With departures reshaping Georgia’s receiving corps, coach Kirby Smart is looking to his younger guys to step up and make an impact.
“What we’re trying to do is establish depth at wide receiver, so we’re trying to get young players that are talented to go really far,” Smart said.
Last season, receiver Ladd McConkey was exactly that type of contributor.
After making no appearances in game action as a freshman in 2020, McConkey moved into a starting role for Georgia’s season opener last season against Clemson and became an integral part of the Bulldogs’ championship run. A North Murray High graduate, McConkey finished the season as Georgia’s third-leading receiver in yards (447) and second in receiving touchdowns (5) and received Freshman All-SEC honors.
With George Pickens headed to the NFL draft and Jermaine Burton now with Alabama, McConkey, a sophomore, is expected to be a mainstay in the starting lineup and leader on the offense alongside sophomore Adonai Mitchell. In the short term, there has been plenty for McConkey and the Bulldogs’ offense to work on this spring.
“Spring is always a big learning experience, kind of figuring out what kind of team you’re going to be for the upcoming fall,” McConkey said. “We’re playing with effort, flying around. I guess that’s really all you can ask for right now.”
Among the priorities for McConkey and the receiver group this spring -- acclimating to a new receivers coach, Bryan McClendon.
A former Georgia receiver from 2002-05 and the interim coach for the Bulldogs in 2015 and at Oregon last season, McClendon has made an immediate connection with his offense. McConkey cited McClendon’s intensity as a major reason behind the smooth transition.
“Coach McClendon is very demanding,” he said. “He’s going to let you know what he wants you to do and how he wants you to do it, so he’s been awesome. He’s taught us so much in the short time he’s been here, so I’m grateful that we were able to get him.”
In other areas, spring practice has been about continuity and replicating last season’s individual and team success. McConkey has enjoyed having another spring to build chemistry with senior quarterback Stetson Bennett, who also emerged as a breakout player last season.
“It’s good always to be able to get those extra reps and build that chemistry more and more,” McConkey said. Being able to have (Stetson) back and coming off a national championship, he has so much confidence, and we have so much confidence in him, too.”
Though Smart hopes to see McConkey add mass to his 6-foot, 185-pound frame and improve his run-after-catch explosiveness, he also has seen him continue to elevate his game this spring, from his confidence in practice to his playmaking ability in the Bulldogs’ most recent scrimmage.
McConkey’s work ethic even has been cause for caution among the Georgia coaching staff.
“There is a level of consistency with Ladd that you know that you will get his very best every day,” Smart said. “If anything, you have to be careful how hard you work him because he will do exactly what you tell him to do. He will run himself till his tongue hangs out and he loses his juice.”
