When former Georgia tight end Ben Watson scored two game-deciding touchdowns in the final minutes on Monday Night Football earlier this week, many in Bulldog Nation were watching.

Orson Charles was not among them.

“I didn’t really get to see it because I had homework to do and I didn’t want to go to sleep too late,” said Charles, Georgia’s dynamic freshman tight end. “But I saw the highlights . I think it was a read route. We do the same thing here. So why can’t we execute like he did?”

Charles has charged himself and his fellow tight ends with restoring the tradition of Bulldog greats at that position. His question was not a gripe, a whine or a complaint. It was more of a we-can-be-great-too-type statement.

“I don’t think it’s just me that wants to bring the tradition back,” said Charles. “It’s Aron [White], it’s Bruce [Figgins], it’s Arthur [Lynch], and D-Rich [Derek Rich]. It’s everybody in the room, coach [John] Lilly. That’s the No. 1 thing they say, put Georgia back on the map in terms of tight ends.”

Georgia has a long history of producing NFL-caliber tight ends – Watson, Randy McMichael, Leonard Pope and Jermaine Wiggins being the most recent.

Charles is trying to add his name to that list.

Through two games, the 6-foot-3, 230-pounder from Tampa, Fla. has lined up both at the traditional tight end spot and been split out as a receiver. He’s proven to be a pretty reliable target for quarterback Joe Cox over the middle, with four catches for 84 yards.

“He’s definitely a great threat in the passing game,” Cox said. “He has really good speed, runs good routes, has good hands . You can see his confidence getting higher and higher with every ball he catches. He’s going to be a good one.”

While equally highly-touted freshmen like receivers Marlon Brown and Rantavious Wooten have seen little playing time, Charles has been thrown into the mix – partly by necessity. With Figgins suspended for the Bulldogs’ first six games, that leaves White as the only Georgia tight end with real playing experience.

Charles has yet to make that one spectacular play, the one that would really make him a household name. But he’s already come a long way since he came to Athens – especially for a guy who didn’t play much actual tight end in his high school’s spread offense.

“Sometimes they’re just not ready for all the little stuff, they don’t know how important footwork and hand placement and everything is at this level,” White said. “But he’s definitely worked incredibly hard and come into his own.”

As Charles came out of high school, recruiting writers, fans and even Georgia coaches knew about his receiving ability. In fact, that’s probably what made him so highly desired. But Charles has spent equal time on the line and split out, and said he takes pride in blocking, something he didn’t have to do much in high school.

“You’ve got to [be a good blocker],” he said. “I don’t want them to put a nickel [defensive back] in the game when I’m in there. That’s disrespecting me and my run blocking … I’ve gotten better but there’s a lot of things that I’ve got to work on.”

Added White: “You can block at the high school level, but once you get up and start blocking somebody day-in and day-out that outweighs you by 20, 30 pounds and is just as fast as you at defensive end, it’s a different story.”

Charles said that after college he wants to be a civil engineer, to build “houses and schools and everything else.” In the meantime, he’s just working on building the reputation of Georgia’s tight ends back to where it used to be.

“He was raw. Extremely raw,” said quarterback Aaron Murray, a teammate of Charles’ at Plant High in Tampa.

“He was good, but he’s worked extremely hard … The more comfortable he feels, some of those catches where he’s diving, maybe he scoops them up and take those for a touchdown.

“He’s getting more confident in the offense and learning more and more.”

When asked what he likes to do away from football, Charles laughed and gave an answer typical of his work ethic.

“Homework.”