Georgia's Offensive Line Is Deep and Hungry Headed into Sugar Bowl

Georgia will be down 3 starting linemen in the Sugar Bowl. Thanks to past recruiting classes, UGA is deep and hungry with 4 & 5-star prospects itching to play.

Most programs would be in full-fledged panic mode if they knew that they were going to be heading into a game versus the 7th ranked team in the country without three of their starting offensive lineman. 

To be fair I'm sure there is plenty of consternation in Athens when it comes to the offensive game plan preparation for the Sugar Bowl. However, the level of anxiety is not nearly what it could be for the New Year's Day bowl game, and beyond, due to a focus on stockpiling big, talented offensive lineman in recruiting.

The Dawgs offensive line group has been dubbed 'The Great Wall' during the Kirby Smart Era. It is a collection of massive, athletic young men who were mostly all 4 and 5-star talents coming out of high school. In fact, Solomon Kindley is the only 3-star to have started a game at Georgia this season. 

Andrew Thomas and Isaiah Wilson are pro bound for a reason, and while you cannot just simply replace talents like these, it is nice to have former highly coveted 5-stars like Cade Mays and Jamaree Salyer to slide into their place. Mays and Salyer have both played the role of "super-sub" for Georgia this year and have plenty of meaningful experience at both guard and tackle. 

The duo of Mays and Salyer is likely to man the left and right tackle spots respectively. Senior offensive tackle D'Marcus Hayes has also played in 6 of 13 games this year and could see some action, as well as former 4-star true Freshmen Warren McClendon and Xavier Truss.

The right guard position is the one likely in question the most for UGA. Solomon Kindley will almost certainly line up at his normal left guard slot, but his counterpart could be a host of others. It is possible that the Georgia coaching staff has enough faith in Hayes, McClendon or Truss that they bump Jamaree Salyer inside. All will undoubtedly have the chance to prove themselves in bowl practices. 

If Salyer does remain outside at tackle, the candidates to play right guard consist of Redshirt Freshman and former 4-star prospect Warren Ericson and true Freshman and former 5-star Clay Webb. The interesting thing about these two is that they both played center in high school. Georgia likes to cross-train all of their linemen, so both have repped at guard in practices. Ericson has been in the program longer, has had more time in the strength program and currently has more size. It'll be interesting to see how competition in bowl practice plays out.

Rest assured on one thing. Kirby Smart loves this! Would he like to go out there and line up with Thomas, Wilson, and Cleveland? Absolutely he would! However, Coach Smart has always been a proponent of intense competition in the program and how he believes it makes the team better. There will be plenty of talented, young, and hungry Bulldogs fighting for the right to play in the Superdome and Dawg fans can rest assured knowing that this isn't a shuffling of deck chairs on the Titanic. 

This is an embarrassment of riches being revealed maybe one game before expected.