Georgia Football: Five Things to Watch vs Austin Peay
Offensive Line
Georgia Football saw a tremendous improvement from the offensive line last season. The Dawgs’ line improved from one of the worse in recent school history two years ago, to one of College Football’s best last season, under the guidance of offensive line guru Sam Pittman. One of the major storylines with the o-line, is how UGA will replace All SEC left tackle Isaiah Wynn. Replacing a player of his caliber is never an easy task.
Andrew Thomas the massive 6’5 320 pound sophomore offensive tackle, will get the first opportunity to protect quarterback Jake Fromm’s blind side. Thomas started all 15 games at right tackle as freshman last season, and now moves across to the left side. By moving Thomas from right to left tackle, Georgia Football is taking a page out of Alabama’s book. Bama is known for grooming highly recruited offensive tackles on the right side, before moving them to the more important left tackle position.
Highly acclaimed red shirt freshman Isaiah Wilson, takes over as the new right tackle. Wilson is a behemoth, standing 6’7, and tipping the scales at 345 pounds. Isaiah was the number two offensive tackle in the nation, and the top overall player coming out of New York in 2017. He’s ready to make his mark, after learning from the sidelines last season.
Seniors Lamont Gailliard, and Kendall Baker, are the elder statesmen on the UGA o-line. Gailliard was originally signed to UGA as a defensive tackle, but was moved to the offensive side after his first year on campus. Gailliard is the smallest member of the Georgia Football offensive line measuring 6’2 and weighing 309 pounds.
Kendall Baker is 6’6 and weighs 305 pounds. Baker also originally came to UGA as a defensive linemen. He waited patiently until his red shirt junior season to get his shot, and that patience paid off. He surprisingly won the starting job last year and hasn’t looked back.
Ben Cleveland, a red shirt sophomore, rounds out the starting offensive line. He’s a mountain of a man being 6’6, and weighting in at 340 pounds. He came to Athens as a highly rated, 5-star offensive tackle, but took over as the starting right guard with 5 games remaining last season. UGA is expected to have one of the stronger units up front this season, so early cohesiveness is certainly something to watch for.