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
Betty Sue Kominski
July 5th, 2011
10:34 pm
Mary, You better leave my husband, Narvie, alone or you’ll be wearing sunglasses like Richt when I black those painted, trampy eyes of yours. If you think Mark plays with his hair alot just wait till I’m through with yours. Go back to Mexico.
Mrs. Seabolt
July 5th, 2011
10:37 pm
Is that you Mary? The same Mary I taught in the fourth grade. Get your hormones under control little girl because you still aren’t too old for me to stripe those legs.
Poss Dog
July 5th, 2011
10:38 pm
This tight end argument has got things in a real STEW!!!!
Narvie
July 5th, 2011
10:39 pm
This conversation is about tight ends Mary so you sure can’t say nothing.
Boise State Booster
July 5th, 2011
10:43 pm
We throw quite a few passes to our tight ends but I’m not sure exactly how many. Could some of you ask Altamaha Dawg to research it or track it for us? Thanks and look forward to a good game.
Dumb Jean shorts
July 5th, 2011
11:16 pm
Hey 1953 dawg,
maybe you should be the coach old man, you know it all!
Charles yr got better and better as year went on…..as a Second yr player!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yo Old man – he will be big time as a junior, then head to NFL. Where did uga go wrong????
Old geezer! Loser fans like you that suck! Negative negative negative……….stop coming and watching losers! Go dawgs!
dapperdanman
July 6th, 2011
4:20 am
Thunder Dome!!!!
This Sept. 3 in Atlanta, we Georgians (and Dawg Fans) have the opportunity to make a statement.
This may be the most pivotal game we play in deciding our outcome this season. Even if we were to win out the remainder of our schedule and win the SEC championship (the best you could hope for after a loss in the opener), we would not play in a National Championship if Boise remained undefeated, or anybody else for that matter, thus ending the SEC streak with the title game. Well this just can’t happen. We must win. Not because we think we should because we are the bigger program from the SEC and that should be enough to win. Not because we think we can play in a National Championship if we do. Our toughest games will be still to come. It is not because they think they will destroy us since they beat Va Tech last year right before James Madison did and “this isn’t the same team we beat in 2005”. It is because… THIS IS OUR HOUSE. THIS IS IN OUR STATE, IN OUR CAPITAL. THIS IS OUR COCA~COLA. THAT IS OUR DAMN CHICKEN SANDWICH. Do they even have Chic-fil-a in Boise?
When Boise St comes to the Georgia Dome to face us, we the fans have a responsibility to do our part to help our team. If you have ever been to the Dome you know how loud it can be. It is our job to make the walls crumble from our thunderous roar!!!!!!!!! Anytime the Boise offense is on the field it is our job to make as much noise as you’ve ever made. STAY ON YOUR FEET between plays still SCREAMING with all your might. STOMP THE GROUND and CLAP YOUR HANDS. SHAKE YOU KEYS. Bring those CRYING BABIES that you always bring to restaurants. Take off your belts, fold them in half, hold both ends, move your hands in then pull away making the belt pop. Try it, pretty loud. I don’t care if you wear tap shoes. We might take some heat for it if we all showed up in tap shoes, but that would make a ton of noise. Just sayin…
The point is we help win games too. We help motivate our kids to sell out body and mind for us and we strike fear and confusion into the other team. Though our part is nothing to what the players’ and coaches’ roles are, we must still show up prepared and ready to give our all, just like we expect from the team every Saturday. I don’t care if the score is 100-0, we don’t quit making noise or leave early. I want the TV announcers to show the noise meter at the Dome showing new records. Noise can cause miscommunication with play calling, unheard check-offs or audibles from the QB or sidelines, missed kicks, penalties, and turnovers. It can strike fear into the other team and kill momentum. We don’t need to take our feet off the gas, on the field or in the stands, till the game is over and we get that chicken dinner.
I WANT THAT CHICKEN DINNER!!!!!!!!
Then I want to eat chicken again the next week.
Don’t let me down Dawg Fans.
Don’t let our team down.
