Kirby Smart List Guard as a Concern Rather than Offensive Tackle

Kirby Smart is now not only a national championship-winning head coach but also one of the highest-paid head coaches in all college football coming off of last offseason.

The seventh-year head football coach met with the media Thursday morning ahead of Georgia's first practice of fall camp. As expected, the most common topic was injuries, which plagued the Bulldogs for much of last fall. But, while injuries usually dominate press conferences in this day and age of football, right behind it comes questions about certain personnel and positions.

Smart spoke about the offensive line several times on Thursday morning and even stated where new offensive line coach Stacy Searels and the rest of the Bulldogs coaching staff have work to do along the front five.

We'll probably be more concerned about guard than tackle. If I had to pick one, I mean, we've got two guys who have played winning football consistently. We've got two young guys we feel good about that we think can play good football, just haven't had as much experience. And then we got to figure out who the best guards are and what the depth is at guards. But I feel good about the tackles we have. And if anything, we got to generate some more power out of those positions."

- Kirby Smart

The Bulldogs lost offensive line coach Matt Luke in addition to losing left tackle Jamaree Salyer and left guard Justin Shaffer. There were a lot of football games played by the two starters on the left side of Georgia's line last year; now, heading into a new season, the projected left tackle Broderick Jones has recorded just four career starts, all of which came in last season while Salyer dealt with an injury.

Jones, the former five-star offensive tackle, played well in his time as the starter last season. Still, it was his impact in the national championship game, where he came off the bench to play left tackle, allowing Jamaree Salyer to move to guard, where Jones showed he could play at a high level.

Georgia will have a veteran right tackle in Warren McClendon lining up opposite of Jones, with second-year starter Sedrick Van Pran Grainger at center. But, outside of those three names, Georgia features plenty of questions on the interior of the offensive line, specifically at offensive guard.

Warren Ericson started 14-games at right guard for Georgia. Yet, his struggles in the national title game culminated in the decision to bring Jones off the bench and move Salyer back to his natural position of guard. Outside of Ericson, who boasts game experience, Georgia is getting back Tate Ratledge after he suffered a season-ending injury just seconds into the season opener against Clemson last season. At the same time, Devin Willock played sparingly in a reserve role.

The Bulldogs have under a month to prepare this football team for the 2022 season that will open with Oregon on September 3rd.

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