Spring football for Georgia’s tight ends represents the beginning of redemption for a position that failed to produce in 2008.

Last season Bulldog tight ends pulled down only 11 catches for 172 yards and three scores.

Injuries played an integral role in the down year. Senior Tripp Chandler suffered a shoulder injury against Alabama and hurt his knee against Auburn.

Junior Bruce Figgins gutted out a torn labrum in his shoulder, for most of the season, delaying surgery until January.

That left redshirt freshman Aron White to find his way on the fly, coupled with a mix-and-match of who was healthy enough to contribute with an occasional snap for fullback Brannan Southerland and now-defensive end Kiante Tripp.

“When Tripp went down early and Bruce was injured for most of the season, there wasn’t a lot of experience out there, so it was hard to game plan for us and mix us in and rely on us a whole lot,” White said. “It was just the injuries that held us down. We had guys that were able, just who might not have had the confidence of the team yet.”

Last season was a far cry from the prestigious names Georgia has featured at tight end during the Mark Richt era. Jermaine Wiggins, Randy McMichael, Ben Watson, Leonard Pope and Martrez Milner were All-SEC selections.

The depth chart is thin at the position this spring with Figgins recovering from surgery, leaving only White and Bryce Ros as the lone scholarship participants at the position.

“Everybody is a little rusty after not putting on pads for a couple of months and putting our mind more on conditioning than X’s and O’s,” White said.

“As you get back into it, I feel we know a lot more than we knew during the season. I feel a lot more comfortable with the playbook and Bryce is more comfortable. I feel like we do the best that we can. We’re still young, me and Bryce.”

Said Ros, a redshirt freshman from Kennesaw: “I think that I’m, like Aron said, more comfortable with the playbook. It’s easier when you know what you’re doing plays-wise so you can work on perfecting your fundamentals and just everything as a whole. I’ve got a lot of great guys in front me like Aron, and Bruce is always in my ear telling me how to do it. I’ve got a great coach telling me how to do it.”

Figgins, who said he expects to be 100 percent by summer workouts, has been motivated by the progression White and Ros have made this spring.

“I’m really impressed with Aron, with what he’s doing in the receiving game and the blocking game,” Figgins said. “He’s full go, flying around the field making plays and doing all the small things we talk about as tight ends with coach [John] Lilly in the meeting room.

“He’s definitely making me feel the need to get back right and come back ready to compete for a position for playing time. He and Bryce Ros have created that atmosphere which is positive, what we need at tight end.”

Two heralded incoming freshmen, Arthur Lynch and Orson Charles, are expected to arrive this summer, giving Lilly five options to work with.

“The more players we have, the better off it is for competition,” Lilly said. “The better it’s going to make each other. I think they will push each other extremely well. The group we have here right now are a pretty tight group, and the new guys have met those guys and are in contact with them some, so I think it’s a pretty tight unit. It’s going to have to be because there’s going to be a lot of competition for just the plays that are out there to be made.”