The Countdown 2011: 80 Days to Go

Tight End U

During the 1980's and early 1990's, many fans liked to call Georgia Tailback U. From Herschel Walker to Garrison Hearst and Terrell Davis, the Dawgs always seemed to have a great player at the running back position. While Georgia has had good players consistently at a number of positions in recent years, the tight end position has been extremely strong.

When Coach Richt arrived in Athens, he already had a great tight end in Randy McMichael. When McMichael moved onto the NFL, Benjamin Watson (who began his career at Duke) took over and after two successful seasons moved on to the New England Patriots. The next great Georgia tight end was Leonard Pope, who became a hero to Georgia fans after catching two touchdown passes in 2004 victory over Florida. After the Dawgs won the SEC in 2005, Pope moved on and Matrez Milner became starting tight end. Milner performed well enough to get drafted by the Atlanta Falcons. Ironically, one of Georgia's best teams of the decade (2007) failed to feature an NFL tight end. Tripp Chandler had some drop issues, but would still have been a starter at most SEC schools.

And that leads up to the group of tight ends currently at Georgia, which may be the strongest tight end group in the country. The group is so strong that Bruce Figgins was able to move to fulback this year. Orson Charles is poised for an All-American season and senior Aron White would start at almost any school in the country. Artie Lynch is coming off a redshirt season and we haven't even seen Jay Rome in a bulldog uniform yet. Georgia truly has become tight end U in college football.

2011 Recruiting Wrap Up: Assessing the Depth Chart - WR and TE

The dawgs picked up 5 players who are expected to have big impact in the passing game. Here are a look at the wide receiver and tight end depth charts.



Depth Chart - Wide Receiver
1. Tavarres King, Redshirt Junior
2. Marlon Brown, Junior
3. Malcolm Mitchell, Freshman
4. Rantavious Wooten, Junior
5. Israel Troupe, Redshirt Junior
6. Michael Bennet, Redshirt Freshman
7. Chris Conley, Freshman
8. Justin Scott-Wesley, Freshman
9. Sanford Seay, Freshman

Analysis
With the departure of AJ Green and Kris Durham, the only spot that appears to be guaranteed is Taverres King's. Marlon Borwn came in as a five star recruit, but has failed to live up to the hype at this point. I think he will be given every chance to start and will most likely hold that job come opening day. After that, it is a wide open race. Wooten showed flashes in 2009 but almost completely disappeared last fall. Minus one touchdown catch against Auburn, Israel Troupe's career has been almost non-existent. And I have heard much about Michael Bennett. As for the incoming freshman, I expect at least two of the four to see playing time this fall. Malcolm Mitchell appears to have the talent to make an impact soon. Chris Conley enrolled early and will have a leg up on the other guys. Scott-Wesley may see action as well. I fully expect Seay to redshirt.

Depth Chart - Tight End
1. Orson Charles, Junior
2. Aron White, Redshirt Senior
3. Arthur Lynch, Redshirt Sophomore
4. Jay Rome, Freshman

Analysis
I originally expect Jay Rome to redshirt this fall, but with the permanent move of Bruce Figgins to fullback, my outlook has changed. i expect we will see a lot of multi tight end sets, particularly with Orson Charles lined up as more of a slot receiver than a tight end. Figgins was the best blocking tight end on the roster, so if Rome shows his blocking skills off early, he may pass Lynch for playing time.

The Countdown 2010: 78 Days to Go

78: Leonard Pope, Tight End #81 (2003-2005)

It has been very exciting to write this countdown and today, I have the privilege of not only writing about one of the finest Tight End's UGA has featured, but I get write about one of my hometown hero's and old friends, Leonard Pope. Leonard, like myself, was a graduate of Americus High School, where he led the AHS Panthers to consecutive AA State Championships in 2000 and 2001 playing TE and Free Safety. It made a lot of people very happy and proud to see Leonard commit to the University of Georgia, as our little Southwest Georgia town had not seen one of our own go to Athens to play Football in quite sometime. This pride only grew as Leonard's accomplishments grew, eventually becoming a Damn Good Dawg.

Leonard arrived at UGA in 2003 after spending one year at Hargrave Military Academy. He earned playing time as a Freshman, only catching one pass but was a physical mis-match with his 6' 8" frame and excellend speed. As the starting TE in 2004, his season started slowly and his breakout came in Jacksonville, catching David Greene's first two touchdown passes in the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail party. Leonard didn't slow down after that, earning 1st Team All-SEC honors in both 2004 and 2005 by catching 64 passes for 1023 yards and 10 TD's over those two seasons. He bypassed his senior year of college, becoming a 3rd round draft choice of the Arizona Cardinals.

I've known Leonard since elementary school and it has been a pleasure to see him grow both on and off the field. It was always great to see him around campus at UGA and share stories with people at football games about his former exploits on both the basketball court and Finklea-Robinson Field from back home. His hard work and determination got him to UGA when many others would have quit, eventually becoming a major cog for the 2005 SEC Champions.

The Countdown 2010: 94 Days to Go

94: Troy Sadowski, Tight End #98 (1985 – 1988)

Recent years have seen a number of great tight ends come out of Athens, including current stars Aron White and Orson Charles. During Vince Dooley’s final seasons as the Georgia head coach, Georgia had its first tight end reach All-American status. Troy Sadowski was a four year starter under coach Dooley. Sadowksi was known mostly for his blocking skills, as he helped clear holes for All-American tailback Tim Worley.

Sadowski was also sure handed as a pass catcher. Despite not having many passes thrown to him, he accumulated 42 catches for 493 yards and 4 touchdowns during his Bulldog career. He was the anchor of a senior class that went to 4 straight bowl games, including a victory in the Gator Bowl in Vince Dooley’s last Game. He was named to the Walter Camp All-American team following his senior season.



Sadowski was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the 6th round of the 1989 NFL Draft. He played for 9 seasons with 6 different teams (Atlanta, Kansas City, Cincinnati, New York Jets, Jacksonville, and Pittsburgh) before retiring after the 1998 season. He finished his career with 23 receptions for 152 yards.