don’t succeed at that against both Mizzou and UF’s front group, it will be a struggle to win either one. Fortunately they don’t have explosive offenses so we don’t have to score 40 but I don’t trust this defense to hold them to their season average. Need immediate improvement on both sides of the ball, starting with the OL tomorrow night, every single thing we do will get better if they step get in sync.
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Richt isn’t going anywhere. B-M likes the fact of who he is and that he can get them at least 8-10 wins a year. B-M can use Richt to get higher up on the moral high ground. Richt is not going to do anything to embarrass them, offend anyone, or ride off on a motorcycle with anyone. Until Richt has back-to-back bowless seasons he is not going anywhere.
Besides B-M is not going to do a buy out of an entire staff. If you see B-M not give multi-year extensions to the assistant coaches anymore then you will know Richt is on his way out.
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Lambert if afraid to throw short. The vast majority of his interceptions last year were near the line of scrimmage.
He basically gets brain freeze.
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Pingback: There’s desperate, and then there’s whatever the hell Georgia is | The Erudite Fan
One thing that has not been brought up is the change in WR coach this year.
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How dare I ask but are we missing Tony Ball?
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We are missing the experience of Conley, Bennett and now the speed of I-Mac.
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We’re missing Conley’s ability to stretch the field and get past people and Bennett’s ability to make nickels and safeties look foolish in the slot. We really miss both of their physical ability to block downfield for the running game. I don’t think we’re missing McKenzie in the passing game because he wasn’t doing much before he got hurt.
We’re missing Aaron Murray’s ability to distribute the ball and get it down the field more than anything else and have the last 2 seasons.
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It doesn’t really matter if we play freshmen or not this year because we’re going to go in to 2016 with our 4th qb in 4 years, and this time he’ll be a true freshman or a senior that couldn’t beat out the guys before. We’ll lose a few games and everyone will say “Richt is developing a new qb, wait till 2017.”
2016 = 2006
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By the time we have Eason and the receivers up to speed all of the talent in the backfield will have been drafted.
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