Second-year surge: Georgia

The summer is here and Kirby Smart’s eighth Georgia football team is putting in a lot of work behind closed doors. The entire 2023 class has arrived on campus and the Bulldogs are marching toward history.

A third consecutive National Championship, in the modern era, is unprecedented. But so was a back-to-back titles in the playoff era. In order for Georgia to stay on top of the mountain, it’ll have to rely on some players heading into their second season.

With that in mind, DawgsHQ is rolling out a series where we look at every scholarship player who is entering year two. Next up is a wideout who played in 2022 and will have to keep battling for reps in 2023.

WR De’Nylon Morrissette

Size: 6-foot-1, 198 pounds

On3 Industry Ranking: No. 203 overall, No. 35 wide receiver, No. 20 in Georgia

2022 Stats: Appeared in 11 of 15 games, primarily as a reserve wide receiver. He caught four passes for 34 yards.

Morrissette strengths and weaknesses…

We’re looking at one of those players whose main strength could also be considered his primary weakness. Morrissette has a really well-rounded skillset at receiver. He has good size, runs well, and is very quick. He also runs good routes and is just a good football player in a number of ways.

His biggest weakness is that he’s good, not elite, at anything — at least at this point in his development. There isn’t one skill that Morrissette can use to get himself on the field and keep himself there. That’s the one thing that might stand in his way as Georgia continues to target more speed and/or size at the position.

The Buzz…

We didn’t hear as much about Morrissette this spring as we did last summer. He had a really solid preseason camp in 2022 once he got completely healthy. If not for an ankle/foot injury setting him back, Morrissette would have played earlier and more often as a freshman.

This spring was pretty quiet as the Bulldogs brought in some transfers and talented freshmen. That’s not to say that Morrissette can’t earn his way onto the field more in his second season. It just means that so long as UGA is healthy at the position, there is more competition than a year ago.

In 2023…

The first hurdle for Morrissette is clearing some off-field issues. It’s not going to shock us if he has to miss some time but Smart hasn’t said that will happen. Injuries allowed Morrissette gain some traction last year. Those had him on the doorstep of playing major snaps. Georgia is deeper in 2023 and, as we mentioned earlier, staying healthy at the position is going to make it very hard for receivers move to the front of the line. One thing to keep an eye on, however, is the increased usage of three-receiver sets. That might help some.

The post Second-year surge: Georgia appeared first on On3.