ATHENS — Arian Smith, the newest challenger for the title of “Georgia Football’s Fastest Man,” will be on the shelf for the next 3 to 6 weeks after arthroscopic knee surgery, per multiple reports.
Smith is a 6-foot-1, 170-pound true freshman receiver from Lakeland, Fla., who ranked as the No. 58 overall recruit in the nation in Georgia’s 2020 signing class.
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Smith won the Fastest Man Challenge at the Under Armour All-American camp in Orlando, showing off his world class speed.
UGASports.com reported that Smith underwent the surgery to repair a torn meniscus, and other media outlets have confirmed.
DawgNation learned that Smith was living up to his reputation as a speedster in camp and creating a stir that he might indeed be faster than cornerbacks Eric Stokes and Tyson Campbell, who have been widely regarded as the fastest players on the team.
Smith was just getting over offseason surgery he had on his wrist to repair an injury originally suffered last football season.
Georgia is installing a new offense under first-year coordinator Todd Monken and newly hired associate head coach Matt Luke.
The Bulldogs have much left to be determined, with five scholarship quarterbacks on the roster and an influx of talent at the skill positions, most notably, receiver.
Smith’s role is clear, as his tremendous speed will enable him to stretch the field once healthy and skilled enough to get loose from press coverage and block adequately down field.
Arthroscopic surgery typically takes about a month to come back from, meaning Smith likely won’t be cleared until after the Bulldogs have become their fall practices in earnest.
Coach Kirby Smart and his staff have only recently (Wednesday) been allowed to oversee the 8 hours of non-football workouts per week allowed by the NCAA.
Georgia can begin 20 hours a week of “walk-through” activity on July 26, with fall practices beginning in earnest on Aug. 9 and the first padded practice scheduled for Aug. 13.
Smith has run the 100-meter dash in 10.29 seconds and was a member of the U-20 Pan-Am games 400-meter relay team with fellow Georgia athlete Matthew Boling last summer.
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