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Smart: Georgia looking for young OL to 'grow up and play' in 2025

On3 imageby:Jake Rowe•about 9 hours•

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Bo Hughley Georgia
Georgia offensive lineman Bo Hughley (55) during Georgia’s practice session in Athens, Ga., on Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (Tony Walsh/UGAAA)

ATHENS, Ga. — There’s good news and bad news concerning Georgia’s offensive line in 2025. The bad news is that it has four guys leaving the program who totaled well over 6,000 combined snaps in the UGA careers. The good news is that as experienced as that group was, it wasn’t very good in 2024.

There are obviously reasons why the offensive line, which was touted as a major strength this time last year, struggled. None of Georgia’s players or coaches, however, really want talk about those. They don’t want to make excuses. They want to move on.

But either way you look at it, Georgia has some big shoes to fill. The Bulldogs return four guys with significant experience, but they need more to step up.

“We’ve kinda had this coming for a while, so it’s been an anticipation of how we can create depth in our signing classes,” Smart said on Tuesday. “We’ve got a lot of young offensive linemen in our signing classes who haven’t played who need to grow up and play.”

Micah Morris is back for his fifth season with five starts and over 1,000 career snaps under his belt. Monroe Freeling, who’ll miss the spring after shoulder surgery, also has a handful of starts and helped steady the Bulldog offensive line some late last season before getting hurt.

Earnest Greene has the most experience, starting 23 straight games at left tackle between the 2023 and 2024 seasons. He had to step aside late last season due to a stinger/nerve injury in his left shoulder. It kept him out for three weeks. Then there’s Drew Bobo at center with two starts to his credit. Georgia isn’t void of experience or talent but when it comes to the former, it goes no further than those four players.

With Freeling out, Georgia has tons of reps to offer at offensive tackle. Redshirt sophomore Bo Hughley will likely get the first crack at it. Jamal Meriweather is also a third-year player who can contend along with second-year guys Jah Jackson, Michael Uini, and Nyier Daniels.

Redshirt freshman Daniel Calhoun is expected to step in at guard, but the Bulldogs need to build some depth there. Juan Gaston could play on the inside or at right tackle, but he’s a true freshman. Marques Easily, Uini, and Daniels could also play guard or tackle. In essence, those guys make up the group Smart is talking about when he references players who must grow up.

The process that will lead to some player stepping up as Smart hopes began in January with winter workouts. Others will fall by the wayside for the time being. The on-field portion started Tuesday. With 14 more spring practices and a full preseason camp set for August, Georgia has a long way to go. For now it has a long time to get there, too.

“To be honest with you, it’s a problem across the NFL, where they don’t have enough offensive linemen,” the Georgia head coach said said. “I know nobody in the country right now in college football is saying we’ve got enough linemen. We’re good. There’s not enough quality offensive linemen out there, and you’re trying to build quality depth across the board at the position.

“What helps with that? Mid-years.Sometimes transfers, but offensive line aren’t your most transfer portal type player position. Not a lot of people get success through doing that. We’ve found success through developing guys. This group that’s about to take the field or get their opportunity, a lot of them have been on that scout team for two years. They’re not where they need to be, but we’re going to push them and do the best combination to get 8-10 guys that can play winning football for us, which is our goal every year.”

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