Tag: ladd mcconkey

Georgia has 2 of the top-graded returning SEC WRs

Dominic Lovett & Ladd McConkey listed as top-graded SEC WRs…

The Georgia offense will look much differently in 2023 with a new offensive coordinator in Mike Bobo and a new quarterback taking over for two-time national champion Stetson Bennett.

Whether it’s Carson Beck or Brock Vandagriff at the helm this fall, they will have plenty of weapons to use at their disposal.

Besides the security blanket that is Mackey Award winning tight end Brock Bowers, the Bulldogs boast two of the top-graded returning wide receivers in the SEC in rising junior Ladd McConkey and Missouri transfer Dominic Lovett, per Pro Football Focus (PFF).

PFF lists Lovett, a former four-star recruit, as the No. 1 returning SEC wideout with a 83.9 grade after leading the Tigers in receiving last season with 56 catches for 846 yards and three touchdowns.

At the No. 7 spot on PFF’s list is McConkey with a 77.4 grade after finishing behind Bowers as Georgia’s second-leading receiver with 58 catches for 762 yards and seven touchdowns in 2022.

The former three-star recruit is one of the most senior members of the Bulldogs receiver room that looks to replace Kearis Jackson, who signed with the Tennessee Titans, and star wideout Adonai Mitchell, a Texas transfer, along with Dominic Blaylock, who transferred to Georgia Tech.

 

 

Georgia WR Ladd McConkey returning for another season

What does the Georgia football wide receiver room look like for 2023?

Georgia Bulldogs wide receiver Ladd McConkey is returning to Athens for another season. McConkey, a redshirt sophomore, was the only Georgia wide receiver to finish with over 350 receiving yards in 2022. Three of Georgia’s four leading receivers were tight ends or running backs.

McConkey caught 58 passes for 762 yards and seven touchdowns in 2022. McConkey’s two-point conversion against Ohio State is a big reason why Georgia was able to repeat as national champions.

Ladd McConkey suffered a knee injury against LSU in the SEC championship, but battled through the injury in the College Football Playoff.

Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Ladd McConkey’s return gives Georgia more experience in the wide receiver room for the 2023 college football season. McConkey’s familiarity with Todd Monken’s offensive system is invaluable.

Georgia added Mississippi State receiver Rara Thomas and Missouri receiver Dominic Lovett via the portal earlier this offseason. The Georgia wide receiver room is likely losing veteran receiver Dominick Blaylock, who recently entered the transfer portal. Senior receiver Kearis Jackson entered the 2023 NFL draft.

Georgia relies more heavily on tight ends than most other college football programs. Georgia returns leading receiver Brock Bowers for 2023.

Additionally, the Bulldogs are expected to return Arian Smith, Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint, Dillon Bell, and more at the wide receiver position. Adonai Mitchell could declare for the NFL draft because he played his senior year of high school in 2019.

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Ladd McConkey strikes with a 37-yard touchdown grab

The Ladd McConkey drive ends with a 37-yarder

That was the “Ladd McConkey drive.”

Georgia kept feeding No. 84, and it kept paying off. After giving up a touchdown to TCU, Georgia’s offense continued rolling with positive play after positive play.

In the end, it was a 37-yard score for McConkey off a perfect throw from Stetson Bennett.

Georgia takes a 17-7 lead in the first quarter.

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Georgia vs. Ohio State: Updated UGA injury report ahead of Peach Bowl

Injury updates on Warren McClendon, Ladd McConkey and more…

No. 1 Georgia (13-0) will take on No. 4 Ohio State (11-1) in the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl in Atlanta on Saturday night.

The Bulldogs did not escape the SEC Championship win over LSU without injuries: Two starters left the game and did not return.

Here is an updated Georgia injury report ahead of the Peach Bowl:

Georgia WR Ladd McConkey asked about Peach Bowl status

Ladd McConkey asked about injury status ahead of Peach Bowl..

Georgia receiver Ladd McConkey suffered a knee injury in UGA’s SEC Championship win over LSU on Dec. 4.

After the game, coach Kirby Smart confirmed the injury was tendinitis that McConkey had been dealing with for some time.

