The good problem Georgia is trying to address after season opener

ATHENS — It didn’t take long to validate the talent in the Georgia tight end room.

Elyiss Williams scored a touchdown on his first touch of the season. Jaden Reddell did the same. The latter also had a touchdown wiped away, which was even more impressive than either of the touchdowns that counted.

“Our tight end room’s amazing,” Georgia safety KJ Bolden said. “Coach (Todd) Hartley does a great job with them guys, and then them guys, they worked their tail off. That’s probably one of the hardest-working groups we’ve got in the program right there because the way them guys just push each other, it’s crazy.”

It’s no surprise that Georgia’s tight end room is the talk of the offense after the way it performed. The tight ends combined for six receptions, 100 yards and 3 touchdowns against Tennessee State. Consider that through the first four games of last season, the room had a total of seven receptions, 105 yards and a single touchdown.

It’s a strong start for a group that has a claim as the most talented position room in all of college football.

Senior Lawson Luckie, the leader in the room, didn’t even record a catch in the season opener. That was on Kirby Smart’s mind after the game.

Along with making sure to spread the wealth across the position.

“I thought we could have got Lawson more involved,” Smart said on Saturday. “I mean, he’s had a good camp. But I mean, some of that tight end room is just, they have to learn to share. And they have so much respect for each other. They’re such good weapons that it can’t be about individuals in that room. It has to be about the production of a unit, and a unit can grow that.”

Luckie and Ethan Barbour got the start for Georgia against Tennessee State.

Yet from a production standpoint, they had just one reception. Barbour should’ve had a better day. A possible touchdown didn’t come to be after Ryan Puglisi’s pass hit a Tennessee State defender in the head, instead of an open Barbour.

On the next pass attempt, Barbour had a drop that led to a failed field goal attempt.

Heading into Western Kentucky, it wouldn’t be a shock to see Georgia try to get both more involved from a pass-catching standpoint.

As for Reddell, he’s quickly gone from a name Georgia fans were excited to see to a known entity by the entire college football landscape.

The Bulldogs have long known what they have in Reddell. He’s consistently been mentioned as one of the best athletes on the team.

“Jaden, he’s a freak athlete, I’d say,” Williams said. “I think I walked into the gym, and, like, he called my name and he just went baseline and did like a 360 windmill.”

As much has been made about the tight end production in terms of receptions, Georgia counts on them as perimeter blockers. If Georgia is able to rip off explosive runs, as Nate Frazier did on his first two carries last week, the Bulldogs are going to be an incredibly difficult offense to stop.

Williams has consistently earned praise for his blocking ability. Luckie wanted to add 10 pounds to his frame to better hold up as a blocker.

The biggest reason Georgia feels more comfortable playing Reddell is because of the improvements he made as a blocker.

“It didn’t happen right away. I’ll be honest with you: He wasn’t what he needed (to be),” Smart said. “He wasn’t ready to block. He would tell you he wasn’t physically ready. He wasn’t mentally ready. He had so many things. It was a shock to go play the speed. But he never pouted, he never whined.”

Many will hope that Reddell gets a chance to do his next Brock Bowers impression this coming week against Western Kentucky.

For as great as Bowers was during his time in Athens, he wasn’t the only talented tight end in Todd Hartley’s room. Darnell Washington, John FitzPatrick and Oscar Delp all made big plays during Bowers’ three seasons in college.