In Part 2 of our What We Learned series, we flip over to the offense, where wide receiver Arian Smith is hoping to parlay good health into the best season of his collegiate career.
What we learned: Arian Smith
When Arian Smith is healthy, he’s a touchdown waiting to happen. For anyone who has watched Smith over the previous two seasons, that does not exactly qualify as breaking news.
Assuming he can remain physically intact, a major breakout could be coming.
For the first time since he’s been at Georgia, Smith made it through spring practice unscathed. The results were telling.
Per observers, Smith appears to not only be in the best shape of his life. His skills as a receiver are sharpening, though there’s still work to do.
In the 44 games Georgia has played while Smith has been on campus, he's only appeared in 19 games due to a trio of injuries—wrist, MCL, and what the Florida native described as a “broken foot.”
When he's 100 percent, his stats have been mind-blowing. In those 19 games, Smith has 12 catches for 386 yards (an average of 32.2 yards per grab) and four touchdowns.
“Of course, I’m looking and thinking, ‘Man I could have helped out in that game,” said Smith, who has yet to make it through a season uninjured in his Bulldog career.
Smith does not deny the injuries brought on a lot of frustration. But he never allowed either to get the best of him.
“I just focused on the present. I never tried to focus on the future.”
Why is his role important?
You can’t coach speed. If you want to know why Smith is considered such an integral part of Georgia’s offense, that's the reason. He possesses elite speed.
In fact, Smith qualified for the NCAA 100-meter championship race in 2021. His qualifying time of 10.10 seconds was just behind track superstar Matthew Boling's 10.09.
It’s not like Smith isn’t the only “fast” player on the Bulldogs. Ladd McConkey, Dominic Lovett, Anthony Evans III and C.J. Smith can scoot, too. However, Smith is a different category.
Fans saw that for themselves in the semifinals at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl against Ohio State, when Smith blew by defensive back Luther Ransom for a 76-yard score. Ransom fell down on the play, but it didn't matter. Smith was gone.
“I moved so fast, I really didn’t see him fall down,” Smith said. “I was just worried about catching the ball—just focus on the ball.”
Looking ahead to fall practice, Smith said he will not be resting on any spring laurels. There’s a lot of improvement to do.
“For me, it’s just getting better at football as a whole, not just going deep; the small things, too,” Smith said. “Everything: details, blocking, catching short routes, everything to become an all-around receiver.”
Quoting Kirby Smart on Smith
“It was great. I hold my breath every time; I’m worried about injury. He’s really a fast guy. At times, he gets some awkward tackles, and it scares you. He had a good spring. We have to be smart about our workload and the volume of work for him. The more he does, the more he becomes injury-prone. He stretches the field in ways that other guys can’t do. We have to be smart about that.”
