Georgia Football: Next Dawg up in receiving room with JJ Holloman gone

Georgia football found out on June 21 that JJ Holloman would not be with the team this fall. Despite losing him, the Bulldogs have an abundance of talent in the receiving room that can step up in his place.

JJ Holloman is no longer on the Georgia football team. Head coach Kirby Smart announced on Friday in a Covington News article that broke the news that he is no longer on the team because of what happened.

He allegedly hit the victim on April 22, 2018, but the victim went to the police department on June 2, to report the assault.

While the mistake happened and losing Holloman is a blow, it is not the death of the 2019 team.

Holloman had 24 catches for 418 yards and five touchdowns last season and was the Dawgs leading returning wideout. He was also one of Jake Fromm’s go-to guys toward the end of the season.

While losing him is a significant blow because he was the guy with the most experience in that group, it’s not the end of the world.

In fact, I’ll completely disagree with my fellow writer that it doesn’t dim the situation at all. Yes, it does put a huge question mark on the receiving room, but completely throws the season up for grabs, that I disagree with because like Smart always says, it’s next man up, and this is not an exception.

While it hurts to lose that much experience in a room that desperately needs a veteran to lead the way, the Dawgs have plenty of talent that all they have to do is step up and be ‘the guy.’

Georgia has Matt Landers, Kearis Jackson, Tommy Bush, Trey Blount, Demetris Robertson, Tyler Simmons, Dominick Blaylock, Lawrence Cager, George Pickens, and Makiya Tongue in its receiver room,  on scholarship. This list excludes the walk-on guys.

The only two guys on this list that had at least a catch last year were Simmons and Blount.

Blount is one that could step up, but there are others too. Here are two guys in my opinion that step up in a big way to replace Holloman and prove that Georgia isn’t going anywhere because of one player’s mistake.

Demetris Robertson

The first person on my list is Robertson because he has experience playing at Cal. He played in nine games last year and had a 72-yard run against Austin Peay.

While at Cal, his freshman year showed precisely what he could do for a team on the field.

In 2016, Robertson had 50 catches for 767 yards and seven touchdowns. Those are the numbers I want to see from him at Georgia, and 2019 is the year.

Robertson didn’t record a catch, but at the same time, he was working on getting his blocking down and learning the playbook and getting acquainted with a new environment.

While I’m not giving him excuses because he could have been used more last year and I’m surprised he didn’t have more catches.

Now, he’s a junior and one of the veteran guys in the receiving room. He also has the year under his belt, so now it’s time for him to step up and take over.

Robertson has no excuse this season. He is the first guy I think steps up and comes into his own in 2019.

If he wants a career in the NFL, 2019 is the year to show the world that there’s a place for Robertson in the NFL.

Lawrence Cager

Cager transferred to Georgia from Miami as a graduate transfer. Similar to Robertson, Cager has other experience on this level.

He started 12 of 13 games last year for Miami and led the Hurricanes with six touchdown catches. Cager recorded 21 catches for 374 yards and caught at least one pass in 12 of 13 games.

As for his entire career at Miami, Cager had 45 catches for 681 yards and ten touchdowns.

Cager is also 6-5 and 220 pounds so he’s bigger than Holloman and with his experience come in and earn a starting role.

He knows what it takes to get on the field, so why would it be any different at Georgia. Cager is a veteran and can become a leader the longer he’s with the team.

Fromm can use him for those jump balls as he did with Wims and Holloman.  Cager is just icing on the cake for the Bulldogs, and with Holloman gone, his path opened right up to start.

I’m excited to see Cager in red and black and think he can be a massive help in 2019.

Overabundance of talent

Georgia has 10  guys that have the chance to fill the void of losing Holloman.

One of them can step up and take Holloman’s spot, but at the same time, these 10 players have to replace Terry Godwin, Riley Ridley, and Mecole Hardman.

The Dawgs have a little over two months to finish summer workouts and get done with fall camp. As the season approaches, who will actually replace Holloman will come to the surface and the Dawgs will be just fine.

One player does not make or break the team. While he was a leader on this team, its time for another to step up and be the leader and I think either one of the guys highlighted above can do that.