The New Orleans Saints became the latest NFL team to pilfer the Georgia tight end room in the third round of the NFL Draft on Friday night, selecting Oscar Delp with the 73rd overall pick.
With Delp’s selection, a Georgia tight end has been drafted for the seventh time in eight seasons.
Casual NFL fans may not have seen as much highlight-wise of Delp during his Georgia career, and sharing time at a position with Brock Bowers part of his time in Athens clearly had a bit to do with that. But in times when Georgia has leaned on the tight end the past few years is when Delp thrived as a blocker and receiver.
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“I think it’s the most important thing you can do as a tight end is to be able to block and bring that to your game,” Delp told Nola.com “I love being able to dominate another man, and in a successful offense, you have to have a tight end that can dominate the perimeter and own the C gap.”
It’s also of note that Delp was not targeted more than 32 times in a single season at Georgia, so the thinking is may be what he showed in Athens could be magnified even more with additional passes thrown Delp’s way.
That, combined with an impressive pro day that included a 4.49 40-yard dash time makes Delp a nice pickup for New Orleans, a team seeking to beef up its offensive arsenal and build on quarterback Tyler Shough’s growth.
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Someone with Delp’s measurables and capabilities plays right into that agenda for the Saints.
Go Dawgs!
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