We will only become champions with each other.
old time dog
July 6th, 2011
7:23 am
Food Lion Bag Boy……Admittedly funny stuff and perhaps us UGA folks even deserve a little of it. From your perspective as a Gator fan, apparently we do. As poorly as we’ve played this series for a number of years there isn’t much we can crow about, that’s for sure. Last year was pretty close and at least not a rout as some have been. From looking at both teams eYe think UGA has a shot this year though. Your schedule is tougher than ours and you may have some adjustment period to the new coaches. Or maybe you won’t. It’s just hard for a team to stay on top and cranked up for as long as the Gators have. Any team for that matter. If UGA ever had an opportunity for the East this is it. That maybe wishful thinking as we do have numerous question marks heading into the season. Anyway, good luck to you and yours, look forward to perhaps spilling a little salt in your hopeful wounds and try not to let those shopping carts slam into vehicles with UGA displayed.
mustard dog
July 6th, 2011
7:27 am
To heck with Food Lion old time dog. He’s just another yankee transplant who calls Florida home. We got something for him and the Gator brethern.
FL dawg
July 6th, 2011
7:45 am
Lex said it first, and maybe best. A good defense will cover that offense every time. Stop bashing Richt and Bobo, that goes for the press too. There is a DC at UGA and he is well paid. If CMR needs to do anything, it’s start putting some weight on him. DB says coaching is UGA’s biggest liability, probably true. It starts with that ex cowboy though.
old time dog
July 6th, 2011
8:03 am
Interesting comment and truthful but eYe think it starts at the top. What the top dog demands and expects is most likely to be what you get. Rivers run downhill not up. Richt’s strongsuit has never been as a defensive mastermind. That ex cowboy may or may not be one either but eYe’m a hoping! The teams that implement this defense have seemed to struggle getting it into place. I just don’t understand how it could be that much harder than any other scheme to put into play. Of course, there’s alot of things eYe don’t understand so maybe it’s just my lack of knowledge. Ya’ll are exactly right in my estimation about what a really strong defense can do. That to me was a trademark during Dooley and Russell’s years.
old time dog
July 6th, 2011
8:15 am
DawginLex…Always enjoy your reads and come away feeling you know the game pretty good. Look forward to more.
pumpkin headed reject
July 6th, 2011
8:17 am
So do you feel Ga has that kind of defense or not?
mustard dog
July 6th, 2011
8:21 am
Altamaha Dawg, did you post as pumpkin headed reject?
chili dawg with onions
July 6th, 2011
8:22 am
He ain’t that smart chili.
naked dog
July 6th, 2011
8:24 am
I gotta get something on or I’m headed for one of Ron Popeil’s spits.
slaw dog
July 6th, 2011
8:26 am
Let’s argue whether people like slaw or chili dogs better. I say people prefer slaw dogs.
Pumpkin headed reject
July 6th, 2011
8:27 am
How dare you insult me like that mustard dog!!!!!!
Mary Kastner
July 6th, 2011
8:28 am
I like all dogs but simply adore naked dogs.
slaw dog
July 6th, 2011
8:29 am
Go away Mary.
chili dog
July 6th, 2011
8:29 am
Shut up Mary.
mustard dog
July 6th, 2011
8:30 am
You ain’t nothing but a tramp girl.
joe
July 6th, 2011
8:31 am
If you all think Spurrier will continue to run Lattimore up the middle vs Jenkins you have no clue. There is no way SC will not run wide and block the NT if he is stopped a few times. Spurrier is not Bobo. Do you expect Spurrier to keep running up the middle if he gets stopped????? Wow, do not complain about Bobo if you have no more clue than that.
