The bad news continues for Georgia football as the Dawgs have another confirmed COVID-19 case as George Pickens allegedly tested positive, but after further developments, it turns out that it was a false positive.
After the news broke Tuesday evening about JT Daniels, there were no other positive cases, but early Wednesday morning, the UGA Rivals site confirmed the former 5-star wideout was the next.
While it’s another blow for the Dawgs, we all must remember that Georgia played most of the season without Pickens, and these young wideouts got a ton of experience, which is proving beneficial right now.
Georgia football is lucky they had to use young receivers this season because now it will help them.
The Dawgs leading wideout is true freshman Brock Bowers followed by redshirt freshman Ladd McConkey.
Bowers has 47 catches for 791 yards and 11 touchdowns, while McConkey has 28 catches for 430 yards and five scores.
Granted, we don’t know if anyone else will test positive, but for now, the Dawgs will still have their most productive players on the field for the game against Michigan.
After going so long without any COVID-19 related issues, Georgia needs to buckle down and make sure they’re taking all precautions necessary. The Dawgs seemed to be one of the least affected by COVID-19 throughout this season and last year, but now there are two positive cases in two days, so it is beginning to be concerning.
Losing Pickens stings because he is a force on the field no matter if he catches the ball or not, so it is a big loss for the Dawgs, but at the same time, it’s time to overcome one more kind of adversity thrown their way.
Pickens has had enough stuff thrown this year, so we feel for the young man and wish him a speedy recovery. Hopefully, it’ll be a mild case so he and Daniels can be back with the team sooner than later.
Behind the two freshmen, there is Jermaine Burton, who has 23 catches for 412 yards and four scores. He will be someone the Dawgs need to step up against the Wolverines.
Georgia has some depth at the wideout position, but it’ll all depend on whether more cases arise or not. If they don’t, that will be the best-case scenario, but if they do, it only gets tougher for the Dawgs.
Having so many injuries earlier this season helped Georgia put younger guys on the field, and with so many blowout wins, getting those youngsters on the field then has allowed them to prepare for a moment like this.
There are still nine days until the game against Michigan, but now that seems like a lifetime away with all the bad news. Hopefully, this will be a pretty isolated situation, but we will see, especially with the holidays here and the players going home.