Tight ends: Led by Orson Charles, strong UGA legacy poised to continue
We’re about one month away from the start of preseason football practices in Athens, so it’s time to take a closer look at Georgia’s 2011 football team. This is the third in a series during which we will break down each of the Bulldogs’ position groups to give you an idea of who the projected starters are and what the expectations might be. Then as always, we’ll throw it open for your commentary and analysis. There are only 60 days until Georgia’s season opener against Boise State. Time to get busy. . . .
There aren't many tight ends that can match the speed and athleticism of Georgia's Orson Charles, who promises to be a primary target for the Bulldogs this season. (AJC photo by Brant Sanderlin)
THE TIGHT ENDS:
- Projected starters: Orson Charles (Jr., 6-3, 241), Aron White (Sr., 6-4, 239)
- Others to watch: Sophomore Arthur Lynch (6-5, 272), who played as a true freshman, returns to action after a redshirt season and gives the Bulldogs some extra thump on running downs. True freshman Jay Rome will likely get some looks on offense and special teams.
- Key losses: The Bulldogs moved senior Bruce Figgins, a former starter at tight end, to fullback in the spring to shore up depth in the backfield.
- Key fact: Georgia has produced an enormous amount of tight end talent for the NFL, including Leonard Pope, Ben Watson, Randy McMichael, Jermaine Wiggins and several others. That legacy seems poised to continue.
- Key fact II: White has already graduated and was actually selected to be a student speaker at graduation ceremonies in December. He’s a team leader and probably underrated as a football player.
- Key question: Does Charles become the primary target for quarterback Aaron Murray? The two have played together since they were at Plant High in Tampa and the Bulldogs lost their go-to guy early to the NFL in wide receiver A.J. Green. It could argued that Charles, who has averaged 16.2 yards per catch the last two seasons, has been under-utilized with 49 receptions and 5 TDs in 26 games. He won’t be under-utilized this season.
- Recent developments: Georgia’s problems on the offensive line could actually translate into more dependence on this position. In a pro-style offense, it’s never certain whether the tight end is going to block or run a pass route. The Bulldogs can move Murray around in the backfield and hit Charles and White on quick patterns and keep outside linebackers and defensive ends on their heels. Don’t forget about the 6-6, 250-pound Rome. The AJC Super 11 selection out of Valdosta was ranked the No. 1 prospect in the nation at his position by ESPN and is expected to be a huge pass-catching threat. He will also be given the opportunity to show his stuff.
- Outlook: Excellent. This is unquestionably the strongest position on the team.
- Your turn: Your thoughts on the tight ends?
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256 comments Add your comment
Joey
July 5th, 2011
11:58 am
Wow! Sorry you missed last year’s Auburn offense – never in my life have I seen a more un-scripted offense. And I don’t think Urban Myer ran a “scripted offense” last season to once again defeat a more talented UGA.
I don’t think you could call the early days of Mark Richt’s UGA run, “scripted” either. Hurry up offense, trick, yes “trick” plays, reverses, double reverses, etc.
Give me a W. That’s my only wish. How the coach gets it done means nothing to me – pass 80% of the time or 20%. Draw plays in the dirt. Doesn’t matter. Whatever it takes to get the W.
kody
July 5th, 2011
11:59 am
3049 yards , 24 tds only 8 ints, and he’s too short to play in the SEC?
1 Freshman in SEC history who has passed for more yards than Aaron Murray did in 2010, when the Georgia QB piled up 3,049 passing yards. In 2000, Kentucky QB Jared Lorenzen set the SEC freshman mark with 3,687.
Murray is still too short to see over his line and Richt would still kick a field goal on 4th and inches inside the 5
July 5th, 2011
12:05 pm
That about sums it up for another season of sorrow.
moleman
July 5th, 2011
12:05 pm
Lex, you agreed with me…CMR won with Donnan’s recruits…i’m back in the doublewide…now what?? maybe i’ll replay UGAG vs UCF for giggles!!!
Contractor
July 5th, 2011
12:15 pm
I’ve been saying it for two years now that we have a under-utilized weapon in Orson Charles. The guy is big, fast, and athletic. He can run past the linebacker, and is bigger and just as fast as most secondaries. Bobo is a complete incompetent idiot if he doesn’t realize what he has in Charles. I understand I am just a fan, and not a coach in the practices, games, or situations during a game, but watching in the stands and on TV has its advantages as well. Seeing Charles being clutch in the LSU game as a Freshmen let me know he has the tools as a big time target. He reminds me a lot of the athleticism of Aaron Hernandez at Florida, and Georgia needs to use his big muscular body just like Florida used Hernandez. Split him out and let him stretch the field as a receiver, put Jay Rome in to block, and you have another set of plays. The scouting report on Rome says he’s a much better blocker, so it works.
