ATHENS — In the age of the transfer portal, timing is everything. Case in point: Georgia’s Broderick Jones.
Jones was a 5-star recruiting prospect from Lithonia who enters Saturday’s G-Day game as the Bulldogs’ starter at left tackle.
Then there’s Amarius Mims.
Mims was a 5-star prospect from Bleckley County who entered the spring seeking a starting job at left or right tackle. He was unable to win either.
Mims quit the team last week and probably will visit Florida State or Miami when Georgia hands out its national championship rings Saturday (1 p.m., ESPN2).
Jones admitted to having similar thoughts through his first two seasons at UGA. As one might guess, he’s super glad he decided to stick it out.
“I got to play in the national championship game,” Jones said after a recent spring practice with the Bulldogs. “That’s just, like, a huge dream that any kid who plays on the college level dreams of. I know I didn’t play as much or I didn’t start, but I felt like I have gotten better over the past (two) seasons that I’ve been here preparing myself and just being able to step up when my name is called.”
Jones’ name was called early in the College Football Playoff Championship game against Alabama. The Bulldogs were struggling mightily on offense against the defending national champions. They were unable to run the ball effectively and were having problems protecting quarterback Stetson Bennett against the relentless Crimson Tide rush.
Late in the second quarter, Georgia’s offensive brain trust decided to bring in Jones at left tackle and move the incomparable Jamaree Salyer from there to right guard.
It didn’t pay immediate dividends. Jones gave up a sack to blitzing linebacker Dallas Turner on his first play off the bench. But then he settled in, and the Bulldogs slowly began to make their climb from a 9-3 deficit.
By the fourth quarter, Zamir White and James Cook were running the ball right off Jones’ back side, which in turn opened the play-action game. After a 27-9 second half, the Bulldogs won their first national championship in 41 years, 33-18 over Alabama.
“It was just a huge moment for me,” Jones said. “… I was a little nervous, but who wouldn’t be? It’s a huge game and the spotlight’s on; there’s nothing like it. It’s the last game, all the marbles are on the line. You know you have to do what you have to do.”
“They're all talking and you're listening but, geez, you've got to get in there and do it. So, at the end of the day, I would say I was nervous but not to the extent I couldn't perform at my best level."
Adding to the confusion was all the instruction Jones was getting from every direction. Kirby Smart and line coach Matt Luke gave him an earful before he went into the game. Salyer and left guard Justin Shaffer were offering encouragement as well as direction. Offensive coordinator Todd Monken, Luke and Smart were all in his face at halftime.
“They’re all talking and you’re listening but, geez, you’ve got to get in there and do it,” Jones said with a laugh. “So, at the end of the day, I would say I was nervous but not to the extent I couldn’t perform at my best level.”
Jones had been well-prepared for his moment. It helped that Salyer was sidelined for November. Jones started the four games in his absence. Georgia won them all, averaging 46.2 points in the process.
Mims did not play in the title game against Alabama, nor any of the Bulldogs’ postseason games. He played in eight games overall.
With Salyer and Shaffer graduated to the NFL, Georgia was trying to find a place for Mims this spring. But a concussion suffered the first week of workouts blunted Mims’ progress, and he was unable to unseat either Jones at left tackle or rising senior right tackle Warren McClendon.
First-year line coach Stacy Searels worked hard to get Mims up to speed at playing the two guard positions. But indications are that he didn’t inherit a very willing pupil.
Looking at a two-year timeline to the NFL draft, Mims wants to play tackle, and he wants to start this season. Georgia couldn’t promise that. Indications are that FSU and Miami are among numerous suitors willing to do just that.
Had things worked out otherwise, Jones certainly would have had similar options. The difference, however, might be that he wouldn’t have had the opportunity to endure and survive the strain of development. Nick Saban disciples such as Smart refer to it as the process.
Jones acknowledges that simmering behind Salyer and McClendon made a difference when it was finally his time to go.
“Composure. That’s probably the biggest thing for me,” Jones said. “You know, just being able to sit back and soak up what Jamaree left behind. Like, listening to what he’s doing and asking him, ‘How can I do this better or what should I do if this happens?’ You know, sitting back and learning from somebody who has done it before me and is a great player.”
The Bulldogs certainly did not want to lose Mims to the portal, but they probably aren’t sweating it too much. First of all, their cupboard of offensive linemen is quite full.
Even after center Clay Webb and senior Owen Condon preceded Mims in the portal, Georgia counts 18 offensive linemen among the scholarship players on its roster.
Smart said he makes no attempt to manage the portal because “those are decisions (players) have to make.”
“Kids make decisions based on what they feel like is best for them,” Smart told Buck Belue on 680 The Fan on Wednesday. “There’s not a lot you can control on that. I really focus on the guys that are here that want to be part of our standard, be part of our organization and be part of the culture we’ve built. And that has to sell itself.”
Count Jones among those buying in. Now a third-year sophomore, he could play himself into the NFL draft after next season or hang on for a couple of more. The Bulldogs will continue to recruit blue-chip offensive linemen, but they’ll have to beat out Jones fair and square if they want to play left tackle.
That’s the road Jones took. Having survived, there is no other route he’d choose.
“Coming in a 5-star recruit with a big head, you know, I got humbled real fast going against people like Azeez (Ojulari) and Jermaine (Johnson) and Nolan Smith,” said Jones, who follows Isaiah Wynn, Andrew Thomas and Salyer as Georgia’s left tackle. “But you learn to sit back and watch the people ahead of you and watch what they’re able to do and just try to recreate their success by taking coaching and trying to do what they’re telling you to do.”
About the Author
