Georgia football impact transfer WR hampered by injury this spring

The player expected to be Georgia football’s most impactful transfer addition on offense is slowed this spring due to injury.

Isiah Canion, who moved from Georgia Tech to the rival Bulldogs this offseason, was sidelined with an ankle injury recently.

“He’s dealing with an ankle injury. He’s been out for a day or two,” coach Kirby Smart said on Tuesday, March 31. “He sprained an ankle. It’s nothing real serious, but he’s dealing with an ankle injury. We’ll get him back out there as soon as we can.”

The 6-foot-4, 205-pound Canion had 33 catches for 480 yards and 4 touchdowns last season.

“He’s got the ideal body for a receiver,” quarterback Gunner Stockton said when spring practices began. “He’s big and he’s really fast. He’s been a great guy to get to know. I look forward to building that relationship.”

Canion joins an offense that lost its top five pass-catchers, including Zachariah Branch, who set a program record with 81 catches for 811 yards and 6 touchdowns.

Canion was a four-star prospect at Warner Robins High, where he had 90 catches for 1,450 yards and 16 touchdowns as a senior in 2003.

“I remember Coach (Mike) Bobo going down and watching him practice, and he made a couple really acrobatic catches,” Smart said, “He was in the back of our mind all along. Of course, we got to play against him last year, and he made some plays against us last year in that game. The more familiar you are with someone through recruiting, the more success we’ve had. He’s a good football player. He’s an even better person, and he played with several guys on our team, so there’s a relationship there.”

Smart also said East Carolina transfer safety Ja’Marley Riddle “has not been able to do much,” this spring.

He left the Military Bowl with a leg injury that left him on crutches on Dec. 27, 247Sports reported.

“He’s still coming off a significant injury,” Smart said. “He’s doing our walk-throughs. He’s mentally in our reps. We have him miced up making calls and basically playing the game without playing the game, but he hasn’t been able to physically do a lot.”

Riddle, a junior, led East Carolina with 70 tackles, 3 interceptions and 6 pass breakups last season.

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Georgia football wide receiver Isiah Canion dealing with an ankle injury