ATHENS - Georgia spent the offseason keeping its roster intact better than almost anyone in the SEC, but the one area that took a real hit was the passing game. The Bulldogs brought back a lot of familiar faces on both sides of the ball, yet the list of departed pass catchers was enough to leave a clear question hanging over this offense.
Zachariah Branch, Dillon Bell, Noah Thomas, Colbie Young and tight end Oscar Delp are all gone from the group that helped shape Georgia’s aerial attack. Branch, who set a Georgia record for single-season receptions last season, was often the answer when quarterback Gunner Stockton needed a play. With Branch now on the Atlanta Falcons, the Bulldogs are left sorting out who fills that role in 2026.
Offensive coordinator Mike Bobo said Wednesday that the staff is still in the middle of that process.
“We lost a lot of experience last year with some skill players, the four receivers and the tight end. That’s what we’re in the midst of doing right now,” Bobo said on Wednesday. “Trying to find out who we are, the best way for us to move the ball offensively, to control the game, to be explosive.”
Bobo made clear that Georgia is not trying to recreate Branch or Brock Bowers. Those kinds of players are rare, and the Bulldogs know it.
Still, explosive plays have to come from somewhere. Bobo said the offense can benefit from having one player who can take over a game on his own, but he also pointed to a different kind of strength: a quarterback who can distribute the ball and force defenses to account for everybody.
“It runs through the quarterback sometimes,” Bobo said. “And if they’re good at distributing, the defense has to defend everybody.
You might have that one guy that they put a little more attention to, but the quarterback does the right thing. You’ve got players at all these positions that you talked about; you gotta trust them to go make that, go make plays.
And I think when you can do things, do a lot of different things well, I think you’ve got a chance to be real successful.”
For now, Georgia has options. What it doesn’t have is much proven production in a Georgia uniform beyond senior London Humphreys.
That lack of experience has turned the receiver and tight end rooms into open competition. With Branch, Young and Bell soaking up so many catches a season ago, there are plenty of touches available, and Bobo said the staff is watching closely to see who claims them.
“Who emerges? Is there a young guy that emerges?
These guys are a little bit better than you thought. We’re more explosive in this personnel group,” Bobo said.
“ … Those touches have to go somewhere. They’re doing a good job of competing.”
The next real checkpoint comes in Georgia’s two upcoming scrimmages, where Bobo and the rest of the staff will get a better sense of who is separating from the pack. Among the names worth watching are Talyn Taylor, CJ Wiley, Jaden Reddell, Elyiss Williams and freshman Tre Shields, who has already generated buzz.
It’s a group with plenty of pedigree, too. Four of those five were former top-100 recruits, and Bobo described the unit as a “more explosive personnel group” than last season’s team.
That kind of depth gives Georgia flexibility, and Bobo said the Bulldogs’ offense is built to use it.
“At Georgia, we have a big volume of offense. We do a lot of things offensively and we don’t carry all those things in one game.
But our volume allows us to be multiple from game to game and how we want to attack somebody,” Bobo said. “And when you have multiple positions, whether it’s tight end receivers or backs, and you’ve got good depth at all those, it allows you to do more things.”
That may be true anywhere else, but Georgia isn’t anywhere else. The Bulldogs enter every season with title expectations, and until this group proves otherwise, the questions around the passing game will keep coming.
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