Friday, Aug. 10, 2007

Tight ends compete against other personnel

ATHENS, Ga. -- For one reason or another, Georgia's tight ends aren't just competing against each other for playing time, they're competing simply for the chance to be on the field.

It could be because of the unusual depth enjoyed by Georgia's receiving corps. It could be the tight ends' lack of experience, which will be further exaggerated in the Sept. 1 opener against Oklahoma State when starter Tripp Chandler serves a one-game suspension.

"I'd say it's definitely a little bit of both," Chandler said.

When Georgia opened preseason camp, coach Mark Richt said the tight ends who line up in pro-style sets would compete against other position groupings -- like four-receiver alignments or those with three receivers and two running backs -- just to be in the game.

It doesn't help that Georgia can run many of its plays from multiple formations, meaning it's not mandatory for a specific position group to be in the game for many of the options in the playbook.

"(The tight ends) try to take pride in saying, 'Hey, we can do this particular play out of another grouping where we're not on the field, so let's do it well so we can stay on the field,'" tight ends coach David Johnson said.

Without Chandler in the mix for the first game, senior Coleman Watson is the leading candidate to start, Johnson said, followed closely by redshirt freshman NaDerris Ward. Freshman Bruce Figgins from Shaw High is also in the picture, although his coaches haven't announced a decision on whether he'll redshirt this season.

The receiver depth and the need to make more happen in the passing game put more pressure on the tight ends to perform. But Chandler said that will be good for the group's development.

"Pressure from everywhere I think is good," he said.. It puts pressure on you to be a better player to see the field. It puts pressure on you to know your role better, know your position better, know your different tasks so you can see the field. It puts more pressure on you, but pressure can make a diamond."

Wet and wild

The Georgia staff pulled a fast one on the players Thursday afternoon. The team piled up in buses and traveled to the Ramsey Student Center, expecting to practice indoors to avoid the 103-degree heat in Athens.

Instead, the Bulldogs were treated to an afternoon in the activity center's pool. When they entered the pool area, they saw Richt seated atop the Olympic-level high dive, three stories above the water.

Richt eventually stood, turned his back to the water and executed a perfect back flip to cheers from his players.

It was a maneuver he first perfected as a high schooler in Boca Raton, Fla., but Richt said it was three years ago -- the last time the team took a field trip to the pool -- that he last attempted the dive. "I've been visualizing it for about two days because I knew we were going to do this," Richt laughed. "Actually I was thinking about sneaking in last night and practicing because I knew there'd be a lot of cameras and people here. But I couldn't get the time, so I did a lot of praying and positive visualization and it came out pretty good."