Georgia Football: Offensive Players to watch on G-day
Trey Hill OG
Last but not least we have the guards. Hill deserves a lot of credit to find his way onto this list. He arrived in Athens back in January weighing over 360lbs. There was always the belief that he has the potential to be dominant but that it would take him some time. He needed to reshape his body and that sort of thing takes time.
To his credit, Hill has already taken some huge steps. He’s down to 330lbs and looks noticeably slimmer in pictures. Losing that weight is helping him have more stamina which is essential on the line. He’s impressed the coaches a lot and has been taking reps with the second team unit at times.
Hill has benefited from an injury to Justin Shaffer who was expected to push for a starting guard role. However, he deserves a lot of credit because he’s made the most of his opportunity. Right now, I think he’s probably going to be a starting guard for the 2nd unit on Saturday. That’s a unit that in general, I expect to look really good.
Netori Johnson OG
Fighting Hill for a guard spot will be Netori Johnson. while he didn’t quite have the lofty rankings that Hill did, Johnson was still a top guard in the 2017 class. He came to school late that summer and it took him a while to adjust. He also struggled with Diabetes and that meant that he redshirted in his first year in Athens.
Now, he’s finding himself up against some really talented young players. Hill has stepped in and looked good. Warren Ericson is currently holding down the number 2 center job behind Lamont Gaillard. Jamaree Salyer arrives in June. The amount of interior talent at UGA right now is crazy.
Johnson has the ability to win a spot, he just needs that light to go on. The spring game is important for him because it gives him a chance to show his progress. This is a former Army All American player so all the tools are there.
I expect Johnson to start in the other guard spot from Hill and alongside Ericson and Cade Mays. That’s essentially 4 really talented freshmen on a unit that will probably be led by Kendall Baker at left tackle. How they perform as a whole on G-day is something I am particularly interested in.