University of Georgia Athletics
Delp Eager To Lead Bulldog Tight Ends
August 19, 2024 | Football, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
Oscar Delp isn't going to try to be the next Brock Bowers, if such a thing is even possible. Georgia, and maybe all of college football, has never seen a tight end quite like Bowers before — a 6-foot-4 and 240-pound speedy, shifty and sure-handed sensation — and may never again.
Delp, a 6-5 and 245-pound junior with 29 career receptions, is striving to be the best version of himself — and be everything the Bulldog offense needs him to be. Comparisons to Bowers or anyone else may be unavoidable, but they're also irrelevant.
"I don't even look at all that stuff," Delp said. "We've got an offense where if you do your job and make the plays you're supposed to make, it will just happen."
After catching five passes for 61 yards and a touchdown as a freshman in 2022, playing behind both Bowers and the 6-7 Darnell Washington, Delp was a key contributor last season, particularly when Bowers missed games late in the season with an injury. Delp finished his sophomore season with 24 receptions for 345 yards and three scores.
This offseason, Delp said, he's worked on a bit of everything to be "that complete tight end. I'm focusing a lot on my route-running and yards after catch and being a more explosive guy."
Among returning Georgia players, Delp had the third-most receptions in 2023, behind wideouts Dominic Lovett (54) and Dillon Bell (29). Among the other returning tight ends on the Bulldog roster, sophomore Lawson Luckie caught two passes last season — and that's the whole list. Of the 10 tight ends on the roster, six are freshmen or redshirt freshmen. Delp's younger brother, Henry, is also among the large group of newcomers.
Georgia did add a veteran in Stanford graduate transfer Ben Yurosek, who earned multiple All-Pac-12 honors with the Cardinal. In four seasons in Palo Alto, Yurosek, who only played in six games last season due to injury, caught 108 passes for 1,342 yards and five touchdowns. He was also used in the running game occasionally, rushing 14 times for 114 yards.
"He fits our room from a toughness and a physicality standpoint," assistant head coach and tight ends coach Todd Hartley said of Yurosek. "He's physical at the line of scrimmage. And he fits our room from an athletic standpoint, too. The dude can run and catch."
With such a young group of tight ends, Hartley needs the two experienced guys in the room, Delp and Yurosek, to lead the way. Hartley said Delp's leadership and maturity is where he's seen the "biggest growth" since last season.
Hartley said Delp "is the unquestioned leader of our room." It's a role and a responsibility that Delp has embraced.
"I remember how I was as a freshman, and I'm trying to help out those guys as much as possible," Delp said.
Both Delp brothers were lacrosse players at West Forsyth High School in Cumming, Ga., along with standouts on the football field. Oscar, the top-rated tight end prospect in the country coming out of high school, had 59 receptions for 923 yards, plus 14 carries for 45 yards, as a senior. He's used to being a centerpiece of an offense, and he's had to wait his turn and earn his opportunity.
The tight end in modern offenses has to be much more versatile than he was years ago, said Mike Bobo, Georgia's quarterbacks coach and John And Alice Sands Offensive Coordinator. Bobo said earlier this month that Georgia's offense "is a little bit more where we're going to ask (the tight end) to do everything" from receiving and blocking to running the ball.
"We put a lot on them," Bobo said of the tight ends. "But that position in particular, because it's the run game and the pass game that they're heavily involved in, it takes the guy that's extremely bright."
Bowers, the first back-to-back winner of the John Mackey Award for the nation's best tight end, was one of three Bulldogs ever to be a three-time first-team All-American. In 40 career games over his three seasons in the red and black before heading to the NFL, Bowers caught 175 passes for 2,538 yards and 26 touchdowns. He also ran the ball 19 times for 193 yards and five scores.
On top of all of that, Bowers was one of the most compelling Bulldogs the program has ever had. You wanted the quarterback to get the ball in his hands because the odds were very good he was going to do something great, something a player his size shouldn't be able to do — like outrun 180-pound defensive backs. His longest reception as a freshman was 89 yards; his longest as a sophomore was 79; and last season, his longest was 49. He also had a 75-yard rush in 2022.
Is Hartley going to miss having Bowers around? Of course. But change is as central to college football as running and blocking.
"I'm going to miss him, but that doesn't have any effect on our team this year," Hartley said. "You know, these guys, we go out and we've got the same plays that we've always had in this offense. It's just a different person doing it.
"He is a monumental player in the history of Georgia football ... but guess what? Oscar Delp — I'm going to coach Oscar Delp just like I coached Brock Bowers and Lawson Luckie and Ben Yurosek and those two (scholarship) freshmen as well. I'm not going to coach them any differently."
