Georgia Needs the Men in the Trenches to Step up in 2021
Credit: Curtis Compton
Sunday night’s Super Bowl victory for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers showed the world many different things. Aside from the fact that Tom Brady further cemented his legacy as the greatest quarterback of all-time. The game put a spotlight on the need for championship-caliber play in the trenches.
The Bucs won the war in the trenches as they successfully rushed the quarterback and protected Tom Brady in the pocket. For much of the game, the Kansas City Chiefs offense was held silent as they couldn’t convert on third and fourth downs.
Star quarterback Patrick Mahomes was always on the move outside of the pocket on key downs as the Buccaneers brought pressure after the gun-slinger. This pressure added to the Chiefs’ inability to convert on third down; Kansas finished the night 3-13 on third down while only converting one-fourth down on three attempts.
In contrast, Tom Brady was safely secured in the pocket as he was sacked only one time by the Cheifs defense.
The Georgia Bulldogs are heading into a crucial offseason with a team that is bringing back unprecedented offensive firepower, along with a very young defense. On paper, the strengths and weaknesses for Georgia have been reversed. The offense is no longer a question mark, while the defense is not a sure thing this season.
The Bulldogs rode the wave of strong quarterback play to a 4-0 finish to the season, including winning over a top-10 ranked Cincinnati team in the Peach Bowl. While things didn’t always look pretty from start to finish in the Peach Bowl, the front seven stepped up and racked up the pressure against Desmond Ridder. At the same time, the offense was able to capitalize on the defense’s momentum in the end to win the game.
In 2021 the Dawgs will break-in two new starters on the offensive line. Georgia lost starting center Trey Hill to the NFL Draft and will see starting left tackle Jamaree Salyer transition inside to left guard.
Georgia is replacing arguably the two most important positions on the offensive line this offseason. With Hill missing the last two games of the season due to surgeries to repair minor knee injuries, we could see Warren Ericson fill in and gain experience.
The redshirt junior interior linemen will be in a position battle with rising sophomore Sedrick Van Pran. Sedrick was a highly touted offensive linemen in the 2020 class; the native of New Orleans, Louisiana, picked the Dawgs over many other top programs.
While at left tackle, we saw rising redshirt sophomore Xavier Truss get his first career start in the Peach Bowl, which saw Salyer move back to guard. Truss struggled in the win over the Bearcats and added to the question of who will replace Salyer.
Luckily Georgia’s aggressive recruiting of the offensive line is an added wealth of riches when crowning a new starter along the offensive line. Notably, former five-star offensive tackle Broderick Jones is among those names who are competing for a spot at tackle. Along with another highly touted recruit, Amarius Mims could see playtime as a true freshman at left tackle.
The defensive line is returning key starters in nose tackle Jordan Davis and defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt. Both Wyatt and Davis have been crucial to Georgia’s success in stopping the run game. While also losing starting defensive end Malik Herring and star edge rusher Azeez Ojulari to the NFL.
Georgia will yet again have another opportunity to reap the rewards of elite recruiting. Travon Walker and Adam Anderson are both names expected to step into a more significant role in 2021. Add Nolan Smith, the former five-star edge rusher, into the mix, and Georgia looks destined to reload the front seven.
With a younger, inexperienced secondary, the Georgia front seven will be pressed to wreak havoc in the opposing backfield. The formula of wreaking havoc upfront and keeping a clean pocket is what helped carry the Bucs to Super Bowl victory.