Dylan Fairchild, Micah Morris provide Georgia with invaluable trench depth
Back when Kirby Smart was announced as Georgia’s head coach in December of 2015, he made it known that he wanted to get bigger and deeper on both lines of scrimmage. That’s not something that happens over night but it’s something that has become a hallmark of his Bulldog teams in recent years. In some ways it might be the most true for Smart’s eighth team at Georgia.
UGA probably doesn’t have as many true, game-ready offensive tackles as it has in the past, but the interior of the offensive line is incredibly deep. When looking at guard and center, the argument can be made the Stacy Searels has at least five guys he can rely upon thanks to 2023 surges from Dylan Fairchild and Micah Morris.
“Both Dylan and Micah have had tremendous spring and fall camps,” Smart said on Wednesday. “Micah’s been a little dinged up, so he’s missed a few reps in and out, but he’s really significant on trap plays and pulling plays. He’s physical, he doesn’t shy away from contact, he gets movement. He needs to improve his stamina to be able play to the level of a starter consistently on every snap. Dylan’s had a great camp. Dylan’s worked at tackle and guard, and he’s done a great job, he’s really physical. I think he’s kind of coming into his own, he’s one of our strongest weight room players, and you can see that taking effect with the offensive line. I look at those two guys as starters – they can play in their role with those other guys.”
DawgsHQ’s intel suggests that while both guys are ready to play winning football, Fairchild is the Bulldogs’ third offensive guard for the time being. As a matter of fact, there was some buzz earlier in camp that he was pushing Xavier Truss, a fifth-year player, for the starting spot at left guard. Truss appears to have that spot locked down to start the 2023 season but he and Tate Ratledge, a fourth-year player in his own right, won’t be getting those guys off their heels any time soon.
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Fairchild and Morris were stud prospects coming out of high school. Fairchild, a state-champion wrestler, was the nation’s No. 111 overall prospect and No. 6 interior offensive lineman in the 2021 class per the On3 Industry Ranking. He was the No. 12 player in Georgia.
Morris was in the same class but he was labeled as a tackle. He ranked No. 63 overall and No. 8 at his position, also finishing at No. 8 in the Peach State. Since arriving on campus the two have seen four offensive linemen drafted and others step right in. Now it seems as if they are the next men up — whether that’s at guard where they are pushing for the most playing time or at tackle where at least one of them is cross-training.
“We’re like everybody else in the country,” Smart said. “You’re constantly in need of tackles, so we’ve tried to rotate guys and make sure that we have a fourth, fifth, and sixth answer, should we need that.”
