Georgia Football: 3 players who must step up due to Brock Bowers’ injury

Ladd McConkey

McConkey has been slowly getting re-integrated back into the offense after missing the first 4 games of the year due to an injury of his own. However, that return will likely be fully expedited now with a bye week this week and the absence of Bowers. So far, McConkey has 9 catches for 107 yards through 3 games, but has been in-and-out of the lineup.

Without Bowers on the field, Carson Beck will be looking for a new go-to target, and McConkey could be that guy. McConkey had developed a strong connection with Stetson Bennett a year ago, going for 58 catches, 762 receiving yards, and 7 TD’s. He also had 7 rushes for 134 rushing yards and 2 additional TD’s on the ground. He’s a guy that you want to get the ball to often.

McConkey’s specialty however is on 3rd down, as he is one of the best 3rd down receivers in the SEC and arguably in the nation. That was on full-display in Georgia’s come-from-behind win over Auburn in McConkey’s first game back from injury when he made 3 clutch catches for 1st down on 3rd & long. McConkey then somewhat surprisingly didn’t feature much on 3rd down this past Saturday against Vanderbilt, even when Georgia needed some conversions in what was a closer than expected game. I expect that to change moving forward however as Georgia will likely use this bye week to try and get McConkey to 100% and fully ready to be a full-go.