Tag: Jamaree Salyer

Georgia vs. South Carolina: Key matchups to watch

Here are the key matchups to watch when Georgia football travels to Columbia to take on South Carolina Saturday night on SEC Network.

No. 9 Georgia (5-2) is set to take on South Carolina (2-6) Saturday at 7:30 p.m. on SEC Network.

The Bulldogs travel to Columbia in what the SEC is calling ‘rivalry week’ in 2020’s conference-only schedule. 

The Gamecocks are led by interim coach Mike Bobo, former Georgia quarterback and offensive coordinator, after four-year coach Will Muschamp was fired earlier this season.

South Carolina lost to Missouri 17-10 on Saturday in a game that featured two different quarterbacks under center for the Gamecocks.

Freshman dual-threat Luke Doty replaced senior Collin Hill at halftime and as of now, we expect to see Doty at signal caller vs. the Bulldogs.

Georgia comes in to this one riding a 31-24 win vs. Mississippi State in which USC transfer quarterback JT Daniels looked like a star, throwing for 401yards and four touchdowns on 28 of 38 passing in his first start as a Georgia Bulldog.

Here are the key matchups to watch for when Georgia travels to Columbia Saturday night.

UGA football target 4-star WR Jayden Thomas sets commitment date

The Georgia Bulldogs made the top five schools for Pace Academy WR Jayden Thomas

The Georgia Bulldogs made the top five schools for Jayden Thomas. Thomas is a four-star receiver who plays high school football at Pace Academy. He’s from Atlanta, Georgia, and is a member of the class of 2021. Now, Thomas is ready to make his commitment.

Pace Academy is a bit of a University of Georgia pipeline high school. Georgia has recruited talented players Andrew Thomas and Jamaree Salyer from Pace Academy.

Jayden Thomas announced his commitment date via Twitter:

In case you can’t see the tweet, Thomas will be committing Oct. 2. That is a special day for him because it is his grandma’s birthday.

At 6 feet, 1 inch, 200 pounds, Thomas has solid size. He will decide between UGA, Notre Dame, Penn State, Michigan and Arkansas.

Kirby Smart and Georgia have 15 commitments in the class of 2021. Thomas would be a great addition to the class. Can UGA persuade the four-star to stay in the Peach State?

Kirby Smart and the Dawgs have secured three straight elite recruiting classes. Look for the class of 2021 to be no different. Georgia has two wide receiver commitments: Adonai Mitchell, who flipped from Ole Miss, and Jackson Meeks.

Thomas frequently works out with Georgia Bulldogs wide receiver legend Terrence Edwards.

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Georgia announces captains for Week 1 at Arkansas

Georgia has announced its captains for the Week 1 matchup at Arkansas.

The No. 4 Georgia Bulldogs have announced its captains for the 2020 season opener in Fayetteville, Arkansas on Saturday.  Seniors Richard LeCounte and Malik Herring, as well as junior Jamaree Salyer, have been named the Week 1 captains against the Arkansas Razorbacks.

LeCounte is the leader of the Dawgs defense, tallying 61 tackles and 4 interceptions last year at defensive back.  He was named to the preseason Bednarik Award watch list, an award given each year to college footballs most outstanding defensive player.  It is going to be fun to watch LeCounte playing in his senior season with the Dawgs and really become the veteran leader of this team.

Herring has been a force for the Bulldogs at the defensive end position.  He has played in every game except two since arriving in Athens in 2017.  Herring had 26 tackles, two pass deflections and 18 quarterback hurries in 9 games with Georgia last season.

Salyer will replace now Tennessee Titans offensive lineman Isaiah Wilson at the right tackle position.  Salyer played in 26 games in his first two seasons with the Dawgs and is expected to be a cornerstone for the offensive line this year.

The Bulldogs kick off against the Razorbacks at 4:00 p.m. ET on SEC Network.

UGA football among top schools for 4-star WR Jayden Thomas

The Georgia Bulldogs have made the latest list of Jayden Thomas’s top schools. Thomas plays high school football for Pace Academy.

The Georgia Bulldogs have made the latest list of Jayden Thomas’s top schools. Thomas is a four-star receiver who plays high school football at Pace Academy. He’s from Atlanta, Georgia and is a member of the class of 2021.

Pace Academy is a bit of a University of Georgia pipeline high school. Georgia has landed talented players like Andrew Thomas and Jamaree Salyer from Pace Academy.

Jayden Thomas announced his top five via Twitter:

At 6-1, 200 pounds Thomas has solid size. He puts UGA, Notre Dame, Penn State, Michigan, and Arkansas in his top five schools.

