I’m not gonna go crazy with any heavy analysis of what went on yesterday at Kirby Smart’s first practice, because it was Kirby Smart’s first practice. I can’t resist mentioning one thing, though.
Georgia’s offensive line appears to be taking a different approach in practice than the previous coaching staff had it do.
In position drills, the guards and centers broke off from the tackles. The tackles actually did position work with the tight ends. And Greg Pyke, who has played right guard the past two years, was with the tackles, working in tandem with tight end Jeb Blazevich on drills. To be more specific, it appeared Pyke was working as a right tackle.
The first-team offensive line, at this point, appeared to be left tackle Kendall Baker, left guard Isaiah Wynn, center Brandon Kublanow, right guard Dyshon Sims and Pyke.
It’s not so much that I see that as being writ in stone as I do see it as an indication of Pittman’s fresh eyes. It’s going to be interesting to see what he fashions on the line in August. One thing I do hope is that he’s able to make up his mind early enough then to give the starting five, who obviously are going to be different from last year’s group, an opportunity to develop some continuity with each other. (Not to mention what needs to happen if Smart elects to start a true freshman quarterback…)
Get The Picture 
Amen to that last sentence – need to ge the qb/center exchanges down if Eason is going to play since he’s never taken snaps under center
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If Kendall Baker could become an SEC caliber LT that would truly pave the way for us to have a competitive OL this season. Then you’d have Catalina, Madden, Pyke, and Cleveland competing for RT with one of the losers sliding to RG. Kublanow and Wynn could fill the other 2 spots with Allen, Galliard, Harden, and Sims fighting to get in the 2 deep behind them. That’s an OL that has good size, good experience, and decent depth. Of course it all depends on Baker coming through. Otherwise you might be looking at significant changes. That’s why Pittman is trying to find out from Day 1 whether or not Kendall is up to it
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The telling thing to me is the move of Pyke to tackle. Sharp had a jewel last year and for some reason made him worst. The Pro scouts were very high on Pyke and his ability to move. The guy was a Lacross player and big but all of a sudden he’s not playing. Pittman seems to be a good judge of horse flesh as they used to say. He wants all of the OL to know what all of the positions do, so he can build depth but also make them more of an offensive line squad rather than 3 five man units. Also the part about breaking the unit down for practice with center/guards in a group and tackles/TE in a group, gives me hope that we finally have a line coach that is going to give us something we have lacked for years, a good offensive line.
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Moving the taller linemen to tackle makes sense as does getting them used to being out on an island right away.
Comfortable being uncomfortable…
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Also the Milledge Avenue practice field looks a bit tight, but it’s in great shape. Nowhere to hide. 😉
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Seems to me you’d always want your best lineman at OT. And the nfl loves OTs. If Pittman can’t motivate Pyke, perhaps the idea of a truckload of nfl money backing up to Pyke’s door will.
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