Kirby Smart Expecting Big Things From TE Charlie Woerner
UGA head coach Kirby Smart is looking for tight end Charlie Woerner to step up and become a playmaker this spring.
UGA head coach Kirby Smart is looking for tight end Charlie Woerner to step up and become a playmaker this spring.
Georgia head coach Kirby Smart has a good problem when it comes to tight end Charlie Woerner. The sophomore possesses an ability to be productive at his natural position and when lined up at wide receiver, and Smart is looking for him to take the next step to become a star.
“Charlie’s biggest challenge is really Charlie,” Smart said. “It’s to look in the mirror and say, How good do I want to be? Charlie has an exceptional skill set of he can run fast, he can come in and out of breaks, and he’s a pretty good blocker. So it’s growth for him, development, having a lot of confidence to play in space. And then being able to block really big people inside. We try to put him in those situations every day in practice. Now he’s a kid that works too now, he comes to work every day. He’ll fight you tooth and nail.”
Here are some other newsworthy notes from Smart’s time with the media.
On recovery of WR Riley Ridley
“He’s still dealing with some repair that he had from the injury during bowl week and he’s not completely back from that yet. We think that Riley will be back by the end of spring, at least running, maybe not doing full contact, but be able to run routes and do some things. That’s a position we’re getting depleted at pretty rapidly.”
On replacing DB Maurice Smith
“That’s a really important spot in your defense, it’s like an anchor. It’s like once you put a rock there and Mo was steady. He didn’t play much anywhere else because we just played him there, so we’re trying to develop and figure out who those people are. The way we’re practicing, Tyrique [McGee] is really our Star. But he’s on a split field when we split them up, so he’s practicing at corner and he’s practicing at Star. So he’s taking reps at both places because if we lost a corner right now, Tyrique might be the first corner but he is our Star if we played today.”
On growth of Isaiah Wynn
“Isaiah has done great at left tackle, not only in games but in practices. He’s very confident, he’s very strong-handed. The book says he can’t play it but people do it all the time. He’s a leader on our team and he’s got a chip on his shoulder that he wants to prove everybody wrong. I enjoy watching him compete out there.”
MORE: UGA Football Spring Practice Preview, Storylines To Watch
