Georgia Football: Arian Smith’s time has finally come

Georgia football finally gets its chance to see Arian Smith.

Georgia football has not had good luck at the wide receiver position as of late. George Pickens has been nursing an abdomen injury for a couple of weeks now and Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint fractured his ankle scoring his first touchdown of the season putting him out for the rest of the year. However, Georgia has gotten some great news on the wide receiver injury front.

Georgia fans have been waiting for months to get their first look at freshman wide receiver Arian Smith. He injured his knee earlier in the year. Smith is a 6-0 185 pound wide receiver from Lakeland, Florida who was rated as a four-star recruit and the ninth-best wide receiver in the country by 247’s Composite. He committed to Georgia back in December as part of Georgia’s Early Signing Day.

Smith not only traveled with Georgia football down to Jacksonville last weekend, but he also dressed out for the game. Here is a picture of Smith warming up before the Florida game courtesy of ugafootballnation on Instagram:

While at Lakeland High School, Smith was an explosive weapon. He ran the ball four times for 109 yards, averaging 27.3 yards per carry, and scoring two touchdowns. He also caught 25 passes for 419 yards, averaging 16.8 yards per catch, and scoring six touchdowns. Not only was he a weapon on offense, but he also played special teams. He returned five kickoffs for 215 yards, averaging 43 yards per return, and scoring two touchdowns.

Georgia football hasn’t had a player like Smith since Mecole Hardman left for the NFL. They miss the kind of dynamic speed he will provide. He can take the top off the defense and make sure that Zamir White and company are not running into eight-man fronts. He can also add to the run game by taking Jet Sweeps and End Arounds.

Smith’s best time in the 100-meter is 10.39 and his best time in the 200-meter is 21.14. He is also a co-World Record holder:

Point blank, Smith is the kind of athlete you want to have the ball in his hands any way possible, especially in space. He can take the ball to the house at any given moment. His athletic ability should be fully showcased in Todd Monken’s offense. Monken has already been able to scheme many receivers open this season, but many times have been missed by Georgia’s quarterbacks.

This is where Smith’s speed will come into play. It will be quite a feat for Georgia’s quarterbacks to overthrow him.

However, it’s not just at wide receiver that Smith will make his mark. Imagine being the kicker on the other team and you looking down the field at Smith or Kenny McIntosh. Who do you kick it to, the kid that averaged 43 yards per return last year in high school or the kid that is averaging 42 yards a return before injuring his knee against Alabama?

Having Smith in the fold is going to do so much for Georgia’s offense. Between his ability to take it to the house on any given play and the attention he will get, opening up other players, his contributions will be invaluable. It has been a couple of years since Georgia football has had a weapon like Smith and that kind of dynamic ability has been sorely missed.

Hopefully, Monken will get Smith involved early and often against the Tigers this Saturday. Georgia football fans have waited a long enough time to see him and are ready to watch him run wild on the rest of the SEC. With Georgia’s wide receiver corps ailing a bit at the moment the timing couldn’t be better for Smith to show out.