It has been a long and eventful offseason for the Georgia football team, but the season is once again right around the corner with the Bulldogs’ season opener against Clemson just under three weeks away. Head coach Kirby Smart, linebacker Jalon Walker and tight end Oscar Delp met with the media on Tuesday to discuss the end of fall camp and the beginning of the season. Here are some takeaways from their comments.
Bulldogs on the mend
Georgia had a few projected starters dinged up during offseason training. Smart said that center Jared Wilson is dealing with achilles tendonitis but has continued to “ramp up his exposure and ramp up his reps.” Outside linebacker Chaz Chambliss has a soft-tissue hamstring injury that Smart said nagged him before, but he was able to participate more in Tuesday’s practice. Smart also mentioned running back Roderick Robinson has a minor toe injury.
Smart also said sophomore defensive tackle Jordan Hall recently suffered a stress fracture in his tibia shortly after starting to recover from the same injury in his other leg.
“It was strange for it to occur, but he didn’t acknowledge it until he started running when he was coming back from the first [stress fracture],” Smart said. “We had to fix the other one, but he’s on a good timeline. It’s not a long-term deal, and now he actually knows what to expect because he’s had it done to the left and the right. I don’t know the order of those, but it doesn’t matter. He had the other one fixed. He’s going to be back. We don’t know the exact timeline for that, but he’s been in great spirits. I’m just glad they found it when they did.”
Linebackers getting more comfortable
Georgia lost two big contributors in the linebacker room this offseason in Jamon Dumas-Johnson and Xavian Sorey Jr., after they each transferred to Kentucky and Arkansas respectively. There’s a big hole in production that needs to be filled next to Smael Mondon Jr., and one of the leading candidates to step up is junior Jalon Walker. The Bulldogs cross-trained the former five-star recruit at both outside and inside linebacker, and he talked about his increased comfortability playing both.
“Throughout our summer as well, I’ve had my inside [linebacker] reps for our 7-on-7, then I’ve had my pass rush [outside linebacker] days as well,” Walker said. “So, having the balance of both throughout camp and throughout the season has been great. During this fall camp, I’ve been able to have the opportunity to sit in the outside back room and the inside back room, as well. So, having that position being a dual position is great.”
Two more linebackers that could be in for breakout seasons are sophomores Raylen Wilson and C.J. Allen. Both were pressed into action early in their careers as freshmen following an injury to Dumas-Johnson. They responded with some very promising play and have the opportunity to make an even bigger impact this season.
“They’ve been thrusted into the limelight and had to play earlier, probably before they were ready, to be honest,” Smart said. “You grow up when you have to do that. I think you forget sometimes what year they are. It happens to me all the time. I think Raylen and C.J. are like experienced vets on our team because they’re in the upper echelon of play time and upper echelon in terms of years here because the majority of our team is young.”
Delp stepping up
The most high-profile loss for Georgia’s offense this offseason was All-American tight end Brock Bowers, who broke a boatload of records for the Bulldogs and etched his name forever into school lore along the way. With his departure to the NFL, however, the Bulldogs’ new starter at tight end is junior Oscar Delp, who turned heads with his performance this summer. Coaches noted his improvement as a run blocker, which is something Delp readily admitted he’s been learning quicker and improving upon.
“It’s solely buying into the run game and all the techniques that [tight ends coach Todd Hartley] taught me,” Delp said. “I came here and I had no clue what to do in the run game. I was a receiving tight end in high school, basically a wideout almost. And I realized there’s going to be guys that are bigger than you or guys that are stronger than you, and the way to beat that is with technique and angles. Football’s a game of angles and numbers, so if you learn those angles and the proper footwork and everything, it will make you way more successful than not most of the time.”
Delp saw his role change off the field as well. With Bowers gone, he’s now the de facto leader of the tight end room. Delp is being called upon to lead more than before, and he’s embracing the challenge from the coaching staff.
“There are days where I get called to break the team down and all that stuff,” Delp said. “Really, it just comes down to that, in those meetings in the room. You can tell when a guy’s down and a young guy kind of struggles a little bit or is having a rough day. Just kind of little things like that, where an older guy who helps you out can change your whole mood and change your whole day. And those guys, one bad play is kind of the end of the world for them almost, in some aspects of practice. You’ve just got to kind of help them learn that’s how to grow, and that’s part of the game. That’s how it is here. I mean, you have to fail to succeed.”
