Precarious injury situation on Tech offensive line

Jahaziel Lee is expected to play Saturday vs. Georgia after sitting out the Virginia game with an upper-body injury. (Danny Karnik/GT Athletics)

Jahaziel Lee is expected to play Saturday vs. Georgia after sitting out the Virginia game with an upper-body injury. (Danny Karnik/GT Athletics)

Georgia Tech will be without offensive tackle Jahaziel Lee and A-back J.J. Green for its game Saturday against North Carolina, as both have been ruled out for the game in the team’s injury report. Lee was listed as having a lower-body injury; he appeared to suffer an ankle injury in last Saturday’s win over Pittsburgh. Green has an upper-body injury.

With offensive tackle Andrew Marshall already out, Lee’s absence puts the Yellow Jackets in a precarious position with offensive-line depth. The likely lineup will slot Will Bryan at left tackle, Parker Braun at left guard, Kenny Cooper at center, Shamire Devine at right guard and Jake Stickler at right tackle.

Tech is pretty thin in experience after that. The next tackle up is walk-on Bailey Ivemeyer, a sophomore who played in one game last season but has played in all three this season in a backup role.

In the event of an injury to Braun or Devine, the likely move would be to shift Bryan from tackle to guard and bring in Ivemeyer, the son of former Tech offensive lineman John Ivemeyer, at tackle. That switch is even more likely because the other guard on the two-deep depth chart besides Braun, Bryan and Devine is Brad Morgan, and he is also out, with an upper-body injury.

Finally, the No. 2 center would normally be Marshall, but it’s now Scott Morgan, a sophomore who did not play last year but has finished up the past two games.

Linebacker David Curry (lower-body injury) is also out.

At A-back, Green’s absence means that the A-back rotation will likely be Nathan Cottrell, Clinton Lynch and Qua Searcy. Green might be the best blocking A-back and has also shared kickoff-return duties with Cottrell.