FL dawg
July 6th, 2011
8:45 am
old timer I don’t know everything but Richt will always be one of THE best. Now if TG can get that 3-4 to work maybe we can win us some games, maybe alot. Go Dawgs!
jd
July 6th, 2011
9:24 am
How are they going to stop someone with Gaithers and Jenkins if they are not in the game at the same time. If the 3-4 does not allow them to be on the field at the same time you have to make adjustments to do so. Short yardage I hope so. You just cannot etch something in stone and stay with it forever…Also why are we using Ogletree at LB when some of you talk of the weaknesses at DB when we are supposed to be loaded at LB? The only way we beat Boise St. is we come out and hammer them really quick like before. If they get ahead, Bobo is not adept in coming back against someone like that and I do not think Grantham will adjust to what they will be doing if they do get a big lead. Their offense is so unpredictable, certainly not like ours. If this does not happen then this will be a good year for the dawgs!!!!
His last year
July 6th, 2011
9:30 am
Orson Charles will bolt for the NFL after the season. He is so emblematic of UGA players lately. He came to UGA highly regarded but has yet to really carry the day in any game. He is physically gifted and is a good slot back/tight end in NCAA ball but in NFL, he is too small for tight end. He has done nada so far. Nada.
This is UGA’s lot ……………. we sign some really great athletes but they do not win big games ………..see QB Murray. UGA’s lore ( long ago) was to play as a smart, well coached team. Stafford, No Show Moreno, and the many D players, Jeff Owens,Brandon Smith, etc. came to UGA with high expectations but we have seen no major results, beyond our stomping Hawaii and that goofy QB that they had.
CMR has designed this 4/5 star driven system. He has until season’s end to make it jell this year. We alumni are ready for some new blood and new direction, if he cannot reel off a 10-2 and 11-1 season over the next two years. If we end up say 8-5, then that will not be enough. 9-3 this year might not be either, unless UGA ties in the East and goes to the Dome. We must defeat Florida two years in a row ( they should be down) for me to even believe that CMR can coach well in this league.
I want to see more David Pollack style team players and less of these 8-5 “all world” heroes like Wahsuan Ealey, Matt Stafford or AJ Green or Orson Charles. Name one game that these guys won single handily.
Gooooooooooooooooooo Dogs
UGA man, class of 71 & 73
GDAWG65
July 6th, 2011
9:31 am
‘I would like to know why CMB underutilized the tight ends given the talent at that position’
Because Bobo is a poor excuse for a coach. The Dawgs deserve a proven offensice coordiantor.
WDE
July 6th, 2011
9:50 am
@GDAWG65 “offensice coordiantor.” what is that?
old time dog
July 6th, 2011
10:06 am
joe, jd….Good points and eYe agree completely. We don’t adapt as well during the game as we need to. Offensively or defensively. If eYe buy into what a high level of talent we get each year then there is definitely an argument regarding the coaching. Fl.Dawg, eYe can’t see it through your eyes my friend. Granted, Richt and his staff probably aren’t the worst in the country but eYe think they leave room for improvement. What joe and jd alluded to is hard reality and the truth whether we as Georgia fans like it or even admit to it.
AltamahaDawg
July 6th, 2011
10:13 am
A more logical assumption is that the first year QB had the option to throw the football to his TE on pretty much any play, but given his experience level, and for factor related to other aspects of the offense as a whole and the defensive ability to react to those, he was only able to do that on 40 or 50 times. And while that way the second most used passing option last year (and whould have been on all but about 3 SEC teams), behind throwing it to AJ green, it was not a UGA record, only very high on the list.
OR it might have been the coach telling him to not throw to the TE no matter what becasue he just didn’t want to use that very obvious option.
kb
July 6th, 2011
10:16 am
His last year , Orson Charles will bolt for the NFL but he’s too small to play TE in the SEC?Pete Carroll didn’t think he was too small to play TE at USC. Mark Richt has to prove he can coach in the SEC? Funny that only one team in the league has more SEC titles (LSU) than UGA since Richts arrival. You tip your hand when you describe Moreno as No show (sounds like a techie), 2736 yards rushing in 2 seasons. Moreno, Stafford and Green didn’t show up but were 1st round draft picks in the NFL.
old time dog
July 6th, 2011
10:19 am
U lack any logic if that’s your mindset. The discussion was around UGA’s failure to adapt during games and even the season. eYe don’t give a damn how many times u claim the tight ends were either thrown to or neglected. They simply weren’t a factor in deciding the tempo of any games.