Charles will only add the the elite tight ends Georgia if Bobo opens up his game plan and gets his athletes the ball, instead of run up the middle, run to the right, pass in the flats, run left. Very easy playing arm chair quarterback, but it seems as if half the fans scout better than some of these coaches, and that’s pretty pathetic by any standard I believe. Get Charles and Branden Smith the ball in space, and then see what Crowell, Nick Marshall, and Malcolm Mitchell can do with it.
oldguy
July 5th, 2011
12:18 pm
@kody- Come on dude. On one side you have AJ Green on the other side you had maybe the 2nd tallest receiver in the conference. Throw in the talent of Orson Charles and almost any QB can have those numbers. Joe Cox threw to the tune of 2500 yards to those guys. I’m not knocking Murray if you really read what I said previously. I’m saying the scheme needs to change to bring out his talent. We started putting him in the shotgun more after the first four games last year so he could read his check downs better. The fact is that he can’t throw over the middle which puts tremendous pressure on the o-line and running game. Square hole round peg. Throw all the stats about Murray at me you want there is only one stat that matters 6-7.
Silly Rabbit
July 5th, 2011
12:33 pm
UGA Insider
July 5th, 2011
11:57 am
I think CMR has 2 more years in the tank tops.
Wow, you are a bit of an insider! How long do you think he has with the boxer shorts? or does he wear briefs? I really want to know. give it to me Insider!
WDE
July 5th, 2011
12:36 pm
@Silly Rabbit your name speaks volumes…..
bulldogmaniac
July 5th, 2011
12:37 pm
Charles will be a stud this year!
Ron Smith
July 5th, 2011
12:38 pm
UGA will lose to: Florida, Auburn, Tennessee, Boise State, South Carolina, Mississippi State
Toss up: Kentucky
UGA will beat: Ole Miss, Coastal Carolina, Vanderbilt, Georgia Tech, New Mexico State Coach Richt will be fired
AltamahaDawg
July 5th, 2011
12:41 pm
NO, I saw Auburn, and I thought it went well, but not because they were so unpredictable. I also believe the UGA offense wold have looked considereable different had it be run by NewtonType.
I realize that Urban Scrambled around last year but that was purely out of freustration. I’m sure he would have said that. No way would he prefer to look liek he did last year. And yes, he beat Georgia, so? is that the standard you are looking for. helter skelter offense that could barely beat Georgia’s worst team in years? AND FWIW, they were below UGA in pretty much all offensive categories on the year. So that wasn’t a very effective plan. Am positive Urban would have prefered what he had the 4 yrs prior and I can Darn sure predict what they were doing most of the time. Is Alabama unpredictable? ARe they fooling anyone? NO, you know exactly what they are doing and they do it well. Thats how you win. Dod what you do. Not do what you don’t do.
Did you find our offense to be too predictable and boring in the UF game as the reason we lost since you brought it up? As I stated before TE Charles had over 100 yrds.
honest_abe
July 5th, 2011
12:46 pm
alt: “And yes, he beat Georgia, so? is that the standard you are looking for. helter skelter offense that could barely beat Georgia’s worst team in years?”
ugh. sounds like tech fans every year they lose. no bueno.
kody
July 5th, 2011
12:49 pm
Its ludacris to say Murray can’t throw over the middle.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cjimTtqv70
Joey
July 5th, 2011
12:54 pm
“the UGA offense wold have looked considereable different had it be run by NewtonType”
****************************************
Oh yeah. Old Cam woulda got 12 catches for 109 yds at tight end at UGA . . .
WDE
July 5th, 2011
12:58 pm
@Ron Smith well I guess we should just cancel the season as you have it all figured out..
Joey
July 5th, 2011
1:01 pm
“And yes, he beat Georgia, so? is that the standard you are looking for.”
*********************************************
Beating other teams? Um . . . . . .yeah. Winning. You think UF fans are concerned that the Gators’ offense looked “helter skelter?”
No, I expect Gator fans feel just like me. Winning pretty counts no differently than winning ugly.
AltamahaDawg
July 5th, 2011
1:02 pm
My point being: his offense was so bad, the only good thing it did was beat our even worse offense, (pretty much on mis-cues) is not exactly screaming to me, “so lets be more like that”.
I’d be a lot more in favor of using an example like: When we took that ol boring Bobo scripted offense down to J’ville in 2007, and beat Urban’s ultra creative Tebow driven machine with it. It’s execution, not squiggly lines from page 273 in the playbook that is the answer.
