Tate Ratledge said Georgia’s offensive line has always been close. Since the tragic death of teammate Devin Willock, that bond has continued to tighten.
“We’ve always been a really close group, just hanging out, even out of football,” Ratledge said. “There’s never any arguments, but I would definitely say this has brought us closer together.”
Willock’s memory will stick with Ratledge and the rest of his offensive line teammates forever.
“It’s something that will never leave our minds,” Ratledge said. “He’s one of our best friends. We’ve got a picture of him in our offensive line room now. When watching plays, we see him there. We know he’s with us, taking care of us.”
So far, Ratledge likes what he’s seen from the teammates in the room.
“I think one thing we figured out is that we've got an offensive line room and we’re deep,” Ratledge said. “We have a lot of competition going on just competing every day with a lot of depth.”
That includes both starting tackle positions left vacant by Broderick Jones and Warren McClendon moving on to the NFL.
Ratledge said he’s been extremely impressed by what he’s seen from Amarius Mims, who would appear to have the right tackle position on lockdown.
“He’s gotten very mature with the way he goes about things,” Ratledge said. “He comes ready, not taking plays off, and out grinding every day. He understands there are some big shoes he’s got to fill.”
The Rome native is confident in what he sees at left tackle, too, where redshirt freshman Earnest Greene III and junior Austin Blaske are competing for the starting job.
When it comes to Blaske, two words come to mind.
“Toughness and effort,” Ratledge said. “There’s not a day that he’s not giving his all for everybody out there. Everyone has a lot of respect for him because he brings it every day.”
In Greene, Ratledge sees a player who reminds him somewhat of himself and the standpoint each had to spend dealing with an injury.
Greene dealt with a back injury that required surgery, while Ratledge missed virtually all of 2021 due to a Lisfranc injury suffered against Clemson. “He didn’t get to play, but he stayed in the film room because I told him, don’t let his football knowledge go to waste. Just try to learn as much as you can and this time, I think it's showing.”
Mims, Blaske and Greene were not the only teammates mentioned by Ratledge.
“Micah Morris and Dylan Fairchild are really impressing right now,” he said. “Jared Wilson, he’s an athlete, physical and smart. Then there’s Monroe (Freeling) who has come and shown just how athletic he is. He’s got things to learn here and there about college ball, like everyone just coming in does, but he’s started out really well.”
Year two under offensive line coach Stacy Searels continues to go well.
“He’s always done a good job of being clear with what he wants,” Ratledge said. “But he comes in every day and coaches you hard; everybody’s got a lot of respect for him.”
It’s because of that respect for Searels that Ratledge is confident Georgia’s offensive line will not miss a beat once the season gets underway.
“I think one of Coach Searels’ goals is to find that starting five, then find a backup group where there’s not that much of a drop-off,” Ratledge said. “Right now, we do. We’ve got a lot of depth, so there’s no telling. We’ve got people getting a lot of reps.”
