With changes abound, Georgia's tight ends stay tight-lipped

ATHENS -- Georgia's tight ends are being coy.

Even with the return of Jeb Blazevich and Jackson Harris, two of the biggest contributors at the position last season, there are still a lot of unknowns associated with the unit.

There's a new offensive coordinator with Jim Chaney.

Chaney's history with tight ends is promising, but he has a vast array of options, from Blazevich to Jackson to newcomer Isaac Nauta, which means that Chaney isn't likely to use them the exact same way that he has utilized tight ends in the past.

So far, Harris likes what he has seen from Chaney's offense.

"He's done a great job at other places using tight ends," Harris said. "I just like his system overall."

But when it comes to exactly what Harris likes about Chaney's system, well, that's complicated.

"I keep saying energy, but that's what it is," Harris said. "He brings energy to it and everything we're doing, we're attacking it."

What that "energy" means from a schematic standpoint is, for the most part, nothing. It provides no context into how tight ends will actually be utilized by Chaney.

There has been some contradiction, too. While Harris has said that this spring has been "a whole new system," Blazevich makes the case that in the end, it's really not all that much different.

"Football is football. At the end of the day, it's all kind of the same," Blazevich said. "The guys end up going the same way about every playbook in the world, it seems like, at least."

Harris did say tight ends are lining up "in a lot of places," which would be a change from previous Georgia offenses, although no surprise from Chaney. Strictly looking at personnel, versatile pass catchers like Blazevich and Nauta open up the possibilities for moving players around and using two tight end sets.

Georgia has also shown a lot of tight end blocking drills in practice with tight ends working next to offensive tackles, something the media never saw last season. Neither Blazevich nor Harris, however, would contextualize the schematic changes in terms of last season.

"I'm not worried about comparisons, I'm not worried about last year to this year," Blazevich said. "All I'm worried about is today."

Said Harris, "It's kind of hard to say, honestly."

And then there's new tight ends coach Shane Beamer, who is somewhat of an enigma, as well.

While there's quite a bit known about Beamer, the son of legendary Virginia Tech head coach Frank Beamer, and Beamer the special teams coach, there's very little known about him as a tight ends coach, considering that he has never done it.

That being said, Harris doesn't sound too worried about Beamer's inexperience.

"The thing about Coach Beamer is, he's coached just about every position so he understands the game of football well," Harris said. "So although he may not have coached tight ends before, he understands offenses."

This story was originally published April 1, 2016 at 5:53 PM with the headline "With changes abound, Georgia's tight ends stay tight-lipped ."