Georgia junior receiver Marlon Brown has made a lot of progress this
preseason according to coaches.If Marlon Brown blew a route, block or catch during his first two seasons as a Georgia receiver, it wasn’t the world’s biggest deal.
The Bulldogs had the always acrobatic A.J. Green to make the offense go, and the reliable Kris Durham kept things steady a year ago. It’s different this season for Brown, the 6-foot-5, 222-pound junior from Memphis, and he knows it.
“A.J. is gone and Durham is gone, and I feel like it’s my time to step up and make some plays,” Brown said Monday night after practice. “It’s not really as much about the pressure being on me as it is knowing that they’re not here anymore and that I can’t depend on them to come back and make plays. I feel like I have waited my time and that I’m a lot more confident.”
Brown had 11 receptions for 133 yards and a touchdown last season but didn’t have any in the last seven regular-season games with the exception of a threecatch effort against Idaho State. He ranks third among Georgia’s returning players in receptions behind Tavarres King and tight end Orson Charles and has followed a solid G-Day spring game with an even better preseason.
Asked this past weekend which player stood out the most during the first two weeks of practice, offensive coordinator Mike Bobo singled out Brown.