ATHENS — Just one look at the Georgia wide receivers at practice and you can tell it is a dramatically different group than it was in 2024.
Arian Smith and Dominic Lovett are off to the NFL, while Anthony Evans transferred to Mississippi State.
But Georgia made plenty of additions to offset and try to improve upon those departures. It added Noah Thomas and Zachariah Branch from the transfer portal. It signed freshmen Talyn Taylor, CJ Wiley, Tyler Williams and Landon Roldan.
It also will have Colbie Young back, as he has been reinstated to the team. Young caught 11 passes for 149 yards and two touchdowns in the first five games of the 2024 season.
The additions of Thomas, Wiley and Young bring an immediate size upgrade. Sophomore Nitro Tuggle looks bigger as well, spending a second year in the program.
By comparison, Taylor and Branch are on the smaller side, but they bring a definite juice to the receivers group.
It’s a very encouraging first step for a group that was one of the bigger reasons the offense underperformed a season ago.
“What’s good about that group right now is there’s some depth there, some competition. You’ve got the young ones who practice one day right now and I’m like, ‘Oh man, these guys, they look good,’” Smart said in an interview with 92.9 The Game on Thursday. “They look like they can help us. Then we got some old ones from Dillon (Bell), Colbie (Young), Cole Speer, a lot of the older guys out there that I’m like, man, ‘these guys look good.’ (Zachariah) Branch and Noah (Thomas) are there. There’s just a lot of competition. There’s a lot of answers.”
Georgia led the country in drops a season ago. It’s not like one player drastically titled that stat, as just about everyone played a role.
That’s why Georgia took a strength in numbers approach to fix the problem. Georgia welcomed seven new receivers to the program this offseason, with Thomas Blackshear arriving this summer as a 2025 signee.
For Branch and Thomas, they’ll be expected to shoulder a big load immediately. They have real experience, as Branch comes from USC, while Thomas was Texas A&M’s leading receiver a season ago.
“I‘m excited about both those guys,” Smart said Tuesday. “Both really good players. Both have been successful in their organizations where they’ve been. They’re both talented pass-catchers. We’ve still gotta go out and do it on the field, but I’m excited about who they are.”
Georgia will be breaking in a new quarterback this season, as Gunner Stockton and Ryan Puglisi battle to replace Carson Beck.
All the additions should give them pass catchers to throw to. The Bulldogs should have one of the better tight end groups in the country, with Oscar Delp and Lawson Luckie returning.
Smart, though, wants to see his newcomers make an impact on the team. The Bulldogs have better depth on paper than they did a season ago, which should help carry them through the season.
Add in that Taylor was a 5-star recruit and Wiley was a top-100 prospect, Smart very much believes in the young talent in the group as well.
“We’ve got to figure out what the new guys do best and we’ve got to bring the freshmen along now,” Smart said. “We can’t wait until halfway through the season and get them going. These freshmen are going to be talented players.”
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