Georgia football is losing it’s top 4 receiving targets from last season and perhaps nobody has more riding on the 2019 season than Demetris Robertson.
We all know that this is an important offseason for Georgia football. Their 2018 ended with a whimper after they fell flat on their face in the Sugar Bowl. The expectation in the fanbase is pretty simple. Natty or bust. Nothing else will be classified as a good season for this group. That is a lot of pressure on what is going to once again be a very young team. No position group will experience more of that than the wide receivers who lose three of their top 4 guys to the NFL draft.
One player that UGA needs to step up and fill that void is Demetris Robertson. The top-ranked receiver in the 2016 class, Robertson lit up the Pac-12 in his freshman season at Cal. Unfortunately, an injury derailed his sophomore season and homesickness led to his transfer to Georgia. He came in late in the summer and never had a chance to cement himself as a legitimate weapon last year. That needs to change not only for Georgia but Robertson himself in 2019.
Robertson is going into his 4th year at University. He still has an additional year of availability thanks to a redshirt being granted after his injury in 2017. That being said, if Robertson is going to have a future in the NFL, this has to be the year where he once again shows the tantalizing talent that he has. One season lost to injury is ok. Another lost to scheme and fitness issues after family challenges led to a move is not insurmountable. But to have three essentially nothing seasons after being so good as a freshman, that would essentially end Robertson’s chance of making that next level.
It shouldn’t happen. Robertson is too good, too talented to spend another year watching from the sideline. Kirby Smart demands a lot from his receivers and there’s little doubt that this was one heck of an adjustment for Robertson. He went from never blocking to that being the most important job he would have in this offense. That’s not easy, especially having missed so much time and not being in a proper S&C program. But as we head into the spring, Robertson finally has the experience and foundation that he’ll need to make an impact going forward. It’s time for him to take that next step.
I don’t think any Georgia player has more riding on these spring training session than Robertson. If he balls out, he’s got the chance to be the #1 receiver in a championship level offense. He and Jeremiah Holloman could form one of the most dangerous tandems in college football and that’s without even taking all of Georgia’s other receivers into account. Holloman is the natural number, one guy, right now, but Robertson’s speed is genuinely special. If it all clicks in place for him this year, he’s got the ability to do truly unique things this year and become a weapon that every defense fears.
If he can’t do that and raise his performance from last year, then he’ll quickly get left behind. UGA is bringing in two 5-star receivers into the team this summer in Dominick Blaylock and George Pickens. Both will fight for a starting job which is why Robertson needs to have made a big move while neither is here. He’ll also be battling against the likes of Matt Landers, Tommy Bush, and Kearis Jackson, all young and talented guys in their own right and desperate to see the field. He’ll also have to remove Tyler Simmons from the current role he has as the starter across from Holloman. Simmons doesn’t have the raw talent of Robertson but he blocks like the devil himself and Kirby Smart love him.
This past year, we saw flashes of just what Robertson could do. In the spring, his team will need to see real, tangible signs that the player that looked like a potential 1st round draft pick is still there and has just been waiting to come out. If he can tap into that talent, the sky is the limit for just where Robertson can go with his career. More importantly, the Georgia offense could be legitimately terrifying.