Want to attack every day with the latest UGA football recruiting info? That’s what the Intel brings. This entry offers an update on the recruiting timeline of 2022 priority TE target Oscar Delp of West Forsyth High School in Georgia. 

Gunner Stockton has a way with words. It might necessitate half a can of WD-40 sometimes to get him to really open up.

Yet when he does, the outlook of a cattle farming Northeast Georgia country boy just comes out.

He sees things from a different perspective.

The topic this time was Oscar Delp. When asked about the nation’s No. 1 TE prospect (247Sports Composite) for 2022, Stockton didn’t lock onto the obvious.

The frame? No. Hands? Nope. The routes like a receiver? Nada. The way Delp finds an uncommon gear for a near 6-foot-5 TE to go beyond the second level? Stockton knows that, but no.

Those two are first-year teammates on the well-regarded Hustle, Inc. 7-on-7 squad. Does the Georgia commit think Delp could do damage in Athens?

Sure. That’s just not the main thing right now.

It is an impressive sight to see Delp open up in the open field with some good body control. (Jeff Sentell/DawgNation)/Dawgnation)

“I’d really like to play with him,” Stockton said. “But I’m really trying to get a roommate, too. Oscar would be a good one.”

Those two roomed together for the first 7-on-7 road trip of the season. The squad fared very well in the annual Myrtle Beach kickoff tournament.

Delp said it went well. He even described the 5-star QB as the neat and tidy one.

What was that time like for Stockton?

“Really just getting to know him besides the fact he is a really good football player,” Stockton said.

Delp is skilled enough to do a lot… including potentially joining 2021 signee Brock Bowers as the breaker of chains around the TE position at UGA.

“It was awesome,” Delp said of rooming with Stockon. “The last tournament was our first tournament rooming together. Our first tournament. Our first tournament together. It was really cool. We were just hanging out. It was like we’ve known each other for two years already the first time we really started hanging out. It was awesome.”

Delp already has his own view of Stockton.

“He’s funny,” Delp said. “He’s cool, but he’s really humble. That’s one thing I got of it. He’s all-around a great kid and a great person.”

The 7-on-7 circuit has shown him the real side of Georgia’s prized 5-star QB for this class.

“The one thing I’ve noticed about Gunner is if he makes a little mistake or throws a pick or something he completely forgets about it the next play and plays like it never even happened,” Delp said. “That’s one thing a lot of players struggle with but he doesn’t even let anything get in his head. He just moves on and moves right on from it. It is really cool to see.”

Oscar Delp (left) and Gunner Stockon are getting to know each another well on the Hustle, Inc. 7-on-7 squad this winter. (Jeff Sentell/DawgNation)/Dawgnation)

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Oscar Delp: What his recruiting looks like now

Delp is an excellent communicator. He’s candid and unlike most big brothers, he is comfortable enough in his own skin to crown his youngest sibling as the best athlete in the family.

That’s saying quite a lot.

That’s another thing to add to the list which stands out about Delp. Not just his deft skills in lacrosse.

He shared a few insights of the moment regarding his recruiting and where it currently stands.

  • Delp is still waiting on “normal.” That is for in-person visits to move forward. That’s been the charted course for some time and he’s not deviating from it.
  • His fact-finding will be: “Who is going to use me the best and how they are going to use me,” he said. “Who actually throws the ball to their tight ends? What is the history their offense has with tight ends? I will be getting in-depth with their rosters and seeing how I fit in and where I fit best. How many guys do they have at tight end? When are they graduating and just all that stuff?”
  • He’d like to get five visits in at the five schools he really likes. From there, he feels he will be able to take what he’s learned through the long Zoom recruiting cycle and project the best fits from there. 
  • “I’d rather get it over probably at the beginning of my senior year,” Delp said. “During the season. But I will take as long as I have to. I want to be able to go to some games. To use my officials on game days so I will really be able to get a feel of the atmospheres of all these stadiums. I feel I will be able to do that at the beginning of the college season and hopefully then get a decision out of the way.” 
  • He still plans to be an early enrollee, but said he has taken a step back from all of the Zoom recruiting at this time. “If I have any questions about an offense or something, then I will text coach and get on a quick Zoom and they will show me everything.” 

Delp shared a thought on catching passes from Stockton. He’s now caught over 200 of those over the last few weeks.

“It is a good ball,” he said. “It is there and it is in the right spot. He’s not one of those quarterbacks that are throwing it as hard as they can. He knows how to put the touch on it. It is really one of the best balls I have caught.”

Georgia tight ends coach Todd Hartley continues to reach him every day with a “Good morning O” type of text greeting. Or an edit.

“It is just me and my family or me in the Georgia uniform,” Delp said. “It is always cool to get those texts.”

He’s done a Zoom with just offensive coordinator Todd Monken and Hartley showing him the offense. He had another one planned with UGA for early this week, too.

Oscar Delp took a big jump from the nation’s No. 10 TE to the nation’s No. 1 TE in the latest March recruiting ranking updates. (Jeff Sentell/DawgNation)/Dawgnation)

Why Clemson is a team to watch with Oscar Delp

When Clemson offered this year, it was a big deal.

“It is an honor getting an offer from them,” he said earlier this year. “Just growing up and going to Clemson games with my grandpa. I mean he’s the biggest Clemson fan I know. We would always talk about this together when I was younger. Now it’s reality and the fact that they’ve offered only three or four other tight ends and I’m one of them is crazy to me. I mean it is just an honor. I’m excited.”

It sounds like Clemson, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Michigan and USC are the schools he most consistently brings up among his recently-dropped top 13.

He wore a pair of USC gloves at his weekend Hustle, Inc. workout. He has an aunt and uncle in California. They are USC fans, but they are not die-hards.

“The only die-hard fans in our family are my Mom’s parents which live out in Columbia and my grandma is actually a die-hard Gamecock,” Delp said last month. “My grandpa is a die-hard Clemson Tiger. So it is house divided. It is always fun when I go over there.”

That was the initial feeling. Clemson has been recruiting him like a priority since.

“I’ve been getting on FaceTimes with coach Dabo [Swinney] and all of them,” Delp said. “This week I was actually FaceTiming them during their practice. They showed me their ‘Paw’ drill which was like an Oklahoma and a really hard-hitting drill. It was really cool to see all of that. Just kind of to see all the players on FaceTime and talk to the coaches. They are a family school. They really care about meeting you as a person and your family.”

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Oscar Delp is the oldest of three brothers. It sounds like all three Delp brothers are going to be college football prospects in their own right as time goes by. (Jeff Sentell/DawgNation)/Dawgnation)

SENTELL’S INTEL

(the recent reads on DawgNation.com)