How JT Daniels can turn a wide receiver from a weakness into a position of strength for Georgia

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How a solid quarterback changes the course of the Great Receiving Hall

While the quarterback was the most worrying position for Georgia in terms of needed improvement, the wide receiver was not far behind.

George Pickens had his flashes at the end of the 2019 season, but once Dominick Blaylock injured his knee at the end of the fall camp season, the position was in question again. Kearis Jackson had some great games against Auburn and Tennessee. The game arrived in Alabama and the teams began to pinch him.

The nadir came against Kentucky when Georgia wide receivers caught just four passes for 36 yards.

So to see players like Pickens, Jermaine Burton and Demetris Robertson have all of their most productive games of the season in JT Daniels’ debut only adds to the excitement Daniels brings to the offense.

Jackson didn’t have a bad game either, as he landed the winning touchdown pass on a 3rd and 20th pitch from Daniels.

“George made me look good, Jermaine made me look good, Kearis makes me look really good when I throw a ball deep in the middle and he makes a great play,” Daniels said after Saturday’s game.

Related: Kirby Smart: ‘Lots of room for improvement’ for SEC JT Daniels Award winners, Jermaine Burton

Saturday showed that with the right player at the quarterback, Georgia receivers are capable of playing, especially the downstream games that players like Alabama, Clemson and Ohio State seem to produce so often.

And if Daniels is able to continue to thrive, the wide receiver position may soon turn from a worrying position to outright strength for Georgia this season and 2021.

“They grow up. Part of what we wanted to improve was the ability to throw the ball and throw the ball vertically down the field and make a few plays, ”said Georgia coach Kirby Smart. “To do that, you have to have the people to make these parts.”

Jackson is still the team’s primary receiver at this point with a record 31 catches for 451 yards. Smart called it a “really good surprise for us”. Part of the reason for Jackson’s emergence is simply the fact that he has been able to stay on the pitch this season.

He missed time in the 2019 season with a broken hand and then an ankle injury to end the season. In addition to his skills as a point guard, Jackson is one of the best blockers in the position and a clear leader for the group of positions.

In discussing Daniels and his performance on Saturday, Jackson used a word that hasn’t often been associated with Georgia’s passing game last season.

“It was a fun time to see your guys go out there and compete mostly in practice and then translate it into the game,” Jackson said.

Whether it’s touchdown passes to Burton or Pickens, it’s clear Daniels’ play has injected some life into the positional squad.

Pickens was a factor early on as he caught a 28-yard pass in Georgia’s first practice. As it seems almost every Georgia receiver over the past two seasons, he’s been bitten by injuries while missing the Kentucky and Florida games with an upper body injury.

But for truly the first time this season, the second-year wide receiver looked like the one who was last year’s Sugar Bowl MVP.

“It’s a big gap. He is improving in the racing game. He’s really physical when he’s blocking, ”said Smart. “He can have an impact on our team as a whole, in terms of the level of energy and enthusiasm when he plays – that gets a lot of guys.

Perhaps the most promising player in the group was Burton, who had more first-half yards against Mississippi State – 149 – than he did in the first six games of his college career.

He finished the first half and started the second half with touchdown catches, revealing some of that potential that so many people have unraveled during the season.

Smart made a point of saying he could improve as a tackle, as all young wide receivers can. But from a talent and mental build standpoint, Smart thinks Burton is also blessed to be a difference maker for the Bulldogs.

“The thing with Jermaine is that he cares. It’s important to him, ”said Smart. “He wants to do these things well, and on top of that he has good abilities. Desire is half of it, ability is the other part, and so is opportunity. He had the opportunity to do plays and he did them when he had the opportunity.

At this point, Burton is the only one of Georgia’s five freshman receivers to really make an impact this season. He was one of three of the top 100 prospects in the 2020 recruiting cycle.

Arian Smith and Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint both saw their first seasons slowed down by the injury bug, which is just another example of how this group has been ravaged.

Related: First-year WR development becomes even more important after Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint injury

But that says a lot about Burton’s raw ability that he’s able to come out and have the fourth-most receiving yards in a game by a Georgia wide receiver in program history as a rookie. .

“There must be something special about you if Coach Smart and Coach Monken and Coach Hankton trust you enough to kick yourself out and go for the ball,” said offensive lineman Jamaree Salyer. “And he did that.

“I hope to see him become that because we can be a really dangerous team if we can get him and George rolling.

Saturday was a real bright spot for the quarterback and wide receiver, as Daniels and Burton demonstrated as the SEC Player of the Week honors. You don’t want to put too much stock in a game, but it’s hard not to be encouraged by what has happened and what the future might hold for this group.

Jackson, Pickens and Burton will all be back with the team next season. Georgia will also get Blaylock, Rosemy-Jacksaint and Smith back to good health, with Smith having a chance to do so this season. Of those six names listed, all were in the top 150 rookies, showing that the raw skills are there.

And now that they have a quarterback – who for at least one game has shown he can put the ball on the money – Georgia could have a shot at having one of those vertical passing attacks that all have the best college football teams.

As for 2020, Georgia will use the remainder of this season to build what could be a very powerful offense. If the results continue to resemble those of Saturday night, people might regularly throw up the fun word to describe the Georgia crossing offense.

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