Opinion: Dowdell de-commit reflects shift in OL philosophy

Whether or not Georgia "moved on" from Aaron Dowdell, the bottom line is this – Georgia needs to get bigger along the offensive line.

Finding a few more "true tackles" wouldn't hurt, either.

That’s the way Kirby Smart sees it.

One of Smart’s first edicts during his opening press conference was the need for the Bulldogs to get bigger and stronger along the line of scrimmage. That’s what he and offensive line coach Sam Pittman are attempting to do.

"You've got to have good depth on the offensive line, especially in this conference," Smart said. "You have to have big, grown men that need lots of depth, because it's hard to get through it without having injuries."

Smart repeated that line of thinking during his last press conference with beat writers two weeks ago.

“I think as a whole we always have to build from the lines. It’s hard to play good SEC football without great offensive and defensive linemen. I think there’s a lot of skill players within a five-hour radius of here," Smart said. "But I think you have to have great O-lines and D-lines, and that’s where we want to start the building blocks to build a great program.”

Certainly we mean no offense to Dowdell, listed at 6-foot-3 and 306 pounds, as the former Creekside High standout certainly has a bright football future, perhaps at one of Georgia’s rivals in the SEC. He is a great football player and is as polished as they come.

However, when you look up and down the depth chart on Georgia’s offensive line, size and length are somewhat missing .

With the exception of early enrollee Ben Cleveland (6-6), along with returnees Greg Pyke (6-6), Kendall Baker (6-6), Sage Hardin (6-6), Aulden Bynum (6-6), Sam Madden (6-6), the rest of Georgia’s returning offensive linemen currently listed on its roster don’t go any taller than 6-4.

Of the aforementioned players, with the exception of Pyke, there’s little to no experience, either.

Again, we men no disrespect to those players. There’s good quality on the roster, and players like Isaiah Wynn, Brandon Kublanow, Dyshon Sims and Pyke are starters who will obviously play huge roles for the Bulldogs next fall.

Wynn, I thought, actually did a very good job when he was thrust in at left tackle following a late-season shakeup to the offensive line.

But Smart ultimately wants to get bigger; he’s going to need all his linemen to meet certain height-weight specifications and I think that’s what you’re starting to see with the Dowdell decision. We also see it with two weeks to go before National Signing Day in what seems to be a renewed focus on bringing those types of players to Athens.

The Bulldogs are already appear to stand a good chance with 6-foot-6, 316-pound E.J. Price (6-6, 317) and earlier today, Trent Smallwood broke the news of 6-foot-6, four-star tackle Jauan Williams (6-6, 314) is coming to Athens for an official visit. We also broke the news that Baylor offensive guard commit Patrick Hudson (6-5, 330) is scheduled to take an official visit as well. Those trips along with recent visits by the coaching staff to see the likes of Landon Dickerson (6-5, 297) and Wednesday’s offer to Jawaan Taylor (6-4, 345) would seem to lend credence to the bigger-is-better philosophy.

While it might take two or three years for Georgia to get the kind of players and depth that Smart and Pittman ultimately want on the offensive line, there’s no time like the present to at least attempt to get started.

From this perspective, it appears that is exactly what they are trying to do.