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ATHENS - Georgia Bulldog tight ends coach Todd Hartley spoke with the media this week about his impressive tight end unit...
On Elyiss Williams...
“He’s a special talent and you see that. He’s a special kid more than anything. A kid that loves to work. He comes over here with an unbelievable attitude. His smile is infectious. It's contagious. The positive energy, the positive mindset. Being selfless. He carries those traits and that has nothing to do how well he catches and how he runs.”
“So the type of kid he is naturally attracts you to him. Through the recruitment process, I think that this goes for anybody nowadays. It's so transactional. College football today, especially recruiting. So if you can build a relationship with a kid we still value that here and I still think kids value that relationship. Because if you do it right, there's nothing stronger than that coach/player relationship. So I think that actually helped out in the end with Elyiss. He's a kid that's an asset to our program and I'm glad he's here.”
On Jaden Reddell...
“I think he's just become comfortable in the position that he's playing. When we recruited him he was a bigger X receiver that we saw as a projection to tight end. A lot of times when you're recruiting tight ends you project because not a lot of people play the tight end position in high school. People know how to use them in their own plans. So they just stick the biggest, fastest dude out as an extra receiver and just throw go-balls to them. That's what you saw on tape.”
“He had this skill-set that he could run and he could catch, but it was going to be very developmental, and to his credit, he came to Georgia not knowing how to play that position. He stuck it out and he just trusted the process, trusted our plan for development for him, and he has matured into playing the tight end position.”
“He still can run. He still can catch, but now we can actually put him in positions where he's playing a traditional tight end role, where he can block and he can pass protect. So he’s put himself in position to be more of an all-around tight end, which increases his value in our offense.”
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On feeding the tight ends more...
“We have discussions all the time about what scheme is the best to help us win, and whether that's getting the ball the tight ends, or that's getting the ball to the tailbacks, or that's getting the ball to our receivers. Whatever we can do that week to help us win, that's the ultimate goal. So we don't really concern ourselves with outcomes. You concern yourself with outcomes you're gonna be disappointed. We concern ourselves with the process and just do what we can to contribute the best way offensively.”
“Yeah, do I want to catch more balls? Of course, we want that, but if our job's to go out there and run block 62 plays, we're gonna go out there and run block 62 plays the best of our ability. So I think our guys take that mindset on. They're very selfless in how they go about their business so they're not concerned about the production. They are not concerned about the catches. I truly believe that. They're concerned about what they can do to help our offense be the best offense it can possibly be.”
On how he recruits tight ends...
“Well they all want the ball, but you tell them right away there's a proven plan for development. We've had a successful run and putting tight ends into the NFL just like other positions here at Georgia. They do a great job of getting these kids to the next level. Being an NFL tight end is not just being a pass catcher. They're drafting you to do more things than that.”
“Yeah you want to catch those balls, and you want to be that guy that has those stats and those outcomes we talked about, but it is much more than that. A guy like Oscar Delp, who didn't have maybe the production he wanted, really took pride in being the best point of attack run-blocker he could. Knowing that there's NFL teams were gonna come in, and value him for that, and that's exactly why he went when he went because he was exceptional at the line of scrimmage.”
“So if you tell them early on, Hey, we're going to try to get the ball to you, but going to the next level is just not about getting the ball. Brock Bowers had the production he had, but Darnell Darnell Washington has had a very successful career, and he had less than half the production that Brock Bowers had. So tight end is a position that's very versatile and has to do a lot in the offense from the run game, the pass game, pass protection, and so they are valuing all three areas to go to the next level. So, why just focus on one? You better focus on being the best, all-around tight end you can be. We try to get that message early to those recruits and tell them this is what we do here. We develop you in those areas.”
On Kaiden Prothro...
“You know, he didn't play tight end very much at Bowden High School. He was a receiver, and based off his frame and his length, we project him to be a really good tight end down the road. His skill set is he can run routes, he can catch passes, and he has length and catch radius. That's his advantage. For his long term development he's probably going to be trapped as an NFL tight end so it's our job to get him ready to do that. In the short term we also want to showcase what he does well. Maybe that’s in the slot a little bit more. He’s very unique as far as his ability to catch the football and his matchup ability, but he has a long way to go. He has a lot to learn about playing the tight end position. He has a lot to learn about playing receiver as well. We're proud of where he's at, but he has a long way to go as well.
On if there’s an “alpha” tight end...
“Well I'd like for them all to be that guy. I think that's the challenge. I want them, whatever their skill-set is, I want them to be the best at that. So if you got one that's good at all three, then that's generational, in my opinion, okay? But if you’ve got one that might be better at run blocking versus pass protecting versus running this route, why not try to find the best combination of personnel groupings and get them on the field when you can.
On Gunner Stockton...
“I do think he's been more vocal. I know he catches this thing about how he's just, oh, shucks, kind of quiet, you know, kind of behind the scenes. You know, he’s a tough blue collar, hard hat, lunch pail type of guy. I do think he's been a lot more vocal. I've noticed him even on certain routes, maybe this, we should have ran it this way, or he should have done this, or he'll come over and actually talk to those guys on the sideline between his reps, and maybe I didn't notice that before.
On Ethan Barbour...
“Response is one of our words we use in our room. How do you respond to certain situations? You know, whether it's bad or good. Do you handle praise with humility? Do you handle something bad with resiliency? He obviously had a catastrophic injury, and just the way that he worked, even last fall, to get himself in position to come back and start the Sugar Bowl.”
“I mean, think about that. He broke his ankle, game two, and he worked so hard, he started the sugar bowl, okay? So that says a lot about that kid's determination, just to come back and his resiliency, his response to, you know, something bad to happen in his life.”
“He's such a strong and powerful presence at the line of scrimmage in the backfield. He has heavy hands. I see his Mike Tyson hands, man. When he puts his hands on you defenders feel it. You can see the air come out of the bag when he hits the air. You can see the air come out of their lungs when he puts his hands in their chest. So very strong, powerful hands. He’s a very well-rounded, but physical at the point of attack it. He has a very infectious attitude. He plays with an edge. He is the definition of grit in my mind, just because of the things he's went through, but just the way he goes about playing the game.”
On Jaden Reddell...
“He's everything that's good about college football/ He came in and he wasn't ready to play right away, he was a scout team player, maybe got minimal reps. But he trusted us, he trusted what we told him in recruiting. Then he comes into his second year, and the same thing. Maybe he wasn't at the point where he could contribute last year in a significant role for us. You probably saw him in a couple 13 personnel packages, where he had a couple plays here and there, and again, he trusted us.”
“It goes back to the question I had over here about relationships. He trusted that relationship, and what we told him in recruiting, and he waited his turn, and all he did was just go to work. He trusted Coach Sinclair in the weight room. He trusted Coach Bobo with how we're gonna use him in our offense. He trusted Coach Smart. And now, after two years, of not worrying about where should I go, how much money should I make? All the stuff that people concern themselves with, all the stuff that are distractions, actually maybe take you away from being the best player you can possibly be. He didn't listen to any of that. He just trusted the process. He grinded it out, and now he's got himself in position to possibly help us in a significant role this year.”
“Let's be honest. It's rare nowadays, right? How often do you do you see that? But I think Coach Smart has done a phenomenal job of actually recruiting players that want to stay, that have low portability, that actually love Georgia, and trust us, and trust that we're gonna have their development, and what their best interest, that their future interest is.”
