How Chris Conley can become the Georgia Bulldogs’ most important offensive weapon
In the opening week win over the Clemson Tigers, Georgia tailback Todd Gurley put on a show like few had seen since the days of you-know-who (that guy who wore number 34).
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But the Bulldogs can’t count on Gurley to deliver those video game-like numbers every week, and some weeks, quarterback Hutson Mason may have to win the game with his arm.
Enter, Chris Conley.
While Gurley is undoubtedly the best player and offensive weapon on this Georgia team, Conley may turn out to be the most important for entirely different reasons.
When teams with good defenses put the clamps down on Gurley and the other Georgia running backs (and it will happen), Mason is going to need a go-to guy who can catch the ball in different places on the field, lining up in different places before the snap.
The status of the two speedsters who can stretch the field for Georgia — Malcolm Mitchell and Justin Scott-Wesley — is very questionable, and not in that injury report “questionable” kind of way either.
Mitchell has had ongoing knee issues, and it seems that every time he gets back on the field, there’s a tweak or a twist or a ding that pulls him out of action almost immediately. The truth is, Georgia may not get Mitchell back this season, and if they do it may not be until very late in the schedule.
Scott-Wesley is a different story. Returning from a season-ending injury last year as well as an ankle injury suffered recently, the junior split end is also dealing with a minimum one-game suspension for a marijuana arrest earlier this year, and to this point, head coach Mark Richt is being very mum about when or if Scott-Wesley is returning.
“I’ll say this: When I think he deserves to play I’ll let him play, when he’s ready,” Richt said of Scott-Wesley’s status to the Macon Telegraph.
That’s where we come to the multi-talented (and not just on the football field) Chris Conley.
Conley doesn’t have the blazing speed that some receivers possess, but what he does have in his favor are size (coming in at an impressive 6’3 and 205 pounds) and route-running ability that rivals some of the top receivers currently playing in the NFL. Those traits, along with a very sure pair of hands, is exactly what Hutson Mason is going to need when he looks downfield.
Primarily a flanker, Conley can also line up in the slot and be a possession receiver, catching balls in the middle of the field with safeties and linebackers putting him in their crosshairs. He can head to the outside as a split end, and make the back shoulder catches. And of course, he can line up as a flanker, and work the Georgia screen game to perfection. If there is a job for a wide receiver in the Georgia offense, Chris Conley can do it.
Michael Bennett, Jonathon Rumph, Reggie Davis and the other Georgia wideouts will all be involved in the game, but Conley is the man who can take over as the leader of that group, and be that number one guy that Mason looks for. Bennett
With Conley and Gurley, the run and pass games are in good hands, and the reserves in both groups will look even better as teams key on those two in an attempt to shut down the Georgia offense.
Georgia is going to run the ball first, Mike Bobo and Mark Richt know what they’ve got in that immensely talented group of running backs. But on those days where the running game just can’t seem to get out of 2nd gear, Chris Conley is going to turn around and show his numbers to Hutson Mason, and keep the balance in the Georgia offense.