PFF won’t be caught off guard by Oscar Delp’s season

It’s that time of year when the next football season seems so far away, but Pro Football Focus is doing its best to fill the days with offseason preview content. Recently, the publication took a look at some of the NCAA’s top prospects to break out in 2024, including a name Georgia fans know: junior tight end. Oscar Delp.

The Cumming, Georgia native has already contributed. He appeared in 13 of 15 games as a true freshman, including significant action in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl against Ohio State, replacing the injured Darnell Washington. He scored a touchdown on his first collegiate catch – against the team he grew up watching but chose UGA (South Carolina) – and was ready to play an even bigger role as a student in second year.

Starting 10 times and playing in all 14 games last season, Delp totaled 24 catches for 284 yards and three touchdowns. In no world was he Georgia’s top target as a tight end with Brock Bowers available, but when Bowers went down and missed time, it was Delp who was deemed the TE1.

Statistically speaking, a few games stand out above the rest. He had a career-high three catches against UAB, Missouri and Florida State. He found the end zone against the Tigers – also doing so in the season opener against UT Martin and Kentucky – and rushed for 50 yards on two catches against Ball State. Some of the games mentioned did not feature Bowers. This allowed Delp to shine, and this season without Bowers, he will be considered the most experienced tight end in the Georgia system.

Yes, the Bulldogs are bringing in Stanford transfer Ben Yurosek, and yes, there are other talented options in the room like Lawson Luckie and Jaden Reddell. However, the time spent in the UGA offense and the trust built with the coaching staff will in all likelihood allow Delp to take advantage of opportunities.

“It will be difficult for any tight end to follow in the footsteps of Brock Bowers – or any Georgia tight end, for that matter. But Delp certainly has the talent to do it,” PFF wrote. “We saw him feature in the Bulldogs offense in some capacity last year, especially when Bowers was out. He finished the season with 284 receiving yards and three scores on 24 catches to finish with a PFF grade of 66.3. Exactly 50 percent of his run came after the catch, and he forced five missed tackles in those 24 catches. We’ll likely see him get a much larger target share this year. It will be up to Delp to make the most of it and increase this overall rating.

The excitement of seeing Delp get more looks isn’t just shared by PFF. Others in the industry believe big things are in store for him this season. It’s part of the reason why Georgia’s tight end is considered the best in the country — even without Bowers — and why Delp could be the one to extend UGA’s streak to seven straight years with a tight end taken during the NFL draft.

“He showed great tenacity, great maturity, great durability. That’s what Oscar Delp was,” Kirby Smart said after the spring game. “Oscar Delp is the only guy, when Darnell (Washington) was out, Oscar took all the reps. When Brock was away, Oscar took all the rehearsals. So Oscar took a lot of football reps and got better for us.

Delp and the Dawgs should enter the season as the top-ranked team. They will open the season on August 31 in Atlanta against Clemson.