Kirby Smart and Georgia currently have ten commitments in the class of 2021. Thomas would be a nice addition to the class. Can UGA convince the four-star to stay in the Peach State?

Kirby Smart and the Dawgs have secured three straight elite recruiting classes. Look for the class of 2021 to be no different. Georgia currently has one wide receiver commitment in Adonai Mitchell, who flipped from Ole Miss.

Jayden Thomas frequently works out with Georgia wide receiver legend Terrence Edwards.

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CFN ranks top-five Georgia offensive players for 2020 season

College football News ranked the top-five Georgia offensive players for the 2020 season.

Pete Fiutak of College Football News recently previewed the Georgia Bulldogs for the upcoming 2020 season and ranked UGA’s top-five offensive players. 

Here’s how he ranked them:

1. WR George Pickens

On Pickens, Fiutak said:

The 6-3, 190-pounder has the size, the speed, and the next-level talent to become a volume-catcher along with a deep threat. Decent throughout last year, he failed to come up with a 100-yard game until the Sugar Bowl win over Baylor, ripping it up with 12 catches for 175 yards and one score.

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Watch: Georgia OL Jamaree Salyer puts in offseason work, Kirby Smart reacts

UGA football OL Jamaree Salyer has slimmed down and is putting in offseason work. Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart reacted on Twitter

Jamaree Salyer, Georgia’s projected starter at right tackle in 2020, has been busy putting in offseason work.

Salyer committed to Georgia as a five-star prospect in the class of 2018 out of Pace Academy in Atlanta, Georgia. In two seasons, he’s seen action in 26 games. With the departure of four starters off of last season’s offensive line, Salyer will be expected to be a leader on the line next season.

When he signed with Georgia, he checked in at 342 pounds. According to this tweet he is now down to 315.

The tweet was posted by Big Dawgs Club, an offensive lineman training program.

Salyer’s new look caught the eye of Kirby Smart, who responded to the tweet. Big Dawgs Club responded to Kirby’s tweet and said that Salyer will report back to UGA at 308 pounds.

See the thread below:

 

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Sam Pittman on Georgia’s 2020 offensive line: ‘They’ll be fine’

Former Georgia football OL coach Sam Pittman is confident in UGA’s 2020 offensive line depth chart.

Georgia fans were devastated to hear the news of the departure of former offensive line coach Sam Pittman in December.

Pittman assembled the best offensive line Georgia, and quite possibly college football, has ever seen … and he has the evidence to prove that.

The Dawgs had three offensive linemen go in the first 111 picks in the 2020 NFL Draft. Two went in the first round: Andrew Thomas fourth to the New York Giants and Isaiah Wilson 29th to the Tennessee Titans.

Georgia had never had two offensive linemen selected in the first round of the same draft, and Thomas became the highest-drafted Bulldog offensive lineman in school history.

Solomon Kindley was selected by the Miami Dolphins in the fourth round of the draft.

Pittman took the head coaching job at the University of Arkansas, which triggered Kirby Smart’s hiring of former Ole Miss head coach Matt Luke to fill Pittman’s position in Athens.

The Athens Banner-Herald spoke with Pittman about his old players, and the future of the Georgia offensive line.

“I was proud of them,” Pittman told the Athens Banner-Herald.  He was referring to the guys who stepped up in last year’s Sugar Bowl for the absent Andrew Thomas and Isaiah Wilson, who sat out for obvious reasons. “Jamaree Salyer did well. Warren Ericson was in there and played well. Cade (Mays) jumped out to left tackle and, of course, I know he’s not at Georgia anymore. The new guys, I felt like they played about what they played and Coach (Luke) did a nice job of getting them ready. I was really happy, and happy to see them win the game. I was happy for the kids because they finally got a chance to step in there and prove that they’re good football players as well.”

Coach Luke will be without a key piece he thought he would have the Dawg’s 2020 offensive line, Mays. The tackle entered the transfer portal this offseason and transferred to Tennessee, his father’s alma mater.

Pittman had some nice things to say about rising junior guard Salyer.

“Jamaree played quite a bit more this year than he had in the past. He actually played a lot of ball. To look at him, you’re going, man, he’s probably not a tackle but he is a tackle and he’s going to be a really good player. He’s kind of a natural pass protector.”

The Dawgs will also have rising junior center Trey Hill returning, who is a likely NFL prospect.

Pittman was not the slightest bit worried about Georgia losing so much talent to the NFL draft, even though the Dawgs are now conference foes to him.  Pittman knows there is a surplus of talented linemen at Georgia and has plenty of confidence in Matt Luke taking over what he started.

“There’s plenty of talent on that line there even though they lost several kids but they recruited well like Georgia always does,” Pittman said. “Xavier Truss is a kid that’s got a lot of talent. They’ll be fine. They’ve got a really good offensive line coach there. They’ll be fine.”

