Consider the Georgia Bulldogs’ great experiment at left tackle over and done.
Incumbent starter Kenarious Gates has pretty much locked down that position. Meanwhile, the battle for playing time at right tackle has heated between Kolton Houston and John Theus and could come down to the wire.
Those were a couple of revelations provided Saturday by offensive line coach Will Friend. Of course, all his proclamations regarding the depth chart come with the qualifier, “it could change.” But the Bulldogs plan to have a top five determined by Thursday morning, the day after the last major evaluation scrimmage of preseason camp. After that they’ll concentrate on installing the game plan for the Aug. 31 opener at Clemson.
“I think we’ve got a good idea,” Friend said Saturday morning. “They’ve got one more scrimmage to prove some things. After that we’ll be able to kind of have it narrowed down for what we’re going to go with and get ready for the season.”
Georgia threw open the competition at the crucial left tackle position in the spring and carried it into camp. It did so despite the presence of Gates, a senior who has played in 33 games, with 22 starts.
But Gates responded to the challenge. He dropped 12 pounds over the summer and reported to camp leaner and more nimble at 315 pounds.
“Gates has had a good camp,” Friend said. “He came in better shape and has been moving around better. He’s done well. You know, he’s probably performed the best out of everybody at this point.”
Meanwhile, Houston’s return from a three-year hiatus has unsettled a previously well-settled situation on the right side of the line. Theus started all 14 games at right tackle as a freshman last season and presumably has gotten better since then. But he’s spending 50 percent of the repetitions there (with Houston getting the other 50 percent) and spending the other half practicing at right guard.
“Right tackle has been kind of up and down on who we’re going to have there,” Friend said. “Right now we’ve got two guys who are competing to be the starter, in Kolton and John. So we’ll see how it plays out over the next week or so.
“Both of those guys can handle more than one spot, and I think that’s a plus for them because, as this thing plays out throughout the year, to get your best five out there one of those guys may have to play somewhere else. So that’s kind of what we’ve been playing with at that spot.”
There has been a lot of other movement along the line, despite the fact that all five starters return from a season ago. Senior right guard Chris Burnette is sitting out occasional workouts, and that has provided snaps for Watts Dantzler, Theus and Houston at that spot. Center David Andrews was dinged in a recent practice, and the Bulldogs put left guard Dallas Lee over the ball. That has allowed freshman Brandon Kublanow to get snaps at guard, along with Gates and Mark Beard.
Ultimately, Friend says, this is a good thing.
“They’re better than they were this time a year ago,” Friend said of the offensive line as a whole.
Looking for No. 3: The battle to be next in the game after Todd Gurley and Keith Marshall is up for grabs between freshmen tailbacks Brendan Douglas, J.J. Green and A.J. Turman.
“Right now they’re all right there together,” running backs coach Bryan McClendon said. “There’s still a lot of practice left before our first game, so you definitely don’t want to rush toward any kind of judgment in that regard. But they’re all doing pretty good right now, and all of them are going to continue to get a bunch of opportunities to prove themselves so we can get a ranking going into the season, but all three of them are going to have to be prepared to play.”
Now one-third of the way through camp, the Bulldogs are reducing the workload of Gurley and Marshall to ensure they’ll be fresh and healthy for the opener.
“You’ve definitely got to be smart,” McClendon said. “But it’s like anything else dealing with your team. There’s always a fine line between what’s enough, what’s too much and what’s not enough.”
Etc.: The Bulldogs' were scheduled to have a special-teams scrimmage Saturday, but instead surprised the players with the annual trip to the high-dive well at the Ramsey Center. Yes, coach Mark Richt did his back flip. … The Bulldogs held a closed practice Saturday evening … With Jay Rome still sidelined with a sprained ankle, freshman Jordan Davis is running second team at tight end. … Junior cornerback Damian Swann is playing the star position in nickel formations. … Defensive line coach Chris Wilson plans to play at least "six or seven" players, and all are interchangeable.
About the Author