AltamahaDawg
July 5th, 2011
1:08 pm
I am guessing that the UF fans were very happy to beat Georgia on that day. I am also guessing if you asked them if they ever want to go back to the type of offense they had last year on the whole, not many of them would vote for it.
You are making 2 seperate points. Using last years UF offense as an example of that you want the Georgia offense to look like going forward is just not making your original one very well.
AltamahaDawg
July 5th, 2011
1:10 pm
The joke about Cam as TE was excellent though.
sandman053
July 5th, 2011
1:13 pm
lol Altamaha, it was good huh? I’m not an Auburn fan at all (especially after last year) but I feel bad for that kid who lost his mother this weekend. Senseless and shameful! Things can go good or bad with him, but hopefully he will turn out more like Warrick Dunn.
Joey
July 5th, 2011
1:15 pm
Dang, Altamaha, I have never, ever called Richt/Bobo’s offense boring. My criticism is that our game plans and playcalling is too predictable.
Just win.
AltamahaDawg
July 5th, 2011
1:17 pm
yea, that was a shocker. You hate that for him, the rest of his family, his hometown, and the Auburn folks too.
Joey
July 5th, 2011
1:18 pm
“The joke about Cam as TE was excellent though.”
**********************************
I’m saving this. I got a compliment from AltamahaDawg!!
mgdawg
July 5th, 2011
1:21 pm
There was a post I read somewhere last year, that bobo’s offense has scored more points and the average per game has increased compared to when richt ran the offense. Last year I don’t know if that remained true, but it is something to think about. As many have said, when richt called plays he had the luxury of BVG defense that simply didn’t allow the opposing offense to score.
The main problem with the offense is consistency, and I think a lot of this is due to not sticking with what is working. How many times have we seen a running back get hot, then the next series they are no where to be found? How many times last year did we see a hand off on first down go for nothing or negative yardage, while murray is terrorizing the team with the passing game? First and foremost stick with what works. The next thing that kills the offense is the inability to get 1-2 yards on the ground when they need it. I would rather the offense be 3rd and goal from the 6 then 3rd and goal from the 1. Hopefully new strength and conditioning and the addition of crowell and figgins will change that.
kody
July 5th, 2011
1:22 pm
Ron, May I have some of that money you’ll be handing out this season?
Hard Truth Soldier
July 5th, 2011
1:24 pm
How could a team with this much talent have any problems at all? Is Phil Steele, Lindy’s, Sporting News,and several other publications wrong in there assessment of talent? UGA has 3 TE’s ( Charles,Lynch, and now Rome were all top #1’s or #2’s by P. Steele in there respective classes) and White was like #10 in his class. This cannot and should not be a problem with talent at this caliber. Dawg fans you should expect nat’l championships, like those hicks next door in Alabama.Three to four yeas down the line when we see all them striving in the NFL, we’re all gonna be saying why was these guys not used more at UGA like this. It’s gonna come down to one thing. . . Coaching!
AltamahaDawg
July 5th, 2011
1:28 pm
Alright friend. Fair enough. Seems to be splitting hairs to me but okay. Not boring, just predictable. Not major changes, just a completely different philosophy.
We actually agree more than we don’t about the offense. Basically it’s just not getting it done on the whole, when it counts.
I just personally do not think it the plays called, it the plays played. And that goes back to the winter, and over the break, and into camp. By Saturday, its a done deal. You’re just not “calling” unpredictably to cover IF the basic stuff isn’t working. NO idea what the issue is with execution, but they need to figure it out.
But Give me the very predictable offense that beat UF in 2007, and keep the 3 headed QB UF offense that outlasted our self destruction last year ANY day.
AltamahaDawg
July 5th, 2011
1:31 pm
Cam would have got over 20 reception and 400 yrds. No soup for you!
DawginLex
July 5th, 2011
1:34 pm
and while you are at it moleman, pop in the tapes of clempson’s last ACC title. They will have a 8 track to go along with it for the music
Tech Sucks
July 5th, 2011
1:38 pm
I’ve never seen a team so stacked with TE’s.
Boyd Hargraves
July 5th, 2011
1:39 pm
What makes you think Orson won’t be under-utilized this season? Did we get a new Offensive Coordinator. Mark it down. OC WILL be under-utilized, and Bobo will drag our beloved Coach Richt down with the ship. … It didn’t have to be this way, but Richt was in an impossible situation. He can’t fire Bobo. He married into the Dooley family. I hate it, but Richt didn’t have the cajones to fire a friend and a relative of a legend.
oldguy
July 5th, 2011
1:42 pm
@kody- I watched the first three minutes of your youtube vid and all of those passes over the middle were out of the shotgun. I am talking about from the play action to open up the running lanes.
Angel Soft Toilet Tissue Sales Mgr.