It has been a long and eventful offseason for the Georgia football team, but the season is once again right around the corner with the Bulldogs’ season opener against Clemson just under three weeks away. Head coach Kirby Smart, linebacker Jalon Walker and tight end Oscar Delp met with the media on Tuesday to discuss the end of fall camp and the beginning of the season. Here are some takeaways from their comments.
Bulldogs on the mend
Georgia had a few projected starters dinged up during offseason training. Smart said that center Jared Wilson is dealing with achilles tendonitis but has continued to “ramp up his exposure and ramp up his reps.” Outside linebacker Chaz Chambliss has a soft-tissue hamstring injury that Smart said nagged him before, but he was able to participate more in Tuesday’s practice. Smart also mentioned running back Roderick Robinson has a minor toe injury.
Smart also said sophomore defensive tackle Jordan Hall recently suffered a stress fracture in his tibia shortly after starting to recover from the same injury in his other leg.
“It was strange for it to occur, but he didn’t acknowledge it until he started running when he was coming back from the first [stress fracture],” Smart said. “We had to fix the other one, but he’s on a good timeline. It’s not a long-term deal, and now he actually knows what to expect because he’s had it done to the left and the right. I don’t know the order of those, but it doesn’t matter. He had the other one fixed. He’s going to be back. We don’t know the exact timeline for that, but he’s been in great spirits. I’m just glad they found it when they did.”
Linebackers getting more comfortable
Georgia lost two big contributors in the linebacker room this offseason in Jamon Dumas-Johnson and Xavian Sorey Jr., after they each transferred to Kentucky and Arkansas respectively. There’s a big hole in production that needs to be filled next to Smael Mondon Jr., and one of the leading candidates to step up is junior Jalon Walker. The Bulldogs cross-trained the former five-star recruit at both outside and inside linebacker, and he talked about his increased comfortability playing both.
“Throughout our summer as well, I’ve had my inside [linebacker] reps for our 7-on-7, then I’ve had my pass rush [outside linebacker] days as well,” Walker said. “So, having the balance of both throughout camp and throughout the season has been great. During this fall camp, I’ve been able to have the opportunity to sit in the outside back room and the inside back room, as well. So, having that position being a dual position is great.”
Two more linebackers that could be in for breakout seasons are sophomores Raylen Wilson and C.J. Allen. Both were pressed into action early in their careers as freshmen following an injury to Dumas-Johnson. They responded with some very promising play and have the opportunity to make an even bigger impact this season.
“They’ve been thrusted into the limelight and had to play earlier, probably before they were ready, to be honest,” Smart said. “You grow up when you have to do that. I think you forget sometimes what year they are. It happens to me all the time. I think Raylen and C.J. are like experienced vets on our team because they’re in the upper echelon of play time and upper echelon in terms of years here because the majority of our team is young.”
Delp stepping up
The most high-profile loss for Georgia’s offense this offseason was All-American tight end Brock Bowers, who broke a boatload of records for the Bulldogs and etched his name forever into school lore along the way. With his departure to the NFL, however, the Bulldogs’ new starter at tight end is junior Oscar Delp, who turned heads with his performance this summer. Coaches noted his improvement as a run blocker, which is something Delp readily admitted he’s been learning quicker and improving upon.
“It’s solely buying into the run game and all the techniques that [tight ends coach Todd Hartley] taught me,” Delp said. “I came here and I had no clue what to do in the run game. I was a receiving tight end in high school, basically a wideout almost. And I realized there’s going to be guys that are bigger than you or guys that are stronger than you, and the way to beat that is with technique and angles. Football’s a game of angles and numbers, so if you learn those angles and the proper footwork and everything, it will make you way more successful than not most of the time.”
Delp saw his role change off the field as well. With Bowers gone, he’s now the de facto leader of the tight end room. Delp is being called upon to lead more than before, and he’s embracing the challenge from the coaching staff.
“There are days where I get called to break the team down and all that stuff,” Delp said. “Really, it just comes down to that, in those meetings in the room. You can tell when a guy’s down and a young guy kind of struggles a little bit or is having a rough day. Just kind of little things like that, where an older guy who helps you out can change your whole mood and change your whole day. And those guys, one bad play is kind of the end of the world for them almost, in some aspects of practice. You’ve just got to kind of help them learn that’s how to grow, and that’s part of the game. That’s how it is here. I mean, you have to fail to succeed.”
