ATHENS — At the moment, Georgia’s tight end room is incomplete.
The Bulldogs are still awaiting the arrival of Stanford tight end Benjamin Yurosek. Georgia landed the tight end in the transfer portal in February, bringing in a player that led Stanford in receptions (43) and receiving yards (658) in 2021.
Injuries limited Yurosek to just six games in 2023, but Georgia is still very confident in the player it is getting.
“He seemed like a super cool dude. I’m excited to get to know him,” tight end Oscar Delp said of Yurosek. “He’s obviously a good player, we wouldn’t have recruited him if he wasn’t. I’m excited to kind of have him in our room and get to share the next season with him.”
Georgia always knew it was going to have to replace Brock Bowers entering this season. It has stocked the tight end position well, landing players like Delp, Lawson Luckie and Jaden Reddell in successive recruiting classes.
But Georgia’s depth at the position took a hit when Pearce Spurlin had to medically retire due to a heart condition.
“I’ve known Pearce for a while, to kind of hear that, it really sucked. It was shocking,” Delp said. “I don’t think anyone was expecting it. Luckily, he’s still been around with all of us, going to all of our meetings still. Having fun with us, hanging out with us and out there on the field talking to us. He’s gonna be a part of this family no matter.”
With Spurlin out, that creates an even bigger role for Yurosek to possibly step into.
Georgia now has an outright need at the position, not to mention a want for someone with a good deal of experience. Delp is currently Georgia’s oldest player at the position and is entering his junior season.
“Well, experience. Size and speed,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “With the knowing Pearce’s unfortunate situation, we were going to be short there. We felt like we were getting a really talented, intelligent, experienced, mature body type. We need that at that position.”
Yurosek’s pending arrival also puts a spotlight on Georgia’s other tight ends this spring.
Delp is a clear leader for the Bulldogs at the position. But what Georgia has beside him is somewhat of a mystery, given the youth in the room.
“Lawson’s having a good spring so far,” Smart said. “We’ve got to bring the two young kids along really fast. Jaden Reddell’s been dealing with a little bit of a hamstring. We’re trying to get him back out there best he can. They need all the reps they can get.
“They just need to go out there and take a ton of reps and keep getting better so they can grow. We’re not where we need to be from a health standpoint in that room. It would help to have Ben here, but he’s not, and he’ll be here in the summer.”
Many eyebrows were raised when Yurosek first committed to Georgia earlier this winter. The Bulldogs knew they’d be replacing Bowers but there had been a strong belief that Georgia had enough talent on the roster to do so.
But this spring has quickly shown how much those ideas can change. And why you can never have enough depth, even at a perceived position of strength.
