ATHENS — There is a lot of handwringing in the Bulldog Nation at the moment because of Georgia’s running back situation. Here are two words why there shouldn’t be:
Offensive line.
A year after losing its two starting tackles to the NFL draft – including one in the first round – the Bulldogs undoubtedly have reloaded up front on offense. If the players who go against it in practice every day are to be believed, it might be the best offensive line Georgia has ever had, or at least in the Kirby Smart Era.
Such comparisons are foolhardy, of course, for there never can be a clear-cut conclusion. But the Bulldogs’ latest group looks like it could stack up with any of their predecessors.
Senior defensive tackle Warren Brinson certainly thinks so. He’s battled the past four groups in practice every day.
“That’s the best offensive line in the country; the best two offensive lines in the country,” Brinson said this week. “Our 1s and 2s, they give it to us every day in practice. … They’ve been snubbed the last two years for the Joe Moore Award, but I think they’re going to win it this year.”
That’s definitely the goal. As the Bulldogs were road-grading the competition on the way to winning the past two national championships, Georgia’s linemen watched in bewilderment as the award that goes annually to the nation’s “most outstanding offensive line unit” went to Michigan. The Bulldogs weren’t even considered finalists in 2021 when they whipped the Wolverines on the field in the Orange Bowl. Last year, UGA made the cut as finalists, though the trophy again went to Ann Arbor, Michigan.
It doesn’t help that the award is presented in late December each year, before the bowls and the College Football Playoff. But there also seems to be some northern bias on the selection committee that chooses the winner. The award is named for the longtime offensive line coach at Pitt and Notre Dame, and many of the voters played for or were recruited by him.
Regardless, the Bulldogs generally have sloughed off being snubbed for the trophy and used it as fuel in the postseason. But they don’t seem to mind verbalizing it as a goal this year.
“To a certain extent, everybody on the O-line would love to have the Joe Moore Trophy at the end of the day,” junior tackle Amarius Mims said. “But all we can do is take it day-by-day and control what we can control. If that’s the result at the end of the season, so be it. But that’s what we’re working for.”
If Georgia does win it, Mims will be a big reason why. Mims is replacing Warren McClendon, a three-year starter at right tackle who’s now playing for the Los Angeles Rams. Broderick Jones, last year’s starter at left tackle, was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers with the 14th pick overall in the 2023 NFL draft.
Mims helps allay concerns for replacing such talent. A former 5-star prospect out of Cochran, Mims quite literally has grown into the lineman the Bulldogs envisioned he could be. Arriving in Athens as a 6-foot-7, 320 pounds freshman, he has grown and reshaped his body into his current size. Currently, he said he measures in at 6-8, 335.
“I was 25% body fat, maybe,” Mims said of showing up as a freshman. “Now I’m 17% body fat. This program has changed my body a lot. That’s a credit to coach (Scott) Sinclair and his strength staff.”
Mims and left tackle Earnest Greene – another former 5-star – are the new regulars on the No. 1 offensive line. Center Sedrick Van Pran and guards Tate Ratledge and Xavier Truss are all returning starters in the middle.
It’s the rotation, though, that makes Georgia’s line truly formidable. Greene remains in a tight battle for starting honors with junior Austin Blaske at left tackle. Mims can play left tackle as well and often does. Dylan Fairchild and Truss move back and forth between guard and tackle. Monroe Freeling has been identified as a tackle of the future. Micah Morris and Jared Wilson move freely from one interior post to another.
The true strength in Georgia’s line is its versatility as well as its depth. As for Mims, there simply are few human beings like him.
“Mims was a starter last year in my opinion; he repped as a starter,” Smart said, referring to Mims’ starts in both playoff games in January. “All camp, he’s played as a 1. He’s flip-flopped and played both sides, he played in really big football games as a starter, so having him back is like having a returning starter back. … But we’re like everybody else in the country. You’re constantly in need of tackles. So, we’ve tried to rotate guys and make sure that we have a fourth, fifth, and sixth answer, should we need that.”
Georgia’s defensive line gets to experience that reality firsthand every day in practice.
“We’ve got the best O-line in the country, so we’re always getting the best work,” sophomore defensive end Mykel Williams said. “I feel like we’re not going to play nobody as good as our O-line.”
Which brings us back to the Bulldogs’ backfield quandary. Just this week, Georgia lost sophomore Branson Robinson to a season-ending knee injury and Daijun Edwards to an apparent MCL sprain in his right knee. Senior Kendall Milton has yet to scrimmage with the Bulldogs this month because of a lingering hamstring injury.
That leaves only freshmen Roderick Robinson and Andrew Paul, along with a group of walk-ons led by junior Cash Jones, to carry the early-season load.
But playing behind an offensive line that looks to be generational between its depth, size and talent-level, the Bulldogs ought to have room to run, regardless of who is carrying the rock.
“Oh, man, this line this year is very special,” said Mims, one of 14 Bulldogs placed on the preseason All-SEC team by the league’s coaches. “We’ve got a two-deep that I feel like is very good, the 1s and the 2s. We’re just, like, accepting coach Searels’ challenge every day and coming in with the right mindset, playing with effort and the right attitude.
“When we’re like that, watch out is all I’ve got to say.”
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