Â
Staff Writer
Oscar Delp isn't going to try to be the next Brock Bowers, if such a thing is even possible. Georgia, and maybe all of college football, has never seen a tight end quite like Bowers before — a 6-foot-4 and 240-pound speedy, shifty and sure-handed sensation — and may never again.
Delp, a 6-5 and 245-pound junior with 29 career receptions, is striving to be the best version of himself — and be everything the Bulldog offense needs him to be. Comparisons to Bowers or anyone else may be unavoidable, but they're also irrelevant.
"I don't even look at all that stuff," Delp said. "We've got an offense where if you do your job and make the plays you're supposed to make, it will just happen."
After catching five passes for 61 yards and a touchdown as a freshman in 2022, playing behind both Bowers and the 6-7 Darnell Washington, Delp was a key contributor last season, particularly when Bowers missed games late in the season with an injury. Delp finished his sophomore season with 24 receptions for 345 yards and three scores.
This offseason, Delp said, he's worked on a bit of everything to be "that complete tight end. I'm focusing a lot on my route-running and yards after catch and being a more explosive guy."
Among returning Georgia players, Delp had the third-most receptions in 2023, behind wideouts Dominic Lovett (54) and Dillon Bell (29). Among the other returning tight ends on the Bulldog roster, sophomore Lawson Luckie caught two passes last season — and that's the whole list. Of the 10 tight ends on the roster, six are freshmen or redshirt freshmen. Delp's younger brother, Henry, is also among the large group of newcomers.
Georgia did add a veteran in Stanford graduate transfer Ben Yurosek, who earned multiple All-Pac-12 honors with the Cardinal. In four seasons in Palo Alto, Yurosek, who only played in six games last season due to injury, caught 108 passes for 1,342 yards and five touchdowns. He was also used in the running game occasionally, rushing 14 times for 114 yards.
"He fits our room from a toughness and a physicality standpoint," assistant head coach and tight ends coach Todd Hartley said of Yurosek. "He's physical at the line of scrimmage. And he fits our room from an athletic standpoint, too. The dude can run and catch."
With such a young group of tight ends, Hartley needs the two experienced guys in the room, Delp and Yurosek, to lead the way. Hartley said Delp's leadership and maturity is where he's seen the "biggest growth" since last season.
Hartley said Delp "is the unquestioned leader of our room." It's a role and a responsibility that Delp has embraced.
"I remember how I was as a freshman, and I'm trying to help out those guys as much as possible," Delp said.
Both Delp brothers were lacrosse players at West Forsyth High School in Cumming, Ga., along with standouts on the football field. Oscar, the top-rated tight end prospect in the country coming out of high school, had 59 receptions for 923 yards, plus 14 carries for 45 yards, as a senior. He's used to being a centerpiece of an offense, and he's had to wait his turn and earn his opportunity.
The tight end in modern offenses has to be much more versatile than he was years ago, said Mike Bobo, Georgia's quarterbacks coach and John And Alice Sands Offensive Coordinator. Bobo said earlier this month that Georgia's offense "is a little bit more where we're going to ask (the tight end) to do everything" from receiving and blocking to running the ball.
"We put a lot on them," Bobo said of the tight ends. "But that position in particular, because it's the run game and the pass game that they're heavily involved in, it takes the guy that's extremely bright."
Bowers, the first back-to-back winner of the John Mackey Award for the nation's best tight end, was one of three Bulldogs ever to be a three-time first-team All-American. In 40 career games over his three seasons in the red and black before heading to the NFL, Bowers caught 175 passes for 2,538 yards and 26 touchdowns. He also ran the ball 19 times for 193 yards and five scores.
On top of all of that, Bowers was one of the most compelling Bulldogs the program has ever had. You wanted the quarterback to get the ball in his hands because the odds were very good he was going to do something great, something a player his size shouldn't be able to do — like outrun 180-pound defensive backs. His longest reception as a freshman was 89 yards; his longest as a sophomore was 79; and last season, his longest was 49. He also had a 75-yard rush in 2022.
Is Hartley going to miss having Bowers around? Of course. But change is as central to college football as running and blocking.
"I'm going to miss him, but that doesn't have any effect on our team this year," Hartley said. "You know, these guys, we go out and we've got the same plays that we've always had in this offense. It's just a different person doing it.
"He is a monumental player in the history of Georgia football ... but guess what? Oscar Delp — I'm going to coach Oscar Delp just like I coached Brock Bowers and Lawson Luckie and Ben Yurosek and those two (scholarship) freshmen as well. I'm not going to coach them any differently."
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Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
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