Darnell Washington Will Change the Georgia Offense
Heading into the 2020 season, Georgia was desperate to come away with an addition or two at tight end. Coach Todd Hartley was on a mission to continue the tradition of Bulldog greats at the position such as Randy McMichael, Ben Watson, Leonard Pope, Orson Charles, Arthur Lynch, and Isaac Nauta. The Dawgs were in obvious need or an infusion of talent to make up for the upcoming departures of Seniors Eli Wolf and Charlie Woerner.
The main two targets were Theo Johnson out of Canada and Darnell Washington out of Nevada, just outside of Las Vegas. Georgia lost out on Theo Johnson to Penn State, but last evening at the Under Armour All-American game in Orlando, Florida, Washington officially and publicly announced his signed Letter of Intent had been delivered to the University of Georgia.
Darnell Washington is a HUGE, pickup for Georgia in every sense of the word. At 6'7.5" 260-pounds, despite all the great former UGA tight ends listed earlier, the Dawgs have never signed a prospect like Washington.
The 5-star is actually listed as an athlete. Yes, at that size the Las Vegas product by way of Desert Pines High School is listed as an athlete. A laser timed 4.75 forty-yard dash, a 29.9 inch vertical jump, and a wingspan of 7'3" are all contributing factors as to why he is so different than anybody else out there.
ESPN placed a side-by-side comparison or tale of the tape of Washington versus LeBron James. Essentially Georgia is getting someone with LeBron's size and with a lot of athletism to play tight end.
Not to belittle what Isaac Nauta, Eli Wolf, and Charlie Woerner have meant to Georgia, but the type of matchup issues that Darnell Washington will create, just have not existed over the past few seasons.
David Greene, DJ Schockley, & Aaron Murray all had the luxury of utilizing tight ends that could outrun linebackers and overpower and physically outmatch defensive backs. While having solid blocking tight ends and great leaders in Nauta, Wolf, and Woerner, Jake Fromm has not had the benefit of a tight end with dynamic abilities that Washington posses.
It's something Washington has talked about himself. "I'm too fast for linebackers and I am too big for cornerbacks."
Due to this, under both Jim Chaney and James Coley, many of the Georgia faithful have lamented the lack of Georgia's ability to get the passing game going in the middle of the field. Fromm's ability to throw the ball outside the hashes is highly regarded and the Georgia coaching staff talks a lot about designing the offense to feature and align with the strengths of their players, but the lack of balls being caught over the middle has been alarming.
It's not that Jake Fromm can't make those throws, it is mostly that plays aren't being designed to attack that area of the field because it is not the strengths of the tight end group. Excluding the Nauta touchdown versus Auburn in the 2017 SEC Championship, most of the key receptions and bigger plays out of the Dawg tight ends are out-breaking routes.
Darnell Washington has an advanced field awareness. Watching the film, it is easy to see that Washington understands how to run routes based on the coverage he is up against. Against zone coverage, the 5-star tight end is able to work his way over the middle and into a void in the defense and "sit" his route down.
He can threaten safeties deep and break routes with precision behind linebackers. Against man coverage, Washington has a unique ability to use his combination of speed and strength to separate from defenders late. When he is guarded closely, Washington has shown a tremendous ability to win 50-50 balls as one would assume with such great length.
Washington is not just a possession receiver either. While his 40-time is not much, if any, faster than the tight ends that have played under Kirby Smart at Georgia, he is a dangerous playmaker with the ball in his hands. Just turning on the film you can see Darnell's ability to make defenders miss after the catch by breaking tackles, juking people, and flat out running by defenders with long, smooth strides.
Finally, the biggest beneficiary of Georgia's latest marquee signing is George Pickens. Dawg fans have known all year that Pickens is a phenomenal talent, but number 1 had his national coming-out party at the Sugar Bowl on New Year's Day.
It is apparent that George is going to be the focal point of Kirby Smart's offense to going forward, but this year he was at times the only true threat that the Dawgs had.
Regardless of who is calling plays and who is throwing the ball, a physical, skilled tight end with the versatility to split out allows Georgia to keep defenses from double-teaming, or cheating coverage toward, one of the best receivers in the country in Pickens.
The additions of Jermaine Burton, Justin Robinson, Arian Smith, and Marcus Rosemy just became more dynamic as well. Pair that quartet of talented incoming Freshman wideouts with veterans like Demetris Robertson, Matt Landers, and Kearis Jackson, and of course Pickens, and UGA is going to have a vastly improved receiving core anyway.
Now that a generational talent like Darnell Washington is added to the mix, Georgia's passing game has the potential to go from lacking to nationally envied in one offseason.
