As Georgia completed a second day of preseason camp Tuesday, a developing storyline is where Jamaree Salyer might fit in on the Bulldogs’ offensive line. The consensus is, the junior will claim a spot somewhere.
A former 5-star prospect out of Pace Academy, Salyer has been a work in progress since his arrival. He started at right tackle in the Sugar Bowl in the absence of NFL-defector Isaiah Wilson, but the majority of his snaps the past two seasons have been at guard. Both his career starts (the other one came against Murray State last year) have been at right tackle, but there remains talk of Salyer being in the mix at left tackle.
The playing time opportunities along the offensive line coupled with the uncertainty about Salyer’s overall prospects are why Salyer calls this season “the one I’ve been waiting for.”
“I’ve put a lot into this season,” Salyer said in a Zoom call with reporters this week. “I feel like you guys and everybody deserves to see the work that I put in because I feel like I know what I can do. I’m excited for the season. It’s an opportunity I’ve been waiting for, being a guy who was here two years and sat behind two great players — two first-rounders. And I feel like this is the season for me to try to go out and prove myself and do a lot of things that people say I can’t do. I’m really excited for the opportunity.”
Salyer has had plenty of resources to turn to for help. In addition to Georgia offensive line coach Matt Luke, Salyer continues to work with Pace Academy offensive coordinator and line coach Kevin Johnson. Johnson helped provided much of the baseline fundamentals for former Bulldogs All-American left tackle Andrew Thomas, who became the No. 4 pick of the NFL draft in April as a junior.
Salyer also worked with Thomas and Falcons lineman Kynan Forney over the summer.
“I just put a lot of work into this quarantine,” Salyer said. “I’ve been learning from guys who’ve done it before. … Just working out every day, trying to get little tools and tricks and just working really hard trying to lose weight, trying to get stronger, trying to get more flexible.”
Salyer’s weight has been the subject of much discussion since he signed with the Bulldogs in 2018. He arrived weighing 335 pounds. At one point this summer, he said he was down to 309. He said he was 315 for the opening of camp.
The lighter and more mobile Salyer can become, the better he can play, especially if he is to assume a role at either tackle. Georgia appears to be fairly set along the interior of the line, with junior Trey Hill as the returning starter at center and Ben Cleveland and Justin Shaffer back to assume reps at right and left guard, respectively. Cleveland, a 6-foot-6, 340-pound senior, has 16 career starts at right guard. Shaffer started two games at left guard last season and has seen action in 26 in his career before a neck injury sidelined him for the last eight games of last season.
But without question, it’s at the two tackle positions Georgia most needs someone to come through.
“Jamaree’s a great player; he has the length, the power, the strength and all the tools you need to be a tackle,” Georgia outside linebacker Azeez Ojulari said after practice Tuesday. “I mean, definitely. Him and Andrew Thomas were roommates. Together, they’ve spent a lot of time together. He’s a beast.”
Credit: UGA Sports
Salyer wants to keep all options open.
“I just knew the weight thing was going to be a huge contributor to where I could go,” Salyer said. “… My goal going into quarantine was to kind of raise my potential, to raise the bar for myself. Knowing that I could play guard, knowing I could play tackle, knowing I could play anything, I knew I could play all those positions at a much higher level if I lost the weight.”
Weight loss became a competitive endeavor among Georgia’s offensive linemen. Luke, the former head coach at Ole Miss who took over the Bulldogs’ line duties after Sam Pittman left to become Arkansas’ head coach, prefers lean and athletic to heavy and strong for his charges.
Inspired in part by Salyer – and maybe a small wager or two – Hill said he actually lost 10-15 pounds over the summer. Hill is listed at 330 pounds on Georgia’s current roster.
“(Salyer) actually drove me a lot during the offseason,” Hill said. “As he was working hard, me and him were just going back and forth talking to each other during the whole quarantine, just basically having a weight-loss competition.”
Salyer’s weight loss required discipline at the dinner table. He said he had to cut out sweets, fried foods, fast food and sugary drinks.
“Just trying to stay on that salad regimen and then just going to a water diet,” Salyer said. “To stick with it was really tough. (Giving up) the fried food definitely was the hardest part.”
Until now. Coming out of preseason camp with a starting position on Georgia’s line is now the ultimate challenge for Salyer.
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