ATHENS — No matter who you talk to in the Georgia program, the offensive line comes up in conversation.
Be it skill players, defensive players or coaches, they’ve all had positive things to say about Georgia’s beefiest group.
“Consistently our o-line — what, they gave up nine sacks last year in total? That’s less than one a game,” outside linebacker Way less than one a game. We have some of the best talent in the world collectively with the best coaches. The coaches take that talent and put it into a system that plays to everybody’s strengths.”
The Bulldogs actually gave up 13 sacks last season, but Chambliss’ larger point still holds true.
Georgia does have to replace two members from last year’s line, as Amarius Mims was a first-round pick by the Cincinnati Bengals. Xavier Truss is expected to start at right tackle for Georgia, with former 5-star prospect Monroe Freeling likely to rotate at both right and left tackle.
“Monroe is doing a good job. Another highly recruited guy,” starting left tackle Earnest Greene said of Freeling. “Monroe has all the tools to do everything that he needs to do. Growing up pretty well. He’s doing a good job.”
The tougher player to replace will be center Sedrick Van Pran-Granger. He started every game at center for Georgia over the past three seasons. It wasn’t a coincidence that the Bulldogs went 42-2 over that span.
It probably shouldn’t come as a shock either that Georgia has had a tougher time replacing Van Pran-Granger to start the 2024 season.
The presumed replacement, Jared Wilson, has been battling an Achilles injury for much of August. He did see an uptick in reps in Georgia’s most recent scrimmage, but his absence has reinforced how delicate things are at center.
With Wilson out, All-American guard Tate Ratledge has moved over to center and taken more reps.
“You know center is one of those tricky positions where it takes a lot of chemistry for everybody to mesh,” Greene said. “Tate is doing a good job in there. It’s Tate Ratledge, so he’s still going to be a hell of a ball player in there. Just getting the chemistry and everything down. Like I said earlier, center is one of those positions where you have to have chemistry to mesh.”
Fortunately for the Bulldogs, Georgia has plenty of capable bodies at guard. The injury to Wilson allows Georgia to get both Dylan Fairchild and Micah Morris on the field. With Wilson healthy, Ratledge will move back to right guard, and Georgia will employ a rotation of Fairchild and Morris, with the former being viewed as the likely starter at the moment.
“It’s a good thing to have people like Dylan Fairchild on the line,” Greene said. “That’s why you come here to Georgia. to play with and compete with good people at your position. It’s definitely a reason you come here, having people like Dylan on the line.”
Georgia will face a stout Clemson defensive line to open the 2024 season, led by the likes of Peter Woods and TJ Parker. For any drop-off the Clemson program has experienced since the last time these two teams have met, Clemson still has one of the most talented defensive lines in the country.
But Georgia will be able to counter with its own equally stout offensive front.
“I feel like we’ve got a hell of a unit,” Greene said. “We’re really connected off the field and have come together to try and take the brotherhood to the field. We’re trying to improve on every aspect of the game and be the best o-line that we can be.”
