It’s tough to read too much into a spring game: there’s often a running clock, quarterbacks sport non-contact jerseys and players can switch sides at a coach’s discretion.
But, one position group to watch entering Georgia’s G-Day spring scrimmage — a 34-17 win by the Red team, featuring Georgia’s first-team offense and second-team defense, against the Black team, with its first-team defense and second-team offense — was the wide receivers, given the Bulldogs’ struggles with drops last season.
It wasn’t a perfect day for that position group, but a few receivers had impressive performances, with some encouraging flashes from younger players.
Junior wide receiver London Humphreys stood out with two touchdowns and 77 receiving yards on four receptions for the Black team, plus one reception for eight yards for the Red team, with a 50-yard reception from Colter Ginn to start the second half.
“London’s very smart,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said of Humphreys after the scrimmage. “He doesn’t have a lot of anxiety, he’s very mature, and he’s good for those kids in that (group) because he works really hard.”
Senior wide receiver Dillon Bell, who also has played running back for the Bulldogs, tallied 78 yards on five catches, including grabbing a 49-yard pass from quarterback Gunner Stockton in the third quarter. Stockton, who settled in throughout the game, immediately followed that up with a 31-yard touchdown pass to redshirt freshman Jeremy Bell.
Redshirt freshman wide receiver Sacovie White caught a 24-yard pass and 23-yard touchdown pass back-to-back from Stockton in the fourth quarter.
“Sacovie made some plays today, made some really nice plays,” Smart said. “And he catches the ball well, he’s athletic. Dillon went out and played and did some extra things. And we’ve got, the group we have, the core group we have is really tough and physical and we want to continue to grow everybody to be that way.”
Senior wide receiver Colbie Young, who missed the final nine games of the 2024 season because of suspension but has been reinstated, caught a 17-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Ryan Puglisi over junior defensive back Daniel Harris in the third quarter (in the first quarter, Harris had intercepted a deep pass from Stockton intended for Young).
“Yeah, he gives you problems outside,” Smart said of Young. “If you’re going out there, there’s not a lot of defense you can have for a guy that gets the ball at the highest point and goes up. And it forces (defensive backs) to have a really good ball skill set. … The hands that go up and attack the ball and play the ball high in the air. And the ball playing skills of DBs sometimes are not that of a receiver. And Colbie has made a lot plays this spring on those 50-50 type balls.”
Freshman wide receiver CJ Wiley, an AJC Super 11 selection from Milton High School, made two nice contested catches, including an impressive one-handed grab on a 35-yard throw from Puglisi.
Smart said the freshman receivers have been thrown into the fire and made some plays for the Bulldogs, and gave his thoughts on the receiver group: “Excited to see some more growth. Excited to see some more toughness. Excited to see what they can do in the fall. The biggest thing is keeping them healthy and I don’t know what the number is, but I would bet there’s six or seven of them that are in their first time playing in this offense, and that takes a little time. So I thought the six or seven new guys got better as the spring went on and they’ve got 20-something more practices to grow even more. We’re not where we need to be at wideout, but we have a good group to work with.”
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