AltamahaDawg
July 6th, 2011
10:23 am
that wasn’t intended for you condiment dog(s), I didn’t see your posting ahead of that. So reposnd if you must, but please refer you previously declared non-caring of what I think.
AltamahaDawg
July 6th, 2011
10:23 am
too late i see.
old time dog
July 6th, 2011
10:41 am
AltamahaDawg, We agree to disagree, okay? Nothing personal and yes, eYe have noticed other dogs/dawgs posting around my feeble attempts. If you are so persuaded to think it is me then your little mind is playing upteen degrees of tricks. eYe might have even thought it was you but eYe tend to try not being paranoid.
Mary Kastner
July 6th, 2011
10:43 am
I (eYe) put them up to it ya’ll. A woman of my looks has a tremendous amount of power and persuasion.
old time dog
July 6th, 2011
10:45 am
AltamahaDawg….No eYe don’t even know Mary although she appears to have alot of condiments.
UGA '05
July 6th, 2011
10:49 am
Mary=psychopath=godcomplex=Casey Anthony
Joey
July 6th, 2011
10:54 am
“I would rather watch them then read some of the dribble from Altamaha Dawg.”
***************************************************
“Dribble?” How do you actually read “dribble,” Narvie?
SSIgator
July 6th, 2011
10:58 am
“Tight ends: Led by Orson Charles, strong UGA legacy poised to continue”
The only tight end in discussion at this point is Mark Richt. I would bet that the pucker factor on his is probably about an 8.5. It will only get tighter as the season gets closer. By mid-October he probably won’t be able to pass gas.
Joey
July 6th, 2011
11:09 am
I don’t know, SSIgator, even if the heat is turned up on Richt, he seems, outwardly at least, not to be affected by it.
UGA’s president, AD, and Athletic Board are not obsessed with championships like UF and Bama. Winning records, and challenging for the SEC East most seasons will keep Richt as the coach as long as he wants to be. I expect UF would have fired Richt by now or forced some staff turnover, don’t you?
Not saying I like it. But I believe that’s the way it is in Athens.
Dawg Stuck in Columbus, OH
July 6th, 2011
11:40 am
My thought was to move Orson to TB and I hopefully Figgins changed his number, looks silly with a 89 playing full back…
WDE
July 6th, 2011
11:42 am
@Joey I laugh my self silly every time someone states that the Gators are “obsessed with championships ” B.S…really so obsessed that you hired a coach with NO HC experience…seems like that’s what a UGA or Kentucky would do doesn’t it? @SSIgator how many wins as a HC your guy got now?
AltamahaDawg
July 6th, 2011
11:50 am
You think the UF AD would have handled it any differently that ours did last year sitting at the same desk?
honest_abe
July 6th, 2011
12:22 pm
it’s drivel but you knew that. if everyone spent the entire time correcting typos, grammatical mistakes. this would be a really long and boring blog.
there has to be more to this story of the asst. recruiting coordinator leaving. seems more like he was told to leave… gracefully.
Running backs: Competition between King, Crowell, others should translate into success | UGA sports blog
July 6th, 2011
12:43 pm
[...] July 5 — Tight ends [...]
AltamahaDawg
July 6th, 2011
12:44 pm
as it turns out, he wasn’t technically the “assistant recruiting co-cordinator” as reported, but rather, one of the several “recruiting assistants”. Could very well be that he had other opportunites, but clearly he wasn’t going to advance here for whatever the reasons.
Mary Kastner
July 6th, 2011
2:49 pm
Who knows how to blitz? I’m ready to take all of you dogs on.
slaw dog
July 6th, 2011
2:50 pm
Not me Mary. I don’t have my mayo on.
mustard dog
July 6th, 2011
2:55 pm
I’m good to go Mary. I’m sure I’ll need reinforcements. I’m afraid old time won’t be much help. Maybe chili dog and onion dog can. Has anybody heard from vidalia dog? Aw, he’s sorta sweet anyway. Bad idea. You’re up old time.