Juan Gaston is a former five-star offensive lineman who is entering his second year at Georgia. Expectations are sky high for him to have a big year after earning multiple starts as a true freshman, but Kirby Smart doesn’t think he’s been living up to that hype.
During Smart’s press conference on Wednesday he spoke about Gaston and publicly called him out for his lack of conditioning.
"Somewhere out in you guys' world it became this great offseason loss of weight and this great physical specimen, but he has to be able to play more snaps," Smart said via 247Sports.com. "He's got to have better stamina, and I've addressed that with him. I've told him. I said, 'You can do one of two things: You can read what people write about you, or you can listen to what your coaches tell you and listen to the truth.'"
Kirby Smart called out OL Juan Gaston who's been the media's darling this offseason
Gaston has been one of the players getting the most hype from the media this offseason. He arrived to fall camp with a completely transformed body that looked ready to dominate SEC defensive lines, but it turns out he still has work to do on his conditioning.
Smart knows that the media has been hyping Gaston up. He also knows that Gaston has probably seen the articles being written about him as well. That is why he specifically called him out to the media so Gaston knows how urgent it is that he improves his conditioning and so the media can lay off him a bit.
The hope for Gaston was to be a full time starter this year, but if his conditioning isn’t good enough he won’t be able to play as much as Georgia would like. He does have two weeks to get his conditioning up until the season begins, but for now he may not get as many snaps as people were hoping.
Juan Gaston brings experience Georgia's offense needs
Georgia lost a couple key prices to their offensive line from last years team to the NFL. Replacing NFL talent on the offensive line can be a difficult thing to do in the SEC, but Gaston is a young player who already has a lot of experience that should be ready for an increased role.
His lack of conditioning however leaves some questions as to how much Georgia will be able to rely on him. After being called out like this though it may be safe to assume that his conditioning will improve hopefully to the point where he can play close to if not the entire game.
Georgia’s best version of themselves on offense likely is when Gaston is on the field. It sounds like he will still see the field a lot at the start of this season, but if he wants to be a full time starter who plays nearly every snap each game he has some serious work to do.
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