Georgia football bolstered its wide receiving corps this winter with the addition of three transfers from Power Five programs including Miami’s Colbie Young.

The Binghamton, N.Y., native was third on the Hurricanes in catches and third in targets, but one of his former teammates thinks there was more that the rising senior could have offered.

“We used him a lot this past year and probably could have used him more and really benefitted from it,” said Matt Lee, who started every game at center for Miami last season after transferring from UCF. “Not to knock anybody, but I think that’s the type of talent he has. I know within UM and the coaches and staff there, there was a very high opinion of him. His potential is with the talent that he has. He can be a really good player.”

Georgia certainly hopes so.

Young, which at 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds on the Bulldogs’ spring roster is two inches shorter than Miami’s roster had him, can be a tough matchup as Clemson found out.

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Young went up and snagged an 11-yard, fourth-quarter touchdown in 1-on-1 coverage against Nate Wiggins, a projected NFL first-round draft pick in a game in which he had six catches for 76 yards. Young went up and grabbed another ball on an outside throw later to set up a field goal in a game Miami won 28-20 in double overtime.

“He’s like a good jump ball guy,” said Georgia cornerback Julian Humprhey who watched video clips of Young at Miami. “He’s going on top of people. He’s a big guy. He’s really going to be a big piece of us for this fall.”

Three of Young’s five touchdowns last season came in the red zone.

That size advantage has shown up on the Georgia practice field this spring.

“You judge a skillset on one-on-ones when he goes against DBs, you don't really judge his skillset in a scrimmage right now because he's trying to figure everything out,” coach Kirby Smart said. “And it's not from like a freshman standpoint, it's from a familiarity standpoint. I'm pleased with where he is.”

Young, who spent his freshman season at Lackawanna (Pa.) College, had 47 catches for 563 yards last season after having 32 for 376 yards and 5 touchdowns in 2022.

“He’s big, tall. 6-3, 6-4,” Lee said. “I don’t know how much he weighs but he’s got muscle on him. He’s a pretty big dude. He’s a big vertical threat. He jumps high. He’s a good 50-50 ball guy.”

Young showed improvement last season working with position coach Kevin Beard, a quality control coach at Georgia in Smart’s first season.

“He helped me find myself for sure,” Young told reporters last preseason. “He has a standard where I have to elevate my game to where I’m not doing things wrong, but he just wants to be better at a receiver, how can I take my game to the next level?”

Smart had a hit with another Miami transfer receiver in Lawrence Cager in 2019. He had 476 yards and 4 touchdowns on 33 catches in just nine games.

Smart last week said Young had his ups and downs so far at Georgia. Young appeared to grab a touchdown pass in Saturday’s second spring scrimmage, according to a clip put out by Georgia football on social media.

“Colbie Young, he's flashed,” Smart said. “He's seen some really, really great spectacular plays, and then he's disappeared at times. So, it's a learning curve. He doesn't have confidence and know the offense inside and out completely, so I don't think you can judge. …He's really a hard worker and where he's shown up is on special teams. I mean, he's shown a commitment to special teams that I didn't expect to see, which shows me his toughness level and his buy-in."

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Why Colbie Young could be a 'really good player' for Georgia football