ATHENS — G-Day, Georgia’s annual spring scrimmage, served as the latest reminder of what the Bulldogs were lacking while Young was suspended.
Young was suspended following an October arrest. While the legal situation played out, the Georgia wide receiver was not permitted to play. Young reached a plea deal in January as he pled no contest to a disorderly conduct charge, clearing his way to return fully for Georgia.
Young had just one catch on Saturday. But it may have been the most impressive grab on the afternoon, as he skied to pluck a Ryan Puglisi pass in the end zone.
Georgia’s biggest cornerback Daniel Harris was in good position on the play, but there was nothing he could do about Young.
“He’s just a contested-catch monster,” tight end Lawson Luckie said. “When nobody’s open, Colbie’s always open. Like, he might not catch every single one of them, but he’s going to catch most of them.”
Earlier in the game, Young nearly grabbed another touchdown pass over Demello Jones in coverage. But upon replay review, the senior wide receiver couldn’t get his feet down before tumbling out of bounds.
Georgia quarterbacks have a certain confidence when throwing to Young. There’s a genuine belief that he can make those tough catches, even when there’s a less-than-perfect throw.
Fans will remember that Young was the target on Carson Beck’s final interception in the 41-34 loss to Alabama last season. A similar play happened in the first half of Saturday’s game, when Gunner Stockton was picked off while targeting Young.
Harris played the Stockton pass perfectly, effectively boxing out Young. Still, Georgia feels comfortable more often than not when targeting the jumbo wide receiver.
“Yeah, he gives you problems outside,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “You’re going out there and there’s not a lot of defense you can have for a guy that gets the ball at the highest point and goes up. It forces DBs to have a really good ball skill set. They’ve got to have great balls, the hands to go up and attack the ball and play the ball high in the air. The ball-playing skills of the DBs sometimes are not that of a receiver.
“And Colbie has made a lot of plays this spring on those 50-50 type balls.”
Young took on a greater role in the Georgia offense last season when Rara Thomas was dismissed from the team in August. When Young was suspended, Georgia no longer had an outside wide receiver who could consistently win in tight coverage.
With Young back, Georgia might have two of those as the Bulldogs added Texas A&M transfer Noah Thomas this offseason. Thomas left Saturday’s game with an AC sprain, but the injury is not considered serious. Thomas has drawn consistently excellent reviews in his first spring with Georgia.
Having Young and Thomas on the outside should open things up for some of Georgia’s other receivers. Dillon Bell, who had to step in at the X receiver position last season, finished with 78 receiving yards on 5 receptions. No longer forced to play just one position, Georgia can move Bell around the formation to create favorable matchups.
Young could be the easy button for a Georgia offense that did not have one last season. When the Bulldogs need someone, especially in the red zone, to make a play, Young looks more than capable of making it.
If he can do that, it should open up the rest of the Georgia offense and set the unit up to bounce back from a disappointing 2024 season.
“Over and over again, it’s shown on tape,” Luckie said. “That dude just makes contested catches. Got picked off in the first half and just came back and catches some even bigger ones. So that kid’s resilient and can make some plays.”
