If there’s any area of Georgia football where you would expect to hear preseason happy talk, it’s the offensive line.
If there’s any area of Georgia football where you would expect to hear preseason happy talk, it’s the offensive line.
Filed under Georgia Football
“Those 13 jerseys are going to be around a long time.”-- Brock Bowers, The Athletic, 1/10/23
Those guys can only improve at this point.
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What’s interesting is that neither Chubb nor Michel were approached by reporters about this subject. They actually went door to door until they found somebody who worked at a sports publication who was willing to listen to their comments about the offensive line.
…Or…
“No. Actually, the offensive line sucks. We are extremely worried about the people coming in, and we expect the line to take a step back. Which sucks, because we made the decision to come back for our senior years thinking it would be better.”
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This was in the article..
“I’m very confident because we have a lot of players willing to step up,” running back Sony Michel said. “We’re building the offensive line; they’re working hard this offseason.”
Both Chubb and Michel have been impressed with Wilson and fellow freshman offensive lineman Andrew Thomas during offseason workouts. Thomas, who played high school football at Pace Academy, could also be a factor for the starting right tackle job. Head coach Kirby Smart believes both of those players will start out at offensive tackle when preseason begins.
Most importantly, however, Michel said he has enjoyed both Wilson and Thomas’ attitude.
“They came in and are buying in,” Michel said. “They don’t have the mindset of, ‘Oh, I’m a five-star coming to play.’ It’s, ‘I want to learn, I want to compete so I can play.’ ”
Chubb said he has seen a different disposition from the entire offensive line after a down 2016 season.
Chubb certainly will hope an improved offensive line will lead to additional yards for the rushing attack.
“I see the same guys have a different attitude this season,” Chubb said. “They have their mind made up too that we weren’t where we needed to be last year. They’re working and doing everything they can do make improvements.”
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Chubb was approached during SEC media days. He had a coach speak answer that was (paraphrased) “those guys (o-line) have been working hard this summer.” He wouldn’t comment any further than that.
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I like big. Big is Pittman’s preference, so if they are big, big is good.
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They would have been bigger last year but they had been dieting the year before because we wanted smaller faster. I imagine they will be better just by having the same coach two years in a row.
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Of all the coaches on the staff, Pittman’s history of success is the most proven. Last year was his first year, with other people’s players. More than any year in the last 15, I have confidence that the line will be significantly better in 2017 than it was the year before.
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The O-line is the key to UGA’s success or failure in 2017. Period. Everything on offense is dependent on them. The D is going to be fine and I believe Special Teams will be OK, too. Now if we could just find someone competent to make the in-game coaching decisions…..
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It seems just about every year for as far back as I can remember, each time the line is expected to be a strength – because of experience and returning starters, they struggle (complacency maybe? no competition?) and when there is turnover and it is expected to be a weakness – they usually do well. Maybe the big guys don’t like hearing how much they suck every day from fans and media and are determined to improve and “WIN” one of those starting 5 spots in practice. Here’s hoping this trend continues.
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