ATHENS, Ga. -- Each week Georgia wide receiver Matt Landers is given a jersey to wear in practice. Each week it’s the number of the opponent’s best wide receiver. Each time he goes up against the Bulldogs first-team defense, he gives them all they can handle.

“He’s a force to be reckoned with,” Kirby Smart said of Landers work on the scout team. “I’ll be honest with you.”

During the bye week Smart said he and his staff had conversations about whether or not to pull Landers from that roll and get him work with the first team offense. Despite what was said in some participation charts earlier in the season, Landers has yet to play in a game. He still has the ability to preserve a year of eligibility but he performed so well in practice through the first seven weeks of the season that the staff had to ultimately decide whether or not it was wise to burn the red shirt.

It seems as if he’ll stay on the scout team for now but Smart likes what the 6-foot-5, 195-pound pass catcher can do when the ball is in the air.

He gives us a little something out there at wideout that we really don’t have -- that size -- outside of Javon (Wims),” Smart said.

His role on the scout team has been important nonetheless. During Notre Dame week he mimicked Equanimeous St. Brown. Against Tennessee it was Marquez Callaway, last week against Florida he played Tyrie Cleveland and at present he’s serving as South Carolina pass catcher Bryan Edwards.

He’s out there making sure Georgia’s defensive backs are prepared as they can be and Smart says he presents a challenge. He made mention of the competition between Landers and Georgia’s cornerbacks. He also brought up how he’s not yet sure whether or not Landers is ready.

The Sunshine State native is still quite thin and Smart would like to see him shore things up in the maturity and academics departments. Strides ultimately must be made but right now Landers seems to have caught Smart’s eye both with his physical gifts and competitive nature.

“He’s been good,” Smart said of Landers attitude in working as a scout team player. “He likes practicing. He goes up and makes plays. He competes with those corners. He’s got great length. He enjoys that part of it.”

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