Georgia Football: Tyler Simmons finally getting his moment

Georgia Football looked great on offense against an over-matched U Mass team and Tyler Simmons finally got to show what he could do with the ball in his hands.

It’s hard for me to express just how great it is to see Tyler Simmons scoring two touchdowns this week. There are few players on the Georgia Football team who I respect as much as Simmons. He came in to the program as a 3-star ranked player who many didn’t even realize was a part of the 2016 recruiting class. Since arriving, he’s sat behind the likes of Javon Wims, Terry Godwin, Mecole Hardman and Riley Ridley and now Jeremiah Holloman. None of those guys has outworked Simmons and stopped him seeing the field.

Over the last couple of years, Simmons has been a walking, breathing, blocking example of what Kirby Smart wants from his receivers. In the run game, there are few receivers out there that set the edge as well as Simmons. He’s physical enough to completely take opposing corner backs out of the game and he can do the same with safeties when needed.

When you look at a lot of UGA’s big runs this season, chances are that you’ll see number 87 somewhere on the play throwing a big block. That’s the kind of dirty, ugly work that makes football teams good. It also doesn’t tend to get noticed very much by fans or announcers. It’s therefore been fantastic to start to see Simmons emerge this season as a genuine weapon when given the chance. It’s a just reward for everything else he brings to the table.

Simmons has scored four touchdowns this season for Georgia. He’s had two on the end around play which UGA use so effectively at time and his 71 yard catch yesterday was by far his biggest play of his UGA career. Every time he touches the ball, Simmons shows speed and explosiveness that many just wouldn’t expect when you consider his reputation. He’s got the talent to be so much more than just a blocker and this season, we’re finally seeing glimpses of that.

This emergence is going to help Georgia in a lot of ways. Not only does it give the QB’s another weapon to throw to when he’s on the field. It will also force defenses to respect him more in the passing game. They won’t be able to just assume that Simmons being in means that the Dawgs are running the ball. That should make for some more favorable match-ups and that’s important with Bama waiting in 2 weeks time.

I love seeing players like Simmons breakout and get their reward for a lot of hard work. We’ve seen the same from Deandre Baker and Javon Wims over the past few years. Both of those players were unheralded and turned themselves into stars. We all love the bright shiney 5-star players that come in and look awesome from day one, but guys like Simmons will always be a soft spot for me and I’ll always cheer for them to keep having more moments like he did this Saturday.