July 5th, 2011
1:43 pm
Auburn has cut their toilet paper order in half for this year.
What are they thinking?
ga gator
July 5th, 2011
1:47 pm
Charles another fine one from my hometown; great kid and great hands (except when he dropped UF’s NC trophy on a recruiting visit).
shankit
July 5th, 2011
1:50 pm
ga gator – That was a classic, dropping the trophy.
By the way, do you have the name of the taxidermist
in Alachua that mounted your mascot on display in
your sky boxes?
Joey
July 5th, 2011
1:53 pm
Maybe, like you write regularly, our 2nd year QB, who I just love, will do better with the audibles and reads now that he has seen what the SEC will throw at him.
Richt’s first 3 QBs all were excellent readers of defenses. Maybe Murray will prove be their equal. He is at least their equal in toughness, quickness, and foot-speed.
I don’t know how much Richt worries about his coaching future – he seems to not let it get to him. I just bet he feels the best about the QB position since Stafford’s last year.
Oh and Cam woulda gone in the 3rd round!
shankit
July 5th, 2011
1:55 pm
Tide – Glad we don’t have to play ya’ll this season.
Would hate to have your boys poison our hedges.
Paul Fiebaum Talk Radio – Alabama fan call in, “Paul, I jest don’t know
why Auburn wud continue to have engineering classes,
heck, they don’t hardly have any trains running anymore.”
Food Lion Bag Boy
July 5th, 2011
2:04 pm
LOL
I love the optimism from the pup fanbase
THE SAME CRAP EVERY YEAR
Top 10 recruiting classes
Predictable play calling
Underutilization of some the best TE’s in the nation
Another loss to FL even when they are about as worse ever since the 70’s
Another loss to a team you shouldnt have loss to
No running game
And yet all the same pre-season hype crap as usual
You dawg fans have to be the dumbest fans Ive ever seen
but hey you always shoot for the moon with your 10 win season victory dance
LOL
AltamahaDawg
July 5th, 2011
2:09 pm
Nah, he would have screwed up here, same as UF. I don’t think anyone was going to get his best (QB or TE) till he grew up a bit. How much would hat have sucked to HAVE recruited him as a QB and based any plans around him?
WDE
July 5th, 2011
2:18 pm
@Food Lion Bag Boy troll who is your team, I’m sure they are poised to go undefeated ? How do you know we will have no running game did we play a couple of games I missed..you pathetic low life…and it lost to not loss to moron.
AltamahaDawg
July 5th, 2011
2:33 pm
What, No kool-aid?
GA Sandlapper
July 5th, 2011
2:42 pm
UGA = TIGHT END U!! Imagine if Cam Newton would have signed with UGA!!
Food Lion Bag Boy
July 5th, 2011
2:42 pm
WDE
Im your favorite beat down team GO GATORS!!!
Glad we dont put up with mediocrity
Choke Choke Choke, hahahahaha
Hows your DC, still giving the choke sign as a scare tactic or is that just one of your stupid we know whats coming playcalls
WDE
July 5th, 2011
2:49 pm
@Food Lion Bag Boy riddle me this, your HC has yet to win a game as a HC, your OC has destroyed every college program he has been a part of along with every buffet he has come across. Your return a defense that a freshman QB came back on and took to O.T…and your talking crap…oh and how is that award winning QB of yours doing? Newsflash there slimy CUM’s gone…your pinning your hopes on the rotund and the unproven…..stay turned this is going to be classic.
Joey
July 5th, 2011
2:49 pm
I don’t blame you nerd.
Your posting name was probably st simons, RambleOn!!!, Yellow Fuzz, etc before your latest losing streak began a couple of seasons back . . .
Hell, if I was a Techie, I’d consider lying too . . .
kody
July 5th, 2011
2:55 pm
Olddawg, shows you should watch the games a little closer.
Food Lion Bag Boy
July 5th, 2011
3:05 pm
WDE
Riddle me this
Ron Zook fired
Ron Zook 2-1 against Richt
Ron Zook lost to UGA the week he was fired, big win there
We would still beat you with
Tommy Bowden
Tyrone Willingham
AltamahaDawg
July 5th, 2011
3:10 pm
oh yea, tech fan.
JB
July 5th, 2011
3:10 pm
Whiskey Breath @11:54 ask if Richt knew how to use a TE…………Check with the NFL Whiskey………..I believe he has had 6 or 7 drafted in 10 years……..They weren’t drafted for sitting on the bench day dreaming…….They EXCELLED at TE in a Pro type offense….GEEZ.
DC
July 5th, 2011
3:13 pm
anyone read that Finebaum caller quote in a country accent in your head?…