ATHENS — Oscar Delp and Jalon Walker have been going at it since they stepped foot on campus at Georgia.
Juniors now, they are opposing forces on Woodruff Practice Fields. Delp is a tight end by way of Cumming who has been awaiting patiently his chance to step out of the considerable shadow cast by three-time All-American Brock Bowers. Walker is an outside linebacker, mostly, who also has been biding his time behind former standouts such as Nolan Smith and Marvin Jones Jr.
Both of them weigh 245 pounds. Because of their similar size and respective positions, they’ve found themselves pitted against each other in drills and scrimmages.
During this year’s preseason camp, that’s mostly as “1s versus 1s.”
The battles have gotten only more monumental. The stakes are higher than ever. Both are considered breakout players and will need to be with the enormous expectations surrounding a team that’s the consensus choice as preseason No. 1.
If Delp and Walker come through like the Bulldogs expect, it will be in large part because of the individual wars they’ve waged in practices.
“He’s one of the most competitive guys on the team,” Delp said of Walker, who came to Georgia as a 5-star recruit from Salisbury, North Carolina, as the No. 2 prospect in that state, according to the 247Sports Composite. “He doesn’t like to lose; I don’t like to lose. We always kind of get matched up with each other.”
“He’s become a very vocal leader for our offense,” Walker said of Delp. “Being in that position of replacing Brock, I feel like he’s just stepping up in that role. He’s been doing a tremendous job.”
Walker has been a tough guy to pin down. He arrived in Athens labeled as an inside linebacker, mainly because of his 6-foot-2 frame. But he played almost exclusively on the edge in high school. He has cross-trained at inside and outside — Jack linebacker, Georgia calls its edge position — since arriving in the Class of 2021.
The Bulldogs have had established starters since Walker showed up. But while that may have kept him out of a starring role, it hasn’t kept Walker off the field. He participated in all 29 games Georgia played the past two seasons, and last season, he led the Bulldogs with 26 quarterback pressures.
Georgia no longer is forcing the issue. While Walker still works daily with coach Glenn Schumann and the Bulldogs’ inside linebackers, he also spends extended periods with outside linebackers coach Chidera Uzo-Diribe.
With Walker entering his third season, the Bulldogs appear to have settled on playing a game within the game — “guess where No. 11 is this play.”
“I just call myself a ‘hybrid linebacker,” Walker said before Tuesday’s practice. “I’m playing on the edge and in the box as well. … Before I got here I never played inside linebacker, so I feel like I’ve grown tremendously there throughout my time here. But the edge is my natural habitat.”
Delp is similar in that he didn’t play much tight end at West Forsyth High School. He was just a wideout. Granted, then at 6-4, 225 pounds, a really big one. Now he’s 6-5 and fully 245 pounds, maybe more. And Delp’s game has grown with his physique.
This past week, tight ends coach Todd Hartley said of Delp’s development as a blocker: “Probably one of the best I’ve coached in the run game as far as just footwork and hand placement and pad level. … Freshman year to now, obviously, he’s bigger and stronger, but he’s always been really good at the point of attack.”
Such praise lands on Delp like a cool shot of water in the middle of one of the Bulldogs’ steaming hot practices in preseason camp.
“When I came here, I had no clue about the run game,” Delp said with a grin. “I was basically a receiver. But you realize quickly there’s going to be guys you have to block that are bigger and stronger than you. You have to beat that with technique and angles.”
Hence, the many battles that Delp and Walker have waged over these past three years.
“He’s a really strong dude,” Delp said of Walker. “You look at him and you can tell that. You just have to bring your best every rep, and that’s how we both get better, doing that every single day.”
Neither Delp nor Walker will have to go it alone. There is talent around them. Georgia already had Lawson Luckie and had signed touted freshmen Jaden Reddell and Colton Heinrich in the Class of 2024 when the Bulldogs landed All-Pac-12 tight end Ben Yurosek from the transfer portal.
The hope is that Georgia’s tight ends can come close to replacing the 56 receptions Bowers piled up last season.
Though currently sidelined with a hamstring injury, senior Chaz Chambliss has been a stalwart at Jack linebacker for the Bulldogs the past two seasons. Georgia signed Sam M’Pemba, Gabe Harris and Damon Wilson last year, and freshman signee Quintavius Johnson has been one of the bigger surprises of the 2024 preseason.
Senior Smael Mondon and sophomores CJ Allen and Raylen Wilson are doing a fine job of manning the middle at linebacker. But somewhere among the defensive 11, there is going to be a place for No. 11.
“With Jalon, we have to expand his role because he’s a talented player, and the best way to expand his role is to continue to develop him as a hybrid player,” Schumann said last week. “You know, maximizing his opportunities to do what he does best. He’s actually really improved in both areas.”
The same goes for No. 4 on offense. Their daily battles help prepare them for those roles.
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