Georgia Football: What happens with Mecole Hardman?
Mecole Hardman has been seeing more and more time at Wide Receiver this spring training. Are the Georgia Football coaches looking at a full time position switch for him?
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Mecole Hardman Jr has become one of the bigger talking points for the Georgia Football team in 2017. Having spent his entire freshman season learning to play cornerback, he has been taking snaps this spring practice at wide receiver. Hardman was an explosive athlete when he signed for UGA in 2016, but it seems that the coaches are still trying to find his niche in the team.
He played very sparingly with the team in 2016, it seems like he’s going to get a lot more playing time this year. Both sides of the ball seem to be battling it out for him this spring. He’s currently getting a lot of work with the second unit at cornerback but its the reps at receiver that have people taking notice.
Hardman is a truly explosive player, the kind that gets people excited when he gets his hands on the ball. His high school coach Sid Fritts told Dawgnation.com’s Chip Towers back in March 2016:
"“The report I get is they want to look at him as a corner first, and I understand that. He definitely has the skillset to advance his career on that side of the ball. For me, it’d be hard for me to take the ball away from him, because he’s special with that football in his hands.”"
Does anybody know where to play him?
Therein lies the great dilemma with Hardman. While long term he could well become a great cornerback, his raw ability when he has the ball in his hands is hard for coaches to ignore. With Isaiah McKenzie now gone, there are also a lot more opportunities available for a player like Hardman to get the ball.
With McKenzie now gone and no clear replacement, having a player with such clear athletic traits step in is enticing for everyone. It’d going to be fascinating to see over the rest of the offseason just how this situation evolves. It’s not just offense and defense, Hardman is also expected to return punts much like Mckenzie last year.
All of this makes Mecole Hardman one of the most intriguing players at UGA going into the 2017 season. The last player to play both sides of the ball with success was a rather well known player called Champ Bailey. He played with none other than Kirby Smart during his time in Athens. He also happened to wear the #4 jersey, the same one Hardman wears at UGA at the moment.
If Hardman can replicate even some of the future NFL Hall of Famer’s Georgia career, he could well become one of the most impactful UGA players in 2017.