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Georgia football offensive players who have the shortest leashes in 2020

Georgia football enters the 2020 with a stacked roster and it has some players high on the depth chart at risk of dropping if they don't start the year strong.

Despite all the changes facing Georgia football's offense in 2020, there is still a lot to be excited about. Loaded backfield, an offensive line that is reportedly ahead of schedule, and perhaps the deepest and most talented receiving corps in school history. 

Georgia has a national championship on its mind and rightfully so. The team doesn't want anything standing between it and the ultimate prize, and that mindset has some players heading into 2020 on a very short leash. These players aren't allotted many mistakes at the beginning of the year. One bad game and they could see their names free fall on the depth chart.

Starters at right tackle

Right tackle is the most hotly contested position on Georgia's offense. Yes, more than the quarterback position. There are three players in the mix at right tackle with a legitimate shot of winning the starting job, no one has taken a firm lead yet and the battle will likely continue through the beginning of the season.

Owen Condon has held a slight lead through the first few weeks of practices, but Warren McClendon has received plenty of first-team reps and true freshman Tate Ratledge is still in the mix. This tight competition could lead to a constant rotation of right tackles at the beginning of the year. The only way to stay on the field is to win battles on it.

Matt Landers

These first few games of 2020 could make or break Matt Landers' college football career. The redshirt junior has a ton of potential and former teammates have raved about him since 2017. 

Landers is an outstanding route runner, especially on deep routes where he adjusts his running style mid-stride to break away from defenders. His 6-5, 200 lbs. frame is prototypical and he adds an impressive vertical leap. If only he finished plays more often.

Landers received a heap of criticism last season for his inability to make catches. His drops and misses were frustrating because of how wide open he would be. It would take a proper film study to determine how many yards, catches and touchdowns Landers missed out on in 2019. Doing so would only frustrate you even more.

Fortunately for him, Landers ended the 2019 season on a high note, catching three passes for 25 yards and scoring a touchdown. But if he doesn't build on that performance, there's a deep and talented group of receivers on the roster ready to take his spot on the depth chart.

Daniels

Quarterbacks

“It could be, yes.”

That was Kirby Smart's answer to a question about the possibility of rotating quarterbacks early in the season. This quarterback battle is far from over. 

JT Daniels is the most talented of Georgia's quarterback, but he isn't cleared to play from his ACL tear and he hasn't asserted himself as the top player thus far. D'Wan Mathis doesn't have Daniels' raw talent, but he's flexed some skills and he does play a style more akin to what offensive coordinator Todd Monken was developing for Jamie Newman. Carson beck is also receiving first-team reps and he's an immensely talented quarterback in his own right.

The question right now isn't if the leashes on the quarterbacks are short, the question is how short are they. Will Georgia trot out a different quarterback against Arkansas if the starter throws an interception? Will one series without a completion lead to a substitution?

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