Georgia football: Top 10 offensive players of the Ray Goff era (1989-95)

6. Hines Ward

What a career Hines Ward had at the University of Georgia. Recruited as one of the top quarterbacks in America and signed in 1994, he was too good for Ray Goff to keep off the field and he was moved to running back to backup Terrell Davis and eventually start during his injury.

As a true freshman, Ward rushed for 425 yards on 77 carries and added 101 yards on 19 catches.

But his real breakout year was 1995 when he played three different positions. That year, Ward rushed for 248 yards on 70 carries, caught 18 passes for 249 yards and completed 69-of-112 passes for 872 yards. That’s a total of 1,369 all-purpose yards.

When Jim Donnan came to Georgia in 1996, Ward was permanently moved to wide receiver where his career received the stability it needed. He led the Bulldogs with 900 yards on 52 catches that year with four touchdowns. Ward’s last year at Georgia saw him catch 55 passes for 715 yards with six touchdowns.

He left Georgia with career totals of 1,066 rushing yards, 1,965 receiving yards and 918 passing yards. If stats from bowl games counted back then, Ward would have 1,000 yards rushing, receiving and passing each.

Ward went on to have a great career with the Pittsburgh Steelers and will surely get into the Pro Football Hall of Fame sooner rather than later. In 15 seasons, he caught 1,000 passes for 12,083 yards with 85 touchdowns.