Georgia Football: Skill Position Players Are There, But Is the Offensive Line?
One of the most overlooked aspects of any team is the performance of its offensive line.
If the five players that line up with their hands on the ground function more like a sieve than a brick wall, the quarterback and the running back are going to have to spend more time running for their lives than anything else. But if the opposite is true, the offensive becomes much more dynamic.
Just as this fact is true for the other 119 FBS teams, it applies to the Georgia Bulldogs. The young men who don the red and black jerseys will need a revamped offensive line to play well in order to succeed.
As you'll see, the skill position players are indeed there. The question is, are the men up front?
Quarterbacks
1 of 10
One of the few bright spots during the miserable 6-7 season that Bulldogs faithful had to suffer through in 2010 was freshman quarterback Aaron Murray.
He posted one of the best statistical seasons of any freshman quarterback in the history of Georgia football and appears poised to take another stride forward in 2011.
Quarterback will not be an issue as long as No. 11 is taking snaps.
For more details, check out the following article: "Georgia Football: 10 Things to Know About Aaron Murray."
Running Backs
2 of 10
With three running backs capable of seizing the starting job, the Bulldogs are not exactly lacking at this position.
Caleb King ran for 430 yards and two touchdowns last season on his 80 carries while Washaun Ealey touched the ball 157 times and gained 811 yards. He also plunged into the end zone 11 times, including an astounding five-touchdown performance against Kentucky.
But neither running back is generating as much buzz as incoming freshman Isaiah Crowell. One of the nation's top running back recruits, Crowell has, as Gus Johnson would say, "Get away from the cops speed."
It appears as though King is the frontrunner for the starting job right now, but that's only because Crowell is still in high school.
Receivers
3 of 10
With tight end Orson Charles and wide receiver Tavarres King returning to Athens for another year each, the pain of losing A.J. Green and Kris Durham is going to be at least slightly mitigated.
Charles and King will be at the forefront of a passing game that should still be able to hang with most aerial assaults.
Joining them will be Marlon Brown, Michael Bennett, Rantavious Wooten and a few other young players. Potential abounds in this group, it's just a matter of putting it all together.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Returning Contributors
4 of 10
The returning contributors for the Georgia Bulldogs are going to be senior offensive tackle Trinton Sturdivant, senior offensive guard Cordy Glenn, senior center Ben Jones and sophomore offensive guard Kenarious Gates.
Of those four, Gates is the only player who didn't play in every single game for which he was healthy. In fact, he only appeared seven times for the Bulldogs.
But the other three have plenty of experience under their rather-large belts.
Trinton Sturdivant has had an up-and-down collegiate career for Georgia. In 2007, he started all 13 games and was honored with a selection to the All-SEC Freshman Team and was named to the Freshman All-American Team by both Scout.com and Rivals.com. But then he missed the 2008 season thanks to reconstructive surgery on his left knee.
Sturdivant then tore his left ACL in the season-opener of the 2009 season, shortly after being named to the Preseason All-SEC Third Team. Returning in 2010, the 6'5", 312-pounder started seven games and appeared in 12.
Cordy Glenn, a 6'5", 320-pound guard, was named to the All-SEC Freshman Team in 2008 after his first season in Athens and then proceeded to start each and every game over the course of the last two seasons. He has been named to various All-SEC teams over those two years but hopes to make it onto the First Team for the first time at the end of the 2011 campaign.
Then there's Ben Jones, one of the most enthusiastic football players you will ever get to watch. This member of Georgia's Team of the Decade has had a remarkable career thus far and is only going to get even better. After making the All-SEC Freshman Team in 2008, he was selected to the All-SEC Second Team in 2009 and then followed that up by being named to the preseason watch list for the Outland Trophy last year.
Missing Players
5 of 10
The two players on the line that Georgia will miss the most are offensive guard Clint Boling and offensive tackle Josh Davis.
Boling had an incredible career as a Bulldog, starting 49 games and playing well enough to earn his inclusion on the Team of the Decade. He played all four years while he was in Athens and was a member of Pro Football Weekly's All-America Team during his senior season.
Davis was far less decorated but was still an effective player up front for Georgia. He started 11 games during his senior season but was rather underwhelming compared to preseason expectations. He'll be missed in Athens, just not as much as Boling.
The Replacements
6 of 10
Right now, it looks like the two main replacements on the offensive line (not including Kenarious Gates, who you can see int he picture to the left) will be Justin Anderson and a bunch of backups.
Those backups include A.J. Harmon, Chris Burnette and others, but it looks as though Anderson will enter the season as the starter at right guard.
Anderson missed all of the 2010 season after he had surgery for turf toe in September, but he's now fully healthy and raring to go. Anderson was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team back in 2008 and then made just five starts in his 13 appearances over the course of the 2009 campaign.
But now the 6'5", 330-pound behemoth should have a chance to shine.
With Anderson at right guard, the Bulldogs' 2011 offensive line should look as follows: Trinton Sturdivant at left tackle, Kenarious Gates at left guard, Ben Jones at center, Justin Anderson at right guard and Cordy Glenn at right tackle.
Will Friend
7 of 10
Another new face on the offensive line is going to be incoming offensive line coach Will Friend.
When Friend played at Alabama back in the day, he was selected to the All-SEC Team and Alabama's Team of the Decade for the 1990s, so he definitely has some experience in doing what he's going to tell his players to do. After he finished his playing career, he served as the offensive line coach for a different set of Bulldogs, the ones at Gardner-Webb.
Then Friend moved on to UAB where he filled the same role from 2006-2010. During that time, he helped the Blazers put together efficient offense after efficient offense and assisted his linemen to allow just 12 sacks during the entirety of the 2010 season.
Now he's a Bulldog.
Allowing Sacks
8 of 10
One of the ways that an offensive line can drastically help an offense improve is by decreasing the number of sacks allowed.
Last season, Aaron Murray was brought down to the ground in the backfield by opposing defenders 24 times during his 13 games at quarterback. While that is by no means a bad number, there is still room for improvement.
Fortunately, Murray is a mobile quarterback who is just as capable at using his legs to make a play as he is his arm. That will help the offensive line immensely, but the five men that make it up still need to make plays.
Preventing Fumbles
9 of 10
One of the biggest problems that the Georgia Bulldogs had during the 6-7 season that fans would like to forget as soon as possible was an inability to hang onto the pigskin.
At times it seemed as though Aaron Murray must be a magician, dipping the ball into a vat of grease before plunging into the outstretched arms of the running back quickly charging towards both him and the line of scrimmage. But whether that was the case or not, the ball ended up on the ground when it shouldn't have way too often.
Is this the offensive line's fault? No, not really. But opening up bigger holes will make it easier for the running backs to see the field and avoid defenders' attempts to poke the ball out from its place in between the elbow and hand.
The Conclusion
10 of 10
With a new offensive line coach and a number of quality players returning to the line, this unit may actually see a significant improvement in 2011.
The Bulldogs have the uncommon ability to put a high-quality player at each and every position along the line. Even more impressive is the fact that the skill position players lining up both behind the line and out to the sides are quite talented.
In all likelihood, the offensive line is not going to be the most valuable unit for Georgia during this upcoming season, but it will absolutely not be an Achilles heel.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
