Mike Bobo doesn’t appear interested in easing Kaiden Prothro into college football the usual way. Georgia’s former five-star tight end is already being listed at wide receiver, and after one day of fall camp, that move is looking like the plan.
Prothro arrived in Athens with the kind of versatility that made this possibility easy to see coming. He played both tight end and wide receiver in high school, and while he was recruited as a tight end by Georgia out of high school, there was always a sense he could end up working at both spots during his college career. For now, though, the Bulldogs are leaning into the receiver side of his game.
That decision lines up neatly with Georgia’s roster situation. The Bulldogs lost six of their top seven pass catchers from last season to the NFL, leaving a lot of snaps up for grabs and a whole lot of uncertainty behind them.
Prothro is a true freshman, so he fits right into that group of unproven options. Moving him to wide receiver gives Georgia another shot at finding answers in a room that needs them.
That doesn’t mean he’s guaranteed to be an instant star. A few of Georgia’s young pass catchers may need more time before they’re ready for real responsibility, and Kirby Smart and Mike Bobo are clearly hoping enough of them can handle the spotlight sooner rather than later. The more bodies they can test in that mix, the better the odds of uncovering dependable pieces.
Prothro, though, brings something different. At 6'6'', he has the size to create problems for defensive backs, but he also has the quickness and agility of a much smaller player. That combination is exactly why he could become one of Gunner Stockton’s most reliable targets by the end of the season.
The move also makes sense because Georgia’s tight end room is already crowded. Lawson Luckie is the veteran headlining that group, and behind him are plenty of former four and five-star recruits waiting for their turn, including Lincoln Keyes, Ethan Barbour, Elyiss Williams, Jaden Reddel and Colton Heinrich. With that kind of depth in place, Georgia can afford to experiment elsewhere.
Some members of the media have even pointed to Georgia’s tight end group as one of the best, if not the No. 1, in the country. That makes the case for sliding Prothro to wide receiver even stronger, especially with so many questions still hanging over the receiving corps.
And if Georgia decides later that it needs him back at tight end, that option is still there. In fact, that flexibility may wind up being the biggest advantage of all. The smartest path might be to keep moving him around, using him at both spots and making life as difficult as possible for opposing defenses.
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