The redshirt sophomore was held out of some practices leading up to the Peach Bowl matchup versus Ohio State to rehab the injury and was not seen at Wednesday’s workout.

McConkey was asked about his status for the game in a media session on Thursday.

“That’s a coach (Kirby) Smart question. I can’t answer that,” McConkey said.

McConkey added that injury questions are only to be answered by Smart.

“Oh, yeah, that’s just coach Smart’s question to answer. That’s our team rule. He answers all the questions about team injuries.”

Smart had a predictable answer to the same question.

“We’ll see Saturday,” he said.

McConkey has been a large part of Georgia’s offensive attack this season.

The Chatsworth, Georgia, native leads UGA wideouts with 51 catches for 675 yards and five touchdowns, while adding six carries for 120 yards and two scores on the ground.

Check back to the UGA Wire on Friday for our updated Georgia injury report ahead of the semifinal in Atlanta.

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We’ll get you ready for kickoff in our Peach Bowl special episode of ‘UGA Football Live with J.C. Shelton‘. We are joined by former Georgia offensive lineman Chris Burnette to talk UGA vs. Ohio State. Listen here:

Know your foe, Georgia: Which Bulldogs could give Ohio State problems in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl

These dogs have bite #GoBucks

As we inch closer to game time, we need to look a bit more into who is going to be on the opposite sidelines from our Ohio State Buckeyes. The Georgia Bulldogs have been fantastic over the last two seasons, dropping just one game while winning last year’s College Football Playoff.

The [autotag]SEC[/autotag] only sent one team to this year’s CFP but as the one seed. There are tons of playmakers for UGA and a lot of credit goes to quarterback [autotag]Stetson Bennett[/autotag], tight end [autotag]Brock Bowers[/autotag], and defensive tackle [autotag]Jalen Carter[/autotag]. We won’t touch on those players because as we all know about them. Here are five other Bulldogs that could give [autotag]Ohio State[/autotag] problems on New Year’s Eve in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl Saturday night.

Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes, and opinion. Follow Michael Chen on Twitter.

Let us know your thoughts, and comment on this story below. Join the conversation today

Georgia Bulldogs Ladd McConkey, Christopher Smith talk SEC Championship

‘A lot of guys have not won one.’

No. 1 Georgia (12-0) preparing to face No. 14 LSU (9-3) in the SEC Championship on Saturday in Atlanta

Despite the Bulldogs recent string of dominant play and big wins, Georgia is 1-3 in SEC Championship apperances under Kirby Smart, including a 41-24 loss to Alabama a year ago.

Senior safety Christopher Smith noted the losses and the opportunity for redemption this weekend.

“It’s definitely one of our team goals to be able to win the SEC. I’ve played in this game three times and haven’t been able to win, so hopefully fourth time’s a charm,” Smith said. “We’re going to put in the work and execute the game plan as best as possible to go out there and get the win.”

The majority of UGA’s roster hasn’t experienced a conference championship win as Georgia’s last win came in 2017 in a 28-7 win over Auburn.

Sophomore receiver Ladd McConkey is also one of those players.

“SEC championships are hard to come by like we said. I haven’t won one since we’ve been here. A lot of guys have not won one. They’ve been in it before but haven’t won it. We know how much of a challenge it is to get to this point and how much of a challenge it’s going to be for the rest of the year. But yeah, we just want to go out, take it one game at a time, just put our best foot forward and do what we need to do to get the win.”

Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. ET and will televised on CBS.

 

Know the Opponent: Georgia’s offense doesn’t want to be overlooked anymore

Georgia’s defense tends to garner the headlines, but Stetson Bennett and the Bulldog’s offense has something to prove in 2022.

Under Chip Kelly, the Oregon offense garnered most of the headlines with its innovations. That offense sent the Ducks to a couple of national title games. But Oregon had a pretty good defense too.

For the current Georgia Bulldogs, it’s just the opposite.

The offense in Athens was severely overshadowed by a historically great defense last season. They did average nearly 40 points a game. But with most of that defensive talent moving on to the NFL, it’s time for quarterback Stetson Bennett and the rest of the UGA offense to receive a share of the attention it so richly deserves.

