Georgia football dominick blaylock wide receiver injuries

Much like last season, injuries at wide receiver have quickly become a problem for the Georgia Bulldogs. Speedy sophomore Arian Smith has already had ankle surgery, sidelining him for the foreseeable future.

Freshman De’Nylon Morrissette has been dealing with a knee injury that has only just now begun to allow to ramp at practice. Then on Saturday, Georgia coach Kirby Smart revealed that senior Kearis Jackson is dealing with an Achilles/ankle injury.

Smart did stress that Jackson was held out as a more precautionary measure than anything else. But it still paints a less than rosy picture at a key position for the Bulldogs this season.

“The number one thing we can do is to have more depth at the position and not have to count on freshmen,” Smart said. “Every year that I have been here we have had freshmen lead us in receiving.”

Perhaps that is what makes Smart’s mention of Dominick Blaylock all the more encouraging. While the Georgia head coach was, and always is, hesitant to give out praise following a scrimmage, Blaylock was the first player Smart identified.

“Dominick (Blaylock) made a nice play,” Smart said. “Young guys at wide out continue to step up.”

Blaylock no longer classifies as a young guy as he is now in his fourth year in the program. He made an early impact as a freshman and really found his footing towards the end of the 2019 campaign. He had touchdowns in key rivalry wins over Flordia, Auburn and Georgia Tech. But in the opening quarter of the team’s SEC championship defeat to LSU, Blaylock tore his ACL.

He then tore the same ACL next August just after he had been cleared for football activities. It dealt a tough blow to both Blaylock and the Georgia pass catchers.

“I can’t imagine getting hurt and getting reinjured two years,” offensive coordinator Todd Monken said. “Probably a lot of times question whether or not what if I do all of this again. What if I do all of this and it happens again? I’m sure every day, anybody that has ever played basketball and you roll your ankle, you don’t jump for a month. Imagine tearing your ACL and then you do it again. How long is that going to take to recover on the mental side, forget the physical side, and just being able to get out there and go.”

Blaylock was also slowed last season by a hamstring injury that limited him to just four games. Now for really the first time since the 2019 season, Blaylock appears to be back to his oldself.

It comes at a vital time for the Georgia wide receivers, with George Pickens and Jermaine Burton elsewhere and now Jackson and Smith dealing with injuries. Georgia does still have AD Mitchell and Ladd McConkey who have consistently run with the first team offense this fall. Dillon Bell has really impressed amongst the new additions.

But getting Blaylock back should help make things easier for quarterback Stetson Bennett and Georgia’s loaded tight end room.

“He’s always been a crafty route runner. He’s probably more crafty than he is fast,” Monken said. “He has a knack. Some guys just have a knack for getting open and making plays and contested catches and you can see that every day that he is out there.”

Given the positional overlap between Blaylock and Jackson, the former should be able to supplant some of the production from the latter if Jackson’s injury does prove to be more serious. Jackson showed a very impressive burst in Georgia’s spring game, so his ankle injury will certainly be a storyline to follow entering the game against Oregon.

But Blaylock should not be forgotten entering that game. He’s had too good of an offseason and fall camp — he looks improved physically as he has now finally had an offseason in the Georgia football strength and conditioning program where he hasn’t been focusing on just rehab — to be thought of as a lesser option in the Georgia passing offense.

And the fact that the first game of this season will be in the same building where Blaylock’s injury troubles first began to plague him make for a more storybook return to being a regular contributor for the Georgia offense.

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