Georgia Football: Andrew Thomas is back to his best

Georgia Football missed Andrew Thomas against Missouri when the sophomore had to leave the game early. This week the left tackle was back to his best against Tennessee.

One of the main reasons the Georgia Football team struggle against Missouri was the loss of its primary left tackle Andrew Thomas. Having injured his ankle against South Carolina, Thomas had an opposing play role over that same ankle early against Mizzou and consequently was pulled out of the game as a precaution. That left freshman Cade Mays to fill his position and while Mays did well in the running game, he struggled with pass protection.

This week, Thomas returned and was able to play the entire game at tackle. PFF graded him as the highest ranking tackle of the week having only allowed one pressure all game. While UGA struggled as a whole at times to keep Jake Fromm clean, the pressure wasn’t coming from Thomas. He dominated the Vols for the entire game and look to be back to his best.

That’s great news for Georgia. In two weeks time, the Dawgs will face a very good LSU defense in Death Valley. To win that game, they are going to need to keep their QB’s as clean as possible. LSU has plenty of pass rushing talent as well as lots of other good players on that side of the ball. Georgia is going to need to keep their QB’s blindsides well covered. When fully healthy, there’s nobody in the country who does that better than Thomas.

There might be a tackle somewhere who NFL scouts grade higher than Thomas, but I’m yet to see him. Thomas is one of those rare tackles who combines massive size with truly elite foot and hand quickness. He’s the total package in regards to a left tackle at the next level. UGA is going to need him playing to that potential for the rest of the season if they’re going to be able to overcome a rather difficult schedule.

At the beginning of the season, UGA’s route to the Atlanta looked easy. However, LSU has rebounded strongly in Ed Orgeron’s second full season and Kentucky suddenly look like a real threat. UGA will face both of those teams away from home this year and still have to face Auburn and Florida as well. What was supposed to be easy has actually become quite a tough second half of the season for the Dawgs.

If Thomas stays fit and plays like last week, Georgia has a great shot to run the table and make it’s way to Atlanta. A win there and the CFP awaits. Rarely do offensive tackles get identified as the most important player on a team in college football but that probably is the case with Thomas. If he’s playing to his standard, the Dawgs will be very tough to beat this season. If he’s sitting on the sideline, they could be there for the taking.