ATHENS, Ga. – After playing behind Jeb Blazevich for some of his Georgia career and behind Isaac Nauta for most of it, Charlie Woerner is the Bulldogs’ clear-cut starting tight end entering his senior season.
He is not lacking for those who believe in him.
“I think Charlie has a really good skill set,” first-year Georgia offensive coordinator James Coley said earlier this month, “and I think who he is as a person makes him a better competitor because he wants to be that good. We know who he is as a person, and we know how he competes.
“He was probably the highest-percentage catcher for us last year at 90%, so we’ll see how he does.”
The nephew of former Georgia cornerback and 2018 College Football Hall of Fame inductee Scott Woerner has played in 39 games for the Bulldogs and has even made five starts. He has starts against Auburn (2017), Florida (2018) and LSU (2018), but that was when Nauta was recognized as the unquestioned headliner at that position.
Nauta and Woerner were fellow 2016 signees, but Nauta chose to bypass his senior season and was taken by the Detroit Lions in the seventh round of the NFL draft this past spring, leaving Woerner as the veteran heading into Saturday night’s opener at Vanderbilt.
“It’s a little different in that I’m a senior, but I’m really trying to treat it like any other game,” Woerner said this week. “I would like to think more about that I can be there for the younger players and can help them. I’ve tried to be there for them throughout this entire training process.”
Georgia has another proven tight end with graduate transfer Eli Wolf, but all of his game experience as a college player has been at Tennessee. The Bulldogs also have redshirt freshman John FitzPatrick, who played in two games last season, and true freshmen Ryland Goede and Brett Seither at the position.
Goede enrolled early but has been limited by injuries both in the spring and the preseason.
Woerner is Georgia’s only tight end currently on the roster to catch a pass for the Bulldogs. He has just 23 career receptions for 271 yards and has yet to reach the end zone, but junior quarterback Jake Fromm expects a breakout season for the 6-foot-5, 245-pounder from Rabun County in the Peach State’s northeast corner.
“Charlie is one guy on the offense who has really stepped up and really taken his game to the next level,” Fromm said this week. “He is winning on man coverage right now and is catching the ball extremely well. He’s running faster and he’s blocking better, and obviously that’s what I like to see as a quarterback.
“He’s doing great and is leading those guys in his room. He’s affecting guys on the offense all over the place.”
Woerner has heard for months that tight end could be a weak link on an otherwise promising offense. He is ready to erase those doubts, starting with Saturday night.
“I think we’re really ready for the season, to be honest with you,” he said. “We’re solid in the blocking game and in the passing game. I think we can help out the offense.”
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.