Bennett, a senior, might have also moved on to the NFL after last season. He certainly has the talent and he already has a championship ring. Now as an upperclassman, Bennett hopes his familiarity with the offense and overall experience will guide him through the 2022 season.

“Just the reps with the guys, getting to know when they’re going to break, what they’re thinking on specific plays and on specific routes (has helped),” he said on SEC media day back in July.

While there are some minor areas for improvement, it’s hard to imagine Bennett can get markedly better after the numbers he put up last season. He completed 64.5 percent of his passes, 29 touchdowns, and just seven interceptions.

Bennett’s favorite target turned out to be a true freshman in tight end Brock Bowers. The 6-foot-4, 230-pounder from Napa, Calif. caught 56 passes, 13 of those receptions went for touchdowns. Bowers was a First-Team All-American and Georgia is hoping for more of the same.

They did lose running backs Zamir White and James Cook off of last year’s squad, but Kenny McIntosh (eight career touchdowns) and Kendell Milton (three career touchdowns) look to be UGA’s next 1-2 punch in the backfield.

UGA’s offensive line lost a few starters as well, but center Sedrick Van Pran (6-4, 310) is back and he’s one of the best centers in the country. Brodrick Jones (6-4, 310) and Tate Ratledge (6-6, 315) will help anchor a young line.

The one weakness the Bulldogs may have on offense could be the receivers. Their leading receiver in terms of yards, Jermaine Burton, transferred to Alabama of all places. But they will have Ladd McConkey (31 receptions, 447 yards and five scores) and Adonai Mitchell (29 receptions, 426 yards, four touchdowns) back from last season.

The fact of the matter is, when you have a team as talented as Georgia, even an unheralded offense will stand above much of the nation when it comes to production and ability. With blue-chip recruits flowing into Athens each and every year, you can rest assured — or lose sleep at night as an Oregon fan — knowing that the Bulldogs’ offense is going to present a major test for the Ducks. The Georgia defense tends to get a majority of the headlines, but after winning a ring on the back of a historic unit, Bennett and the offense have something to prove this season.

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Georgia returns the top-2 receivers in the SEC, per PFF

PFF tabs 2 Georgia receivers as top in SEC…

The college football champion Georgia Bulldogs had three receivers announce their intention to transfer after the national title game.

That is on top of losing star receiver George Pickens to the NFL draft

Former Bulldog Jermaine Burton elected to transfer to Alabama, while other Georgia receiver reserves Justin Robinson (Mississippi State) and Jaylen Johnson (ECU) transferred out of Athens as well.

DawgNation shouldn’t be worried quite yet.

On Tuesday, junior receiver Kearis Jackson announced his return to the Bulldogs.

Jackson, Georgia’s leading receiver in 2020, will rejoin two other Dawgs, who according to Pro Football Focus, are the top receivers returning in the SEC.

Freshman tight end Brock Bowers (92.1) and redshirt freshman Ladd McConkey (79.1) are the two highest-graded returning pass catchers in the SEC.

Freshman tight end Brock Bowers won a slew of awards for his explosive first season, which set a UGA record for a tight end.

Bowers racked up 882 yards on 56 catches, a whopping 14-yard average, with 14 total touchdowns. That’s 30 more catches than Georgia’s second-leading receiver, Ladd McConkey.

McConkey caught 31 passes for 447 yards (14.4 avg.) with five touchdowns on the year.

With Jackson, Bowers and McConkey back with tight end Darnell Washington and a healthy Arian Smith out wide, the Bulldogs should have plenty of talented options to choose from in the fall.

4 Georgia Bulldogs named to All-SEC freshman team

Four Georgia Bulldogs football players including Brock Bowers, the SEC’s Freshman of the Year, have made the 2021 All-SEC freshman team.

Four Georgia Bulldogs football players have made the 2021 All-SEC freshman team. Georgia tight end Brock Bowers has been named the SEC’s Freshman of the Year.

Texas A&M is the only schools with more players (five) on the All-SEC freshman team. It should be noted that the All-SEC freshman team includes redshirt freshman.

What Georgia players made the 2021 All-SEC freshman team?