The wide-receiver position is in flux for Georgia’s football team this spring, given the graduation of last season’s top two receivers and the departure of the long-time position coach.
Moving on were Michael Bennett and Chris Conley, who caught a combined 73 passes last season, and Tony Ball, the receivers coach for six years and a member of the UGA staff for nine years before accepting a job as LSU’s receivers coach in February.
Georgia moved quickly to replace Ball, shifting Bryan McClendon from running-backs coach to receivers coach and hiring former UGA player Thomas Brown from Wisconsin to coach the running backs. But finding players to replace the production of Bennett and Conley will take a while longer.
“We lost a bunch of production,” McClendon said. “We lost guys who played a lot of football and quite frankly have guys who didn’t play as much.”
Georgia’s leading returning receiver is Malcolm Mitchell, who recovered from a 2013 knee injury (torn ACL) to play in nine games and start three last year. He caught 31 passes for 248 yards last season and has been impressive throughout spring practice, including Thursday.
No other returning wide receiver caught more than six passes last season.
“When it’s all said and done, I’ve got to come up with about seven or eight guys who I think can play winning football,” McClendon said. “Whether they are freshmen or walk-ons or seniors, it’s kind of up to those guys to compete on the field and decide.”
Coach Mark Richt has expressed concern about the number of passes dropped in practices this spring, but he indicated there has been gradual improvement in that area.
McClendon has seen some good things from his unit.
“Malcolm Mitchell has made a lot of strides. Isaiah McKenzie is having a very good spring. Reggie Davis has continued to improve and is having a very good spring,” McClendon said. “Justin (Scott-Wesley) has come a long ways as well, but he still has a little more ways to go, really just getting confidence back in his game and in his body and being able to get back to old form a little bit.”
Scott-Wesley started four of Georgia’s first five games in 2013 before a torn ACL ended his season. He returned to play in six games last season, none of them starts.
The competition for playing time will continue into the summer, when three 2015 signees will join the group of receivers, including five-star recruit Terry Godwin.
As for his own change of coaching assignments, McClendon, a Georgia receiver in 2002-05, said: “It feels like I’m back at home.”
Etc.: The Bulldogs on Thursday held their final practice before the G-Day intra-squad game, which is set for 2 p.m. Saturday in Sanford Stadium. … Richt described Thursday's practice as "kind of a sloppy day for the offense" with "too many decisions by the quarterbacks that put the ball in harm's way." He said the defense "practiced harder today, quite frankly." … The practice was followed by the team's annual spring banquet Thursday night. … Tailback Keith Marshall, who returned to practice Tuesday after missing time with a hamstring injury, was a full participant again Thursday. … Outside linebacker Leonard Floyd, sidelined this spring after shoulder surgery, should be 100 percent by June, assistant coach Kevin Sherrer said.
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