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closeATHENS — There will be five senior defensive tackles who take the field before Georgia’s final game of the season Saturday to be honored as part of the team’s senior day festivities, which means there will be a serious blow to the Bulldogs’ depth at that position next season.
Meanwhile, Georgia figures to return all five starters on its offensive line, which makes for a crowded depth chart ahead of A.J. Harmon, the burly redshirt freshman who switched from the defensive to offensive line prior to the season.
But while a switch back might make perfect sense for Harmon and the Bulldogs in terms of numbers, head coach Mark Richt said it isn’t likely to happen.
“I have talked to him about that throughout the year, and you never say never, only because you never know what kind of injuries may hit your team,” Richt said. “But right now, we have no thoughts at all about moving him. We feel like he’s making good progress.”
Harmon has seen minimal playing time this season, but he has shown significant progress in shedding weight and getting into better shape after entering school at nearly 330 pounds.
“A.J.’s come a long way at O-line,” Richt said. “He’s reshaped his body. He needs more strength, but we like how he’s been progressing so we think we’ll keep him there.”
While Harmon appears unlikely to swap positions, the door is still open for tailback Richard Samuel to make the move to linebacker, but Richt said no official decisions on that will be made until after the season, when coaches can do a thorough review of the scenario.
“I don’t want to get into that because I don’t want to disrupt his life right now, but we’re going to look at everything in totality once this season’s over,” Richt said. “We’ll look at some things when there’s a little breathing room and some time to think about it.”
More room for new recruits
What looked like an already crowded signing class for next season could get bigger for two reasons.
First, Georgia may have more scholarships to offer than previously assumed. With Tony Wilson, Bryce Ros and Neland Ball all earning medical disqualifications in the past seven months, a few more scholarships have opened up. Add to that the departure of juniors Kevin Perez and Ricardo Crawford, who both will graduate and leave the program despite having an additional season of eligibility remaining, and the Bulldogs have a bit more room to maneuver.
Still, Richt said the increased scholarships available won’t change the approach he has taken toward recruiting this season.
“I wouldn’t say that, ‘Oh now we can go get two more,’ ” Richt said. “We’re recruiting the same guys we’ve been recruiting all along, so that hasn’t changed.”
Dogs won’t be going Green
It won’t be the first time this season that Georgia has gone to battle without A.J. Green, and the Bulldogs managed to post 31 points a week ago without their star receiver. Still, offensive coordinator Mike Bobo said there’s no replacing a player of Green’s caliber without changing the battle plan.
“It was good to see and get those guys in there to have opportunities, and they made plays,” Bobo said. “It’s a little bit difficult in the sense that you have a guy that was pretty dependable when the ball came his way in his ability to make plays and cause defenses to account for him.”
Bobo said he still was unsure who would get the start opposite Tavarres King this week, with Michael Moore, Rantavious Wooten and Israel Troupe all in the mix.
Regardless of who plays in Green’s place, Bobo said the key will be for Georgia to continue running the ball effectively, even with Kentucky’s defense likely to put extra defenders in the box to stop the run.
“We’ll still probably get a little bit more one-on-one that we did when he was out there, but we’re still going to have to be able to run the ball efficiently,” Bobo said.
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