Georgia’s Dominick Blaylock tears ACL for the second time

Georgia football will be without Dominick Blaylock for the 2020 season.

How can you not feel awful for what happened to Georgia football’s Dominick Blaylock yesterday?

Blaylock, who was working his way back from a torn ACL suffered in the SEC Championship game loss to the LSU Tigers back in December 2019, has reportedly torn his ACL again. Brooks Austin of Sports Illustrated was the first to report the devastating news on the Georgia wide receiver, with many other members of the Georgia football beat following shortly thereafter. This is so brutal.

How will Georgia football offset Dominick Blaylock’s season-ending injury?

Blaylock was a four-star recruit out of Walton High School in Marietta, Georgia in the 2019 recruiting class. According to the 247Sports Composite, Blaylock was the No. 5 wide receiver in the country, the No. 8 player from Georgia and the No. 36 overall player in that recruiting cycle. Blaylock is the son of former NBA All-Star Mookie Blaylock, who starred for the Atlanta Hawks.

As a true freshman last year, Blaylock showed flashes of prominence in an otherwise underwhelming Georgia passing offense. He had 18 catches for 310 yards and five touchdowns, as well as returning 14 punts for 128 yards. While Blaylock was not fully cleared for practice, he was expected to make a full recovery and be a big factor in Georgia’s receiving corps this season.

Obviously, Blaylock will miss the entire 2020 college football season as he recovers from his torn ACL for a second time. As for who has to step up in the Georgia receiving corps, a few names immediately jump off the page. Recruiting classmate George Pickens has to be this team’s No. 1 and redshirt senior Demetris Robertson really needs to flourish opposite of Pickens as the No. 2.

Along with Blaylock, these were the two wide receivers that were expected to carry the weight of this newfound Georgia passing offense under new coordinator Todd Monken with Wake Forest Demon Deacons graduate transfer Jamie Newman as their quarterback. Look for redshirt junior Matt Landers, redshirt sophomore Kearis Jackson and freshman Marcus Rosemy to step up.

Though Georgia is deep enough and talented enough to offset the brutal loss of Blaylock for the season, we have to wonder if not having him and his clutch receiving skills will hurt the Dawgs in the long run. This is Georgia’s best chance to win a national title since 1980. Though they’re seen as the fourth-best team in the country, every setback will be looked at under a microscope.

Here’s to my fellow Walton Raider and Georgia Bulldog to make a full and speedy recovery.

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