Blazevich set to lead tight end revival at Georgia

Georgia’s use of tight ends last season was slim as the group only combined for 28 receptions. A bit of that may have had to do with the health of the group’s leader, Jeb Blazevich.

Blazevich was asked about this at SEC Media Days, after only having 144 yards during his sophomore season. Blazevich wouldn’t say much but hinted about a potential injury.

“(It was) just nothing fun, I’ll leave it at that,” Blazevich said.

In addition to the intermittent presence of Blazevich, the deadened production at the position wasn’t all on him. A year later, however, Blazevich shows no signs of setback. A new core of coaches have made their way to Georgia, with its tight end coach bringing a new vibe to the position.

“Coach (Shane) Beamer is the man. I’m really happy that we have him, great addition to the staff,” Blazevich said. “In terms of the tight ends as a whole and what we can do, we’ll find out in camp. It’s really up to us to prove ourselves and show what we can do, and hopefully that means getting involved in the passing game and hopefully we show out well and get involved all around.”

Along with Beamer, offensive coordinator Jim Chaney will look to integrate the tight ends as the immense depth of talent creates an advantage. Last season, Georgia had to hone in on one receiver, as the primary target Malcolm Mitchell accounted for 35 percent of the team’s receiving total.

Chaney will implement a goal of reviving the diversity of getting receivers involved and Blazevich believes it brings a new level of excitement to his core of guys.

“If we do our job, I think you’ll see multiple tight ends on the field in various positions,” Blazevich said. “I think that’s what we’ve been practicing now and that makes it exciting to be a tight end.”

Georgia hit the recruiting trail hard at the position last season, adding five-star prospect Isaac Nauta and versatile option Charlie Woerner, who can play at either wide receiver or tight end.

Blazevich, who was named to the Mackey and Wuerffel Award watch lists this preseason, indicated the chemistry these tight ends have has created a bond, with the divvying of playing time being a good problem to have.

“The great part is we have me, Jackson (Harris) and Isaac, We also have Jordan Davis, Charlie Woerner coming in,” Blazevich said. “We have a whole room of guys that practice day in and day out and I think that’s where the key is, because we all get along and are a tight-knit group of guys. We all love one another and we compete as hard as we can against one another, but it’s fun because we get along. I’m really thankful for the guys in the tight end group because I don’t think there is a better group of guys that I would rather be going through this with.”

Blazevich believes their brotherhood will carry over to where it’s most important, on game days.

Only a short time remains until the season begins. Blazevich believes that it’s time for his position group’s talent to show.

“I think that’ll show through on Saturdays as we’ll get a bunch of bodies on the field and be rotating,” Blazevich said. “I told Isaac, ‘Man, we’re about to rotating like receivers, we just have too much talent.’ It’s awesome and I think it’s a special place to be. It’s up to us to continue to work hard. We have two weeks until practice starts and we need to put the pedal to the metal and go for it.”

This story was originally published July 13, 2016 at 4:25 PM with the headline "Blazevich set to lead tight end revival at Georgia."