Projected 2020 Georgia football depth chart: Offensive line

Taking a look at Georgia football’s offensive line depth chart for 2020 after losing four starters from dominant group in 2019.

In 2019, Georgia had one of the best offensive lines in the country.

The unit ranked fifth in the country in run-blocking and fourth in pass-blocking according to PFF (Pro Football Focus).

Looking ahead to 2020, the Bulldogs will have almost an entirely new starting unit. Cade Mays transferred to Tennessee, Matt Luke replaced Sam Pittman as line-coach and the Dawgs lost All-American Andrew Thomas, Isaiah Wilson and Solomon Kindley to the NFL draft.

So, what will the protection look like in front of new quarterback Jamie Newman next season?

Right Tackle

  1. Jamaree Salyer (Jr.)
  2. Warren McClendon (RFr.)

Salyer is the most experienced option at right tackle for the Dawgs and although his size may be best fitted at guard, Slayer is athletic enough and played well against Baylor in the Sugar Bowl.

Right Guard 

  1. Ben Cleveland (RSr.)
  2. Warren Ericson (RSoph.)

Cleveland has the most experience of any Bulldog lineman and at 6-foot-7 340 pounds may be the strongest player on the entire roster. He missed the Sugar Bowl with academic issues and has had his fair share of problems with injuries, however, his power on the inside is one of the reasons UGA running backs averaged almost 3 yards before contact last season.

Center

  1. Trey Hill (Jr.)
  2. Clay Webb (RFr.)

At center, the key is experience. Hill’s first season at center in 2019 was definitely a learning experience. He struggled with snaps at times but towards the end of the season he showed improvement. Hill’s upside is his pad-level and power inside and as a defensive lineman you don’t want to get caught in a Trey Hill-Ben Cleveland double-team block that is for sure.

Left Guard 

  1. Justin Shaffer (Sr.)
  2. Clay Webb (RFr.)

Left guard is an educated guess. Shaffer played well in two games last year before his season was ended with a neck injury. He is expected to be healthy come fall, but we could possibly see a mix up in the middle positions among Shaffer, Hill, and talented redshirt freshman Clay Webb. Hill could possibly move over to left guard and Webb take over at center but we will know more whenever the Dawgs are cleared to practice.

Left Tackle

  1. Xavier Truss (RFr.)
  2. Warren McClendon (RFr.)
  3. Broderick Jones (Fr.)

The Bulldogs are losing one of the greatest lineman in Georgia history in Andrew Thomas, so the transition is going to be interesting. At 6-foot-7 330 pounds, Truss looks to be the best fit at the position. He saw minimal action in 2019 but he seems to move well and definitely will be hard to move off the spot.

Coaches still have many decisions to make on who will get the starting spots in Atlanta vs. Virginia, but keep an eye out for position battles when practice resumes and the Bulldogs start to find their identity for the 2020 season.

Georgia can dominate the offensive trenches in 2020

The University of Georgia football team lost an abundance of talent in the offensive trenches this off-season.

Kirby Smart and the University of Georgia lost an abundance of talent in the trenches this off-season. Georgia is losing four starting offensive linemen from the 2019 season. Kirby Smart recruits aggressively so the Dawgs can reload and not rebuild.

Center Trey Hill will be the only returning start from 2019’s line. That doesn’t mean UGA will lack talent in 2020. The Bulldogs return numerous offensive linemen  (in addition to Hill) with valuable experience including: Justin Shaffer (now healthy), Ben Cleveland, and Jamaree Salyer. Georgia will need each of their experience in the week three trip to Tuscaloosa to face Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide.

In fact, Georgia’s returning linemen are among the best in the SEC, per PFF’s Brent Rollins:

Georgia will have three of the top-graded returning nine offensive linemen in the SEC. The Dawgs additionally added five-star offensive tackle Broderick Jones, four-star Tate Ratledge, top-rated center Sedrick Van Pran, four-star offensive tackle Chad Lindberg, and a pair of three-star linemen in the class of 2020.

One of the talented newcomers will likely work their way into the line-up, possibly two. Georgia also returns Warren Ericson, who started at right guard in the Sugar Bowl against Baylor, 2019 five-star center Clay Webb, Warren McClendon, Xavier Truss, Owen Condon, and more.

The biggest question mark for UGA is who will replace stud left tackle Andrew Thomas? That may be too big of an adjustment for five-star freshman Broderick Jones, but he’s the best bet to take over that position. Aside from left tackle, quality depth is the second biggest concern along Georgia’s offensive line. Kirby Smart will rely on new offensive line coach Matt Luke to get the most of the talented group.

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