The Red and Black

Issue date: 4/2/09 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Daniel Shirey Redshirt freshman tight end Bryce Ros is one of only two scholarship tight ends working with the unit during Georgia's spring practice. [Click to enlarge]

Spring football for Georgia's tight ends represents the beginning of redemption for a position that failed to produce in 2008.

Last season Bulldog tight ends pulled down only 11 catches for 172 yards and three scores.

Injuries played an integral role in the down year. Senior Tripp Chandler suffered a shoulder injury against Alabama and hurt his knee against Auburn.

Junior Bruce Figgins gutted out a torn labrum in his shoulder, for most of the season, delaying surgery until January.

That left redshirt freshman Aron White to find his way on the fly, coupled with a mix-and-match of who was healthy enough to contribute with an occasional snap for fullback Brannan Southerland and now-defensive end Kiante Tripp.

"When Tripp went down early and Bruce was injured for most of the season, there wasn't a lot of experience out there, so it was hard to game plan for us and mix us in and rely on us a whole lot," White said. "It was just the injuries that held us down. We had guys that were able, just who might not have had the confidence of the team yet."

Last season was a far cry from the prestigious names Georgia has featured at tight end during the Mark Richt era. Jermaine Wiggins, Randy McMichael, Ben Watson, Leonard Pope and Martrez Milner were All-SEC selections.

The depth chart is thin at the position this spring with Figgins recovering from surgery, leaving only White and Bryce Ros as the lone scholarship participants at the position.

"Everybody is a little rusty after not putting on pads for a couple of months and putting our mind more on conditioning than X's and O's," White said.

"As you get back into it, I feel we know a lot more than we knew during the season. I feel a lot more comfortable with the playbook and Bryce is more comfortable. I feel like we do the best that we can. We're still young, me and Bryce."

Continued...

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