ATHENS — Much of the chatter this spring around Georgia’s wide receiver room focuses on the young players in the room.
Talyn Taylor, Thomas Blackshear and CJ Wiley have all been major talking points. Georgia made a sizable bet on those players to replace the outgoing production.
“He reminds me of Garrett Wilson,” Noah Thomas said of Taylor. “You know how he gets out of breaks, runs his routes, how he attacks the ball. When he first came, it was like he wasn’t a freshman. He obviously has some things to work on. He knows what he needs to work on. Knowing that, knowing his personal stuff, he’s going to be a great player for sure.”
Of the receivers that were on Georgia’s roster last season, they combined for 36 receptions.
That lack of returning production is why Georgia went into the transfer portal to add help. Georgia Tech’s Isiah Canion caught 33 passes last season for the Yellow Jackets, turning them into 480 yards and 4 touchdowns.
Georgia is going to need him to produce even beyond that this season. Based on what the Bulldogs have already seen, Canion seems more than up to the task of leading the wide receiver room.
“He’s got the ideal body for a receiver. I mean, he’s big and he’s really fast,” quarterback Gunner Stockton said of Canion. “He’s been a great guy to get to know, and I look forward to building that relationship.”
Georgia has turned to the transfer portal before to help the wide receiver room. Zachariah Branch led the Bulldogs in every statistical category after transferring in from USC last offseason.
Canion’s game is very different from that of Branch. While Branch dominated in the screen game and relied on his acceleration, Canion’s calling card is his size. He’s the biggest wide receiver in Georgia’s wide receiver room.
Even before facing Canion as a part of Clean Old-Fashioned Hate, Georgia saw Canion on the recruiting trail as a 2024 prospect. The Bulldogs signed two of his high school teammates in outside linebacker Isaiah Gibson and Rasean Dinkins.
“We remember Coach Bobo going down and watching him practice,” Kirby Smart said of Canion. “He made a couple really acrobatic catches. He was in the back of our mind all along. Of course, we got to play against him last year. He made some plays against us last year in that game. The more familiar you are with someone through recruiting, the more success we’ve had.”
Georgia had the smallest transfer portal class of any team in the SEC, adding only nine players. Smart didn’t want to flood the roster with new faces who could disrupt the returning players on the roster.
That Canion has previous relationships with Dinkins and Gibson put Smart at ease about how he’d fit within the team.
“He’s a good football player,” Smart said. “He’s an even better person. He played with several guys on our team. There’s a relationship there. We know him, so we’re excited about him.”
Canion has the chance to be a very important piece for Stockton and the Georgia offense.
The key will be how he adapts to playing at Georgia. This time last year, Thomas was drawing all kinds of rave reviews but he was never able to validate that praise. He finished with 16 catches for 254 yards and 4 touchdowns.
If Canion’s numbers are in line with that, Georgia will not have the season it wants to have.
That’s why it’s critical for Canion to get on the same page with Stockton early during spring practice.
“It’s been fun this whole offseason getting to know all the new guys,” Stockton said. “I think that’s a fun part of this season, just getting to know everybody. It can be a challenge getting to know everybody just the way it is nowadays with college football, but I think Coach Smart and everybody’s done a great job of building the roster and what it is. Everybody’s kind of bought into our standard.”
Canion is checking all the boxes Georgia wants him to thus far. He fits in physically, something that hasn’t been true for every transfer. He’s got the mental makeup that Georgia coaches want. Not every player would’ve wanted to pick a school that didn’t prioritize him coming out of high school.
Georgia knows the development of its wide receiver room is going to go a long way in determining how successful a season the Bulldogs will have.
Canion hasn’t been around Georgia for long, but he’s already showing the type of traits that can allow him to be a leading receiver for a championship-contending team.
“It’s one of those positions that you’re gonna get 10-15 balls a day that are competitive, and how many of those can you make,” Smart said. “There are these 1-on-1 situations where they’re downfield, they’re contested, you got somebody hanging all over you. There’s no free access in the SEC. So you earn what you get, and you have to get used to making plays with people all over you.”
