Jump To Top of Page

Georgia Doesn’t Need a No. 1 Receiver. It Needs Somebody the Defense Fears.

By: Greg Poole

Georgia can spend the next few weeks sorting out who leads the receivers in catches, targets and snaps. But that still won’t answer the question that matters most: who scares anybody?

That has been a continuing concern around Georgia’s offense throughout August. Kirby Smart has repeatedly talked about the need for more explosive plays, and the Bulldogs have not consistently shown they can create easy separation or push the football down the field.

Georgia does not need to discover its next 90-catch receiver. It needs somebody who makes a defensive coordinator nervous.

There is a difference between being the most productive receiver and being the receiver who changes how a defense plays. The traditional WR1 discussion usually centers on statistics. Who gets the most targets? Who becomes the quarterback’s favorite option? Who puts up the biggest numbers?

Georgia’s bigger need is structural. It needs a receiver who forces a safety to think twice before creeping toward the line of scrimmage, somebody a cornerback does not want to defend without help and somebody whose presence creates room for everybody else.

Maybe that player is Talyn Taylor. Maybe it is CJ Wiley, whose size and athleticism give Georgia the kind of physical matchup that can become troublesome quickly. London Humphreys could emerge as the vertical threat Georgia hoped it was getting when he arrived from Vanderbilt. At the same time, Isiah Canion, Kaiden Prothro or somebody else could force his way into the discussion.

The name matters less than the effect.

Georgia has enough options to complete passes. The Bulldogs have tight ends, running backs and receivers capable of moving the chains, and Gunner Stockton is established enough at quarterback that the offense should not have to spend September figuring out what it wants to be.

What Georgia still needs is the player who changes the geometry of the field. That becomes especially important against the best defenses on the schedule, because Alabama, Texas, and the teams Georgia could encounter in December won’t spend four quarters allowing the Bulldogs to execute 12-play drives.

Eventually, somebody has to make a defense pay.

That might mean winning vertically. It might mean turning a short throw into 40 yards. It might simply mean attracting enough attention that somebody else gets the matchup Georgia wants. However it happens, Georgia needs a receiving threat who forces defenses to account for him before the ball is even snapped.

The Bulldogs do not necessarily need one receiver to dominate the box score every Saturday. In fact, Georgia’s offense probably works best when the football is distributed among several capable players.

Balance only becomes truly dangerous when defenses fear what happens if they lean too heavily in one direction. Georgia has plenty of receivers it likes.

Now it needs one that opposing defenses dislike.

That is a much more important designation than WR1.

Jump To Today’s Discussion Thread