Brock Bowers shares advice for new Georgia football tight ends Pearce Spurlin, Lawson Luckie

Spurlin is currently the No. 4 ranked tight end per the On3 Consensus, while Luckie is the No. 9 player at the position. They’ll add to a room that is expected to see some turnover, as Arik Gilbert has already entered the transfer portal and Darnell Washington is widely expected to be top draft pick in the upcoming NFL draft.

“Both those guys have been competitive,” Smart said of the new Georgia tight ends. “They’ve gone out and competed every chance they’ve had. Pearce was able to come back towards the end of the year and play some coming off of shoulder surgery. And then Lawson had a good year playing in a really tough division in Georgia High School football.”

Luckie is already on campus, going through practice with the Bulldogs this past week. Spurlin will join the team in January, giving both a jump start on their college careers.

Smart is excited about the futures of both players. But expecting them to come in and be Bowers 2.0 is obviously an unrealistic expectation. Bowers will be back for his junior season next year, while Oscar Delp will take on a bigger role at the position after making progress as a freshman.

The Mackey Award-winning tight end did offer up some advice on how the two newcomers can set themselves up to have early success at Georgia.

“You’ve got to just show up every day, be consistent in everything you do and just kind of prove to everyone that you can do your job day in and day out,” Bowers said. “Shoot, just play football and they’ll find a spot for you.”

Bowers noted that Luckie has looked good while working with the scout team thus far. He’s of a similar mold to Bowers, measuring in at 6-foot-3 and 240 pounds out of Norcross, Ga. Spurlin is more like former Georgia tight end John FitzPatrick, as he’s listed at 6-foot-6 and 230 pounds.

Both players will need to bulk up and get faster as they make the many necessary adjustments to playing in the SEC.

“It’s more than just running around and catching the ball and run with it,” Bowers said. “You have to, read stuff and everything like that. And also adjusting to the speed. It’s a completely different speed obviously than high school.”

Most teams would be over the moon about adding Luckie and Spurlin to their rosters. But Georgia may not be done at the tight end position, as it is a strong candidate to land 5-star 2023 tight end Duce Robinson out of Pinnacle, Az. He’s the No. 1 player at the position and won’t make a final decision until February, with Texas and USC also after him.

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Tight end is already a strength for the Bulldogs and will be so once again in 2023. If Luckie and Spurlin develop like Smart thinks they can, the position will continue to be a strong one for the Bulldogs for years to come.

“I’m excited about both of those guys,” Smart said. “They’re coming into a room that is extremely competitive, but they both fit that criteria themselves. So I’m excited to see what they can do for us.”

Brock Bowers shares advice for new Georgia football tight ends

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