ATHENS — Brock Bowers isn’t running out of the tunnel at Sanford Stadium this fall, but the former Georgia superstar and current top NFL tight end still has a presence in Athens.
The NFL is filled with former Bulldogs’ players, and Coach Kirby Smart is using those players as examples for the current team — both their NFL clips as well as past practices at Georgia.
Bowers -- who set NFL records for overall catches (112) and yards receiving by a rookie tight end (1,194) last season — is among the more popular examples in the film room.
“Do I use Brock? Yes,” UGA tight ends coach Todd Hartley said at a Wednesday press availability at Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall. “Do I use Brock a lot? Yes.”
Hartley said he also uses cut-ups of former UGA tight ends Darnell Washington and Ben Yurosek — who went undrafted but is competing for a spot on the Minnesota 53-man roster — but Bowers is the obvious standard.
As much as players look to emulate Bowers skills, UGA tight ends Oscar Delp and Lawson Luckie know from practicing with Bowers that his work ethic was just as important.
Bowers, on a “Bussin’ with the Boys” podcast this summer, made it known just how hard he once had it during UGA fall camp, providing insight into what the current players are going through right now.
“Every day during fall camp, I was just getting my ass beat,” Bowers said, talking about coming on to a UGA team that featured future NFL players Travon Walker, Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, Nolan Smith and Nakobe Dean, among others.
“Those team runs, and even the practices in fall camp were insane .… I remember, I’d be dying after fall camp,” Bowers said. “At Georgia, they worked us to the bone, and in the NFL you only take so many reps, but they are full speed, (so) it’s a different workload I feel like.”
Indeed, there are no shortcuts at the collegiate level, where players develop their skillsets and learn to handle the inherent adversity that comes with playing football at an elite level.
The competition in the Georgia tight ends room is immense, with players competing against one another as well as looking to prove themselves superior options to other position groups.
The Bulldogs have run plenty of double tight end sets, but with an influx of talent at the receiver position, offensive coordinator Mike Bobo is sorting out how often to be in “11” personnel (three receivers, one tight end) vs. “12” personnel (two tight ends, two receivers) or even “13” personnel (three tight ends).
Hartley explained how the skills of the Georgia tight ends could lend themselves to an array of options.
“Usually when you’re in 12 personnel, you have two tight ends on the field, Y and F, right?” Hartley said. “I’m saying why not have guys that can do Y, F and Z … so that is a challenge to our tight ends, to not just learn the tight end position, let’s (also) learn the slot, let’s learn the X, let’s learn the Z, hey, let’s learn the H.”
The letters correlate to specified tight end, receiver or H-Back positions, adding to the potential creativity Bobo has to work with as he carves game plans out of the expansive playbook.
Bobo said there’s one prerequisite for any of the UGA tight ends before they step on the field, regardless of where they line up.
“We look at the tight end, the catches that they might have, or the unbelievable plays that that Brock (Bowers) or some of these guys have made in the past,” Bobo said on Wednesday, “but they know that they’ve got to get they’ve got to get dirty, and they’ve got a block, and they’ve got to put their face on them, on people, and (Hartley) has done a good job of creating toughness in that room.”
Bobo’s point is important: Smart explained at SEC Media Days that tight end usage is often reliant on an effective run game, which UGA has emphasized as the base for this season’s offense.
“It’s not as easy as, ‘Man, we’ve got to utilize the tight end better,’ “ Smart said. “Well, tight ends got to get open in one-on-one situations. Or we’ve got to run the ball well enough that play action opens up. Because the way a tight end catches the ball a lot of times is off of play action.”
Bowers, obviously, was able to block effectively and play all of the positions Hartley noted.
Former Georgia offensive coordinator Todd Monken was also adept at moving Bowers around to create matchup nightmares.
Hartley said the current tight ends possess their own sets of talents, but ultimately the ball needs to get in the best players’ hands — whoever they might be, or wherever they line up.
“When it comes to game planning, as an offensive play caller, as an offensive staff, you try to design things that showcase your best player strengths,” Hartley said. “And so, obviously, Brock had a lot of strengths, so you try to showcase a lot of things.
“But when he’s not here, you’re trying to find out, what is Colbie Young’s best strength? What is London Humphrey’s best strength? What is Oscar Delp’s, Lawson Luckie’s?
“All these guys that we have across the offense, you design plays for them. So, maybe not just specifically Brock Bowers’ (past plays), but we have enough plays in our offense to showcase our playmakers and highlight what they do the best.”
Here’s a look at tight end production (receptions, yards, TDs) from Bowers’ freshman season through last season:
2021 Georgia football TEs
Brock Bowers 56 catches, 882 yards, 13 TD
Darnell Washington 10 catches, 154 yards, 1 TD
John FitzPatrick 6 catches, 83 yards
Brett Seither 3 catches, 42 yards, 1 TD
Total: 75 catches, 1,161 yards 15 TD
2022 Georgia football TEs
Brock Bowers 63 catches, 942 yards, 7 TD
Darnell Washington 28 catches, 454 yards, 2 TD
Oscar Delp 5 catches, 61 yards, 1 TD
Arik Gilbert 2 catches, 16 yards, 1 TD
Total: 98 catches, 1,473 yards 11 TD
2023 Georgia football TEs
Brock Bowers 56 catches, 714 yards, 6 TDs
Oscar Delp 24 catches, 284 yards, 3 TDs
Pearce Spurlin lll 3 catches, 60 yards
Lawson Luckie 2 catches, 9 yards, 1 TD
Total: 85 catches, 1,067 yards, 10 TD
2024 Georgia football TEs
Lawson Luckie 24 catches, 348 yards, 3 TDs
Oscar Delp 21 catches, 248 yards, 4 TDs
Ben Yurosek 15 catches, 185 yards
Jaden Reddell 2 catches, 18 yards
Total: 62 catches, 799 yards, 7 TDs
