ATHENS – Despite Georgia’s strong recruitment of Todd Hartley for the tight end position, the Bulldogs had a need at the position.
The room was fairly young, with now-junior Oscar Delp being the most experienced player. With just 29 career catches, he is also the most proven player in the tight end room.
Fortunately for the Bulldogs, Benjamin Yurosek, who transferred from Stanford, met many of the requirements Georgia was looking for.
“He has the maturity and leadership qualities that were perhaps missing in this room because we have a lot of younger players in the room,” Hartley said. “He’s a perfect fit here.”
“From a toughness and physicality standpoint, he fits in our space. He’s physical at the line of scrimmage. From an athletic standpoint, he fits in our space. The guy can run and catch.”
Yurosek was a late addition to the Georgia team, as he spent the spring finishing up his degree at Stanford.
For most, getting into a program like Georgia would be a challenge. The Bulldogs do things a certain way, and as Kirby Smart has said many times, Georgia is not for everyone.
But Yurosek was able to hit the ground running thanks to his extensive football experience at Stanford.
“He’s a smart guy. He’s a big guy,” Delp said. “You can tell he’s played a lot of football and knows how to play football. He’s there, he helps us where he can, he learned the offense like anybody else and he’s done it really well. He helps us. Whether it’s run blocking or catching, he does it all.”
Georgia knew it had to replace Brock Bowers this season. Delp has improved and the world-class tight end is now catching passes for the Las Vegas Raiders. Even with the addition of Yurosek, Delp is the clear No. 1 at the position.
The Bulldogs are also pleased with the development of sophomore tight end Lawson Luckie this fall. As Georgia looks to continue playing a lot of two-tight end sets this fall, Georgia knows it needs the contributions of all three players at the position.
There are always risks involved in signing a player from the transfer portal, even someone with Yurosek’s background, but so far the transition has gone as well as Georgia had hoped.
“We didn’t know him that well, he wasn’t in our league, so we didn’t know much about him. But we knew the other things and they met our criteria,” Hartley said.
The biggest concern with Yurosek is his injury history, as he only played in six games last season due to a shoulder injury. However, Georgia will not be asking Yurosek to shoulder the offense or be the latest version of Bowers.
The Bulldogs have a special role in mind for Yurosek and are confident he can fill it.
“You just know that, coming from Stanford, he can handle the heavy academic load that Georgia puts on him and he can handle the NFL pro-style offense, that’s what they did there,” Hartley said. “Those things were clear beforehand, and then you turn on the tape and see that he runs well, he catches, and he also has the physical attributes that you’re looking for.”
