It’s a statistic in the era of wide-open, high-powered offenses that many Georgia fans find difficult to comprehend.

In the long, storied history of Bulldog football, only once has a receiver eclipsed 1,000 yards in a single season. That was Terrence Edwards, who caught 59 passes for 1,004 yards in 2002.

Five players - the late Brice Hunter (970), A.J. Green (970), Tavarres King (950), Mohamed Massaquoi (920), and Hines Ward (900) - came close.

Last fall, tight end Brock Bowers made a run, catching 56 passes for 882 yards, with 13 touchdowns, breaking Edwards’ old mark for a receiver of 11 TDs.

As the Bulldogs get ready to defend their national championship, offensive coordinator Todd Monken was asked about that odd quirk in Georgia history.

With the talent returning for the Bulldogs offensively, could that soon change?

"I really don't go into it that way, but I get it. I get skill players. I've coached them all my life. If you're in basketball you want to score, if you're in baseball you want to hit, and if you're a skill guy you want to touch the football,” Monken said. “I get that, and I understand certain skill guys' frustrations when they don't. That's their value.”

Monken, who has coached extensively in both college and the NFL, recalled the 2011 season when he was the offensive coordinator at Oklahoma State.

“Justin Blackman (in 2011) won the Biletnikoff. He had like 1700 yards,” Monken said. “Then the next year we had Josh Stewart, who had a thousand yards.”

Had George Pickens not missed most of last season recovering from his torn ACL, Monken feels the current Pittsburgh Steeler would have bettered the mark.

“I would've guessed if we had George, we would've had a 1,000-yard receiver last year, because he's a unique skill set,” Monken said. “When you get into run-play action and utilize matchups, like we had a number of guys that way, it's almost like inevitable.”

But sometimes it doesn’t.

Ultimately, it comes down to whatever the strength of your team happens to be.

“It is what it is. The idea for us, and it's frustrating for our players, is to score as much as we can, be explosive, and utilize the skill sets we have,” Monken said. “We get in the red zone and score touchdowns regardless of if we throw or run it. The rest of it is the talk, not really in terms of the value of what it really means.”

Still, Monken understands the question.

With luck, maybe Edwards will have some company once the season is complete.

“I get what you're saying, I really do. You would love to have someone you can count on, too. We had to be really creative last year with who that is,” Monken said. “Is it Brock (Bowers)? Is it AD (Mitchell)? Last year we had 4,000 passing yards and 2,000 yards rushing, so that's elite. You would love to have that, but sometimes it just doesn't work itself out that way."