Isaac Nauta spoke to the media on Tuesday about the progression of spring camp. He made the comment that he felt like his sophomore campaign made him a better player than his freshman one. Despite not having as many catches, the tight end told the media he felt like he grew more.

Nauta explained that he grew the most with blocks. He felt like without the improvements in blocking, then the Mecole Hardman run in the national championship game would have never happened. Nauta’s a junior now, so it appears that this season could lead to many break out performances from him.

But I think I had a better year overall actually when I did my freshman year, as far as growth, as far as blocking,” Nauta procliams. “So, to some other people might have been like, hey, you didn’t have as many as productive, but you know, for me, I know I got better as a player. So, that’s the way I’ve looked at it and I want to improve on what I did last year and catching the ball and making plays is one of those areas.”

He was the sixth leading receiver for Georgia last season. Nauta appeared in all 15 games, had nine catches for 114 yards and 2 touchdowns. During his freshman season, he was the third leading receiver.  Nauta played in 13 games and started five of those. He had 29 catches for 361 yards and three touchdowns.

Despite having double the catches and yards in his freshman season, Nauta states that he grew more as a player last year. With Jim Chaney now the tight end coach, only time will tell if the tight ends will get more catches. Nauta has all the tools now to have a standout season and its time for him to put it all together.

As one of the most sought-after players in the 2016 class, its almost like he hasn’t met the standard. This season will be a make or break season for him. 2018 signee’s Luke Ford and John Fitzpatrick should come in ready to compete, and if Nauta’s not careful he could lose his job to them or Charlie Woerner and Jackson Harris. Georgia’s got a talented group of tight ends with a lot of competition, so Nauta must take control and keep his spot.