Editor’s note: Each day between now and Georgia’s Capital One Bowl date with Nebraska, we will review the season for a key Bulldogs player and attempt to project what’s next. Today we’ll look at tight end Arthur Lynch.
No. 88 Arthur Lynch
Junior/Tight end
21 catches, 394 yards, 2 TDs
Role in 2012: After contributing almost exclusively as a blocker before this season, Lynch finally got a chance to catch some passes this season and had a productive fall.
The good: After a fairly quiet first half of the season, Lynch made his presence felt in the second half. He had three catches in each of the last four games, including a couple of long catches on the Bulldogs’ last-gasp drive that died at Alabama’s 5-yard line in a 32-28 loss in the SEC championship game. Lynch had only two receptions in his career (all the way back in 2009) before this season, but showed he can be a weapon in the passing game by ranking fourth on the team with 394 receiving yards.
The bad: Lynch’s numbers could have been even better, but he dropped a handful of passes this season. He performed well in his first season as something other than a role player, but he’ll need to clean up small things like dropped passes and the occasional untimely penalty to take another step forward in 2013.
Crystal ball: Lynch and Jay Rome had a tall order in taking over for Orson Charles and Aron White this season, but they acquitted themselves nicely. Lynch will be a senior next season and he should continue to be a reliable target for Georgia’s quarterbacks with so many other weapons in the Bulldogs’ arsenal that will divert opposing defenders’ attention away from the tight ends. If he continues to develop as a pass catcher, Lynch might develop into an NFL prospect in the 2014 draft.
