Will Georgia's Offensive Skill Positions Improve in 2025?
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ATHENS - Georgia’s offense has to be better in 2025 if it wants to compete for a national championship. That is the bottom line.
The Dawgs lacked firepower at the skill position rooms in 2024. Carson Beck in turn struggled, and the offensive line couldn’t stay healthy. After dipping into the transfer portal and hitting the reset button, Kirby Smart and his staff look to have more to work with this season. Will the offensive skill positions play better for Georgia in 2025?
Running Backs
Georgia’s had a long line of excellent running back play. 2024 is where that line ended.
The Dawgs toted it for the least amount of yards in nearly 20 seasons. Amassing just 1,742 yards on the ground is not the standard for a program that considers itself “Running Back University - RBU.”
Trevor Etienne was brought in from Florida to be Georgia’s next main back, but that plan was derailed by a short suspension and some injuries. He shined in some of the brightest moments, specifically against the Texas Longhorns. Those moments were not big enough to overshadow the overall struggle of the run game.
This was a group that was really banged up. Between Etienne and both Branson and Roderick Robinson dealing with injuries, Georgia’s running back room was never at full strength. That led to true freshman Nate Frazier having the most productive season for the Dawgs out of the backfield.
Now Frazier is expected to make a jump to become one of the better backs in the country as Georgia’s lead ball carrier again. If everyone is healthy, Frazier will be joined by transfer Josh McCray, Cash Jones, Roderick Robinson, Chauncey Bowens, Dwight Phillips Jr. and true freshman Bo Walker. G Day gave Bowens and Walker an opportunity to show that they are ready for touches on the big stage.
Again, it is an if, but if healthy, Georgia looks to have more options at running back than it did a season ago.
Wide Receivers
Georgia’s wide receivers led the country in dropped passes in 2024. That was the statline that was brought up over and over once November rolled around.
Similar to the running back room, the wide receiver room did not end up benign as full as it was supposed to. Likely starter Rara Thomas was kicked off of the team before the season started. Colbie Young did not make it halfway through the season before he was suspended. The rest of the group underwhelmed.
Out go Dominic Lovett and Arian Smith, in come Zachariah Branch and Noah Thomas.
Also similar to the running backs, Georgia looks to have more and better options in 2025 at wide receiver. Branch is a former 5-star who was one of the most sought after players in the transfer portal. Thomas is another big (literally) addition to the outside along with Young, who is returning. Dillon Bell returned for his senior year, and will be the most experienced of the group.
Behind that layer of starters are a handful of receivers that will compete for time: London Humphreys, Sacovie White, Jeremy Bell and the three talented freshmen make this wide receiver room look legit ahead of the season.
Tight Ends
How do you follow up Brock Bowers? You don’t, and nobody really expected Georgia's tight ends to be as good as he was, but the production and level of play out of that group was still disappointing.
Oscar Delp did not make a real impact until November. He made one key play in the first two months of the season. Lawson Luckie was the primary receiver out of the tight ends early on in the seasons and then his production dipped.
Benjamin Yurosek was an exciting transfer addition from Stanford, who looked like a real receiving threat. He finished the year with 185 yards and no scores. The production combined from the three of them hardly matched what Bowers did alone during his injury-riddled 2023 season.
Yurosek is off the NFL while Delp and Luckie are a year older. Delp took accountability for the letdown season and returned partially because he wanted to do better. Luckie is chomping at the bit for a national title.
This group is the one that is the most difficult to project in terms of improvement.