Georgia Signs an Extraordinary Offensive Line Class

For the Georgia Bulldogs, the highlight of today’s Early Signing Day was the inking of a pair of five-star offensive linemen: Jamaree Salyer, who attended Pace Academy (Atlanta, Ga.), and Cade Mays from Knoxville (Tenn.) Catholic.

Salyer, who is listed at 6-foot-4 and 305 pounds, is regarded as the No. 9 overall prospect in the country. The 6-foot-5, 300-pound Mays, who is ranked as the nation's No. 15 prospect, was a long-time commitment to Tennessee, which is where his father, Kevin Mays, starred for the Volunteers a quarter-century ago.

Remarkably, the signing of the two five-star offensive linemen matches Georgia's entire total of five-star linemen from 2002 through 2016 (John Theus in 2012, and Isaiah Wilson last year). Salyer and Mays joined a trio of previously committed Bulldogs, each of whom enters Georgia having accomplished plenty in his own right at the prep level.

Trey Hill, who stands at 6-foot-4 and 330 pounds, is a Rivals100 prospect from Warner Robins, Ga., and considered the No. 2 offensive guard in the nation. The 6-foot-4, 290-pound Warren Ericson from Suwanee, Ga., is a Rivals250 prospect who helped lead North Gwinnett High School to its first state championship. In addition, although he hails from Oklahoma City—the furthest hometown from Athens of the Bulldogs’ current signees—6-foot-7, 270-pound Owen Condon signed with Georgia already being fairly familiar with the school as his mother attended the university.

Featuring two five-star prospects, two fours (Hill and Ericson), and a high-end three-star prospect (Condon), a legitimate question arises. Is this arguably the most highly-regarded collection of incoming offensive linemen for a single class in Georgia football history?

Seemingly, there are only a handful of offensive line classes at Georgia the last 40 years even comparable to the Bulldogs’ most recent grab. Notably, the offensive line class of 1980 featured two of the nation’s top 50 recruits—Winford Hood and Todd Milton—plus highly-touted Mike Weaver and Jimmy Harper, and junior-college standout Joe Happe. In 1991, three of Georgia’s five lineman signees included the number three, five, and twelve overall prospects in the state in Chad Chosewood, Mike Fredenburg, and David Weeks, respectively. Four years later, three of the Bulldogs’ six incoming offensive linemen included two prep All-Americans—Matt Stinchcomb and Steve Herndon—and another signee, Kenley Ingram, who was thought to likely contend for a starting position right away.

In the Rivals era prior to today, there were only a couple of offensive line classes worthy of comparison to this year’s. The 2009 class consisted of only four offensive line signees—Chris Burnette, Kwame Geathers, Dallas Lee and Austin Long—but the group out of high school averaged a Rivals Rating of 5.83 (between a low-end and mid-four-star prospect). The only other comparable class the previous 15 years was fittingly Georgia’s most recent group of incoming linemen before today—a 2017 bunch consisting of six signees. Highlighted by five-star Wilson and four-stars Netori Johnson, Andrew Thomas, and D’Marcus Hayes—the Bulldogs’ offensive line signees from less than a year ago averaged a 5.85 Rivals Rating.

Finally, featuring two of the top three incoming offensive linemen (Salyer and Mays), and the nation's top two offensive guards (Salyer and Hill), Georgia solidified today an offensive line class with an average Rivals Rating of 5.92, signifying the Bulldogs' most highly-touted incoming offensive front certainly during the Rivals era, and perhaps for the last few decades.