The Unique Evolvement of Georgia's Offense
Elite, high-end offensive success has not been a common sight during the Kirby Smart era at Georgia. At least not at the level that fans have seen over the last two seasons. The Bulldogs had to work out quite a few kinks before it reached the point of scoring 40+ points per game on their way to a 65-point performance in a national title game. So what is it that has made Georgia's offense so great these past couple of years?
From the outside looking in, it would seem that the obvious answer is that Georgia recruits really well so they have really good players. The Bulldogs do in fact recruit at arguably the highest level in the sport and are consistently piecing together top-three classes, but the offensive recruiting looks a tad bit different than the defensive recruiting does.
In order to recruit and compete at the level that Georgia does on an annual basis, it starts with reeling in some of the nation's best talent on a consistent basis. The five-star athletes. Since 2019, Georgia has landed a total of 18 five-star recruits according to 247's rankings. Sounds like a team that should be loaded down on both offense and defense right? Well, out of those 18 players, 13 of them are defensive players. So if it isn't the five stars that separate Georgia from the rest of the pack offensively, what is it?
Well for starters, they've consistently rolled out good offensive line units. Since 2020, Georgia has had seven offensive linemen taken in the NFL draft, two of them being first-round picks and they've been in the running for the Joe Moore award for two seasons in a row. The big guys up front are what holds an offense together, and Georgia has both developed and produced at a high level at that spot despite have two offensive line coaches over that time span in Matt Luke and Stacy Searels.
Georgia has also found some diamonds in the rough along the way. Players that didn't have all of the shiny stars coming out of high school, but have panned out to become meaningful contributors on offense. Players like Ladd McConkey, who was hardly recruited coming out of high school but finished second on the team in receiving yards a season ago. Or finding a playmaker like Adonai Mitchell who was a 3-star recruit but ends up making some big-time plays down the stretch to help win those two titles. Or developing a former walk-on quarterback into the program's first 4,000-yard passer and a Heisman finalist.
Georgia wide receiver Ladd McConkey (84) during the 2023 College Football Playoff National Championship at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, Calif., on Monday, Jan. 9, 2023. (Photo by Tony Walsh)
The offensive evolvement also has a lot to do with tight end coach Todd Hartley completely revamping that position. He got the ball rolling by landing Darnell Washington and everything else has fallen into place ever since. The Bulldogs' tight end group has allowed Georgia to do a lot of different things on offense and Hartley had built that depth chart to last.
Another crucial step in the process and arguably the most important piece to this entire puzzle was Kirby Smart bringing Todd Monken on to be the team's offensive coordinator. A long-time veteran in the coaching world who is no longer with the team, but he laid the foundation and left Georgia in a position where it can continue to build off of its recent success as the keys are now handed to Mike Bobo.
The overarching story here is that Georgia did not create one of the most efficient offenses in college football last season by piling up five-star skill players. Georgia's offense looks different compared to the other highly successful college offense, and it's because they are different in how they operate. And it has put them in a position to continue to bridge that success across multiple seasons and with a bright future ahead of them. Even with a new offensive coordinator and starting quarterback heading into the 2023 season.
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