Riches to Rags.......Tight Ends

Maybe it's not that bleak of a picture, but if you'll recall just about 2 months ago............

UGA returns 4 scholarship TE's for the '08 season and has a commitment from highly touted Dewayne Allen to add to a very talented group. After having recently put our fair share of quality tight ends into the NFL...Randy McMichael, Ben Watson, and Leonard Pope.....the outlook for this year's crop looks as good as ever.

My, how things have changed. Of course Dewayne wavered on the fence before choosing Clemson on signing day (baffling, considering that the tiggerz don't include the tight end in their offensive scheme) and Naderris Ward decided to transfer. That leaves us with 3 scholarship TE's on the roster and makes this the only position, other than QB, that we don't have considerable depth.

I'm not going to dwell on what we don't have. Here's what we do have.

Nike's new super sticky gloves.......I highly recommend them

Tripp Chandler (Sr, 6-6, 263) - Tripp was the starter going into 2007, although he did serve a one game supspension to open the season. Last year was basically a tale of two seasons for Tripp. The first half of the season was filled with dropped passes and missed opportunities. As a team built to run the football and the tight end being featured in 3rd & short to medium situations, Tripp's miscues often were highlighted. A couple of crucial drops in the SC game gave the boo-birds plenty of fodder and Tripp heard them early and often. Tripp received tons of sarcastic cheers for making any catch for a period. Thankfully, he turned his season around by mid year and actually made some crucial catches for the Dawgs. Chandler finished the season with 21 catches and 2 TD's. The sarcasm is gone, the cheers genuine, and his senior season has a bright outlook.......GATA Tripp.

Starting my first game as a true freshman.......it doesn't get better than this

Bruce Figgins (Soph, 6-4, 254) - Due to Chandler's opening game suspension, Figgins started in his very first game as a Bulldog, collecting his only TD catch in the process. He did play in each of the 13 games and finished with a modest 3 receptions. Figgins was the least heralded of the young tight ends and to earn a spot over the talent that was on the roster at that time, this should be considered quite an accomplishment.

Aaron White (RFresh, 6-4, 228) - A bit of a hybrid TE/WR, White now finds himself exclusively at TE. Reports are that he has good hands and very good speed for the position. He'll have to bulk up some to handle the everyday chores at the position and hopefully, his speed won't suffer to greatly as a result.

As mentioned earlier, there isn't alot of depth here. In situations that require 3 TE packages, a tackle or one of the fullbacks will more than likely be used as the 3rd. We just can't afford an injury to one of these guys.