It's never easy to replace 40 percent of an offensive line.

Georgia had to do just that this season with Jamaree Salyer and Justin Shaffer now in the NFL. Factor in Tate Ratledge working his way back from a Lisfranc injury that sidelined him pretty much all of last season, and there are plenty of new faces up front for the Bulldogs.

Those new starters took some time to settle in. But with the regular season three-quarters of the way done, the Bulldogs are playing their best football heading into the final stretch of the season.

The numbers show how well the offensive line has been playing over the last four games.

The Bulldogs have run for 853 yards on 154 carries over the last four contests. That's an average of 213 yards per game and over 5.5 yards per carry. Georgia has also given up just three sacks in that span, including none in the last two contests against Florida and Tennessee.

"I think they're playing with more confidence," Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said. "They're focused. There's a lot of depth there. They've played well, and I think they've played well through the year. I think the best is still ahead of them, and I think we can still get better with our communication and how we go about things. The physicality they play with has been good.”

Warren Ericson agreed. After shuffling in some new faces to begin the year, the endless practice reps are finally beginning to pay dividends.

"You have to have good, quality reps every time in order to be ready for the game," Ericson said. "How we practice, doing everything full speed, physical, getting really good looks from the scout team—that really helps us in the game. Because now we’re like, OK, now I know if this person’s coming here, I know that he’s right behind me. He’s going to have my back. Stuff like that."

Ericson has played a different but still important role this season. He started 14 games at right guard last season, but has seen Ratledge regain that spot in 2022.

As a reserve this season, Ericson has continued to embrace his leadership role in the offensive line room.

"I want to prepare each day like I’m going out there to play 80 reps at any position—left guard, center, right guard," Ericson said. "For me, that helps me kind of stay sharp, going in the film room extra, learning what the defense is going to do, then acting like, OK, if I’m in this situation, what am I going to do? That always helps me stay sharp. Whenever my time is ready, I’m ready to go."

The Bulldog front will face a pair of stiff road tests to close the regular season. Georgia travels to Mississippi State and then Kentucky before closing the regular season at home against Georgia Tech.

For Ericson and company, the tougher games come when they're playing their best football of the season.

"I think we’ve grown each game," Ericson said. "We trust each other each game. Then the connection part that we always talk about, I think we just get stronger and stronger with that each day. We’ve just got to go in, be mentally intense, and we’ve got to be ready to play."