New offensive coordinator Jim Chaney pleased with Georgia tight ends

Georgia junior tight end Jeb Blazevich has caught 33 passes for 413 yards through his first two seasons with the Bulldogs.
Georgia junior tight end Jeb Blazevich has caught 33 passes for 413 yards through his first two seasons with the Bulldogs.

Georgia's deepest position group for the upcoming football season will be at tight end, which hasn't disappointed new Bulldogs offensive coordinator Jim Chaney.

Jeb Blazevich, Jordan Davis and Jackson Harris are Georgia's returning tight ends with game experience, and they have been joined by true freshmen Isaac Nauta and Charlie Woerner. Nauta was the top tight end nationally in the 2016 signing class and enrolled in January, while Woerner was a consensus four-star prospect and has Bulldog bloodlines as the nephew of former All-America cornerback Scott Woerner.

"I think it's as deep as any group I've ever been around," Chaney said in a recent news conference. "They have the ability to do a lot of things. They can be in-line blockers. We can detach them and throw them footballs as a wide receiver. They have a unique ability to learn.

"This is a pretty sharp room. You walk into that room, and they have a high aptitude. It doesn't bother them to learn 14 new concepts in a day."

The Bulldogs held their ninth preseason workout Tuesday evening, with freshman quarterback Jacob Eason getting his right shoulder examined during the portion that was open to the media.

Davis is the veteran of the tight ends as a redshirt junior, but the leader is Blazevich, a 6-foot-5, 248-pound junior from Charlotte. Blazevich has compiled 33 receptions for 413 yards and three touchdowns through two seasons, and he has made 22 starts in 26 opportunities.

Blazevich could be working with his third starting quarterback in as many years, and he has been at Georgia long enough to see multiple tailbacks face adversity of some sort.

"We've still recruited, and we feel like we have the pieces in place," Blazevich said. "It's up to us to work hard. I have confidence in all our quarterbacks, and I have confidence in all our running backs. There are a lot of things up in the air and we're still developing our identity, but I couldn't be more proud of the heart and the drive we have been showing."

Georgia was a tight end factory for most of the Mark Richt era, with Randy McMichael, Leonard Pope, Martrez Milner, Orson Charles and Arthur Lynch earning All-SEC first-team honors. Productivity dropped last season, however, with Blazevich actually catching three fewer passes as a sophomore than in his debut year.

The Bulldogs dropped in a lot of offensive categories last season, but now it's Chaney's job to reverse that trend, and he likes the possibilities at his deepest position.

"Other than the quarterback spot, there will be more demand at the tight end position than any other position on our football team," Chaney said. "They have got to learn to be a tackle in the run game and a wideout in the passing game. If I have to play with three tight ends in a game to win, we can. If we've got to play with four wide receivers in a game to win a game, we can.

"In our infant stages here, I'm trying to figure out how many of those wideouts we can win with and how many of those tight ends we can win with. The season is coming up on us pretty quick, but I feel real comfortable with the depth and aptitude in that room."

Not much conversing

Bulldogs first-year head coach Kirby Smart told SiriusXM radio Tuesday that he has not talked much lately with Alabama's Nick Saban, his former boss.

"He is doing what he's got to do to make the University of Alabama the best," Smart said. "I am doing what I have got to do to make the University of Georgia the best. That's ultimately two separate entities, so there is not a lot of conversation back and forth."

Bill Dooley dies

Bill Dooley, younger brother of Vince Dooley and a former head coach at North Carolina, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest, died Tuesday at the age of 82. The younger Dooley compiled a 161-127-5 career record and was an assistant for his older brother at Georgia from 1964 to 1966 before becoming head coach at UNC, where he won three ACC titles.

The two Dooleys met in the Liberty Bowl after the 1971 season, with the Bulldogs defeating the Tar Heels 7-3. Georgia and North Carolina have not played each other since but will collide Sept. 3 at the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic in Atlanta.

Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.

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