The Big Uglies

You’d have a better odds playin roulette at your favorite Vegas nightspot than nailing down the starters for this year’s O-line. Not necessarily the players that will start, the question is at what position. There’s quite a few scenarios being bounced around and it all boils down to the Center position. The easiest way to make any sense out of the situation is to start with the facts and then go down a subtle road into pure speculation.

First……the facts. Just hours prior to Colt Brennan being rubbed into the Superdome carpet as a permanent splotch around his own goal line, our O-line consisted of 2 seniors, 2 redshirt freshmen, and 1 true freshman. Just a few months prior to that, we opened fall practice with 2 seniors, 2 juco transfers, and a bunch of kids that had never taken a college snap. How that ragged group morphed into a very effective line last year has to be credited to 2 things…..talent and coaching. It’s a real credit to O-line coach Stacy Searels when we consider how well that line played by midseason. So, with the 2 seniors gone, who do we have coming back?

Seniors – a big whopping zero, zip, zilch, nada

Juniors –
Vince Vance 6-8, 320 played in 11 games last season at tackle

Sophomores – (R) =redshirt
Josh Davis (R) 6-6, 293 played in 10 games last season at guard
Chris Davis (R) 6-4, 292 started 13 games at guard
Kevin Perez (R) 6-3, 270 saw action in 6 games at center
Kiante Tripp(R) 6-6, 270 played in 8 games at tackle
Trinton Sturdivant 6-5, 293 started 13 games at right tackle
Clint Boling 6-5, 290 started the final 11 games at guard

Freshmen –
Tanner Strickland (R) 6-5, 328
Ben Harden (R) 6-3, 310
Justin Anderson (R) 6-5, 328
Chris Little (R) 6-6, 330
Ben Jones 6-3, 300 true freshman enrolled in January ‘08

The spring depth chart has the starters listed as:
LT – Trinton Sturdivant
LG – Vince Vance
C – Chris Davis
RG – Clint Boling
RT – Kiante Tripp

That lineup looks good to me…….let’s run with it. No can do. The Center position, it seems, may not be finalized until this fall. Depending on the outcome, a domino effect could take place throughout the line. I guess the best thing for now is just to breakdown the positions and wait for the outcome.

Easy on the facemask bud......Freshman All American Trinton Sturdivant

Tackle –
Trinton Sturdivant earned freshman All-American honors in 2007 and is a stone cold lock at left tackle.
Kiante Tripp has moved from OL to DL back to OL in his short career and would seem to have a handle on the RT starting job.

Kiante Tripp has found a home at OT

Depth is provided by Josh Davis, who can play guard or tackle, and Vince Vance (currently listed as starting LG).

Clint had 11 starts as a redshirt freshman

Guard –
Vince Vance and Clint Boling are listed as the current starters. Boling seems to have a stronger grip on his position. Chris Davis would take one of these positions if he doesn’t start at center.
Justin Anderson is also pushing hard to take one of these spots. Chris Little (foot surgery, out for spring) should return in the fall to compete.

Chris Davis started every game as a redshirt freshman......he's a lock to start in '08, but where?

Center –
Chris Davis is listed as the starter. Ben Harden, Kevin Perez, and Ben Jones are expected to compete for the job.

Ben Jones, the true freshman that enrolled in January, has been pumped up by the media, and even the coaches to some extent, as a favorite to earn the starting center job. Jones basically came out of nowhere with his performance at the UA High School All-American game. He consistently handled the best of the best H.S. defensive tackles throughout practices and during the game. The first day of contact this spring, Jones was reminded of the fact that these guys aren’t high schoolers. The AJC noted that Ricardo Crawford pretty much tossed him around like a chew toy.

Other newcomers to Athens this fall:
Cordy Glenn - rivals 16th ranked OT

A.J. Harmon - rivals #2 ranked OG (currently listed by UGA as D-lineman)

Jonathan Owens - rivals 49th ranked OG

Ok, here’s the super condensed summary of the OL for 2008.
Guaranteed starters –
Sturdivant, Tripp, and Chris Davis

Possible Starters -
Vince Vance, Clint Boling, and …..Ben Jones?

Very close and haven’t been ruled out yet -
Josh Davis, Justin Anderson, Kevin Perez and Chris Little

Will see limited playing time –
Tanner Strickland and Ben Harden

With 12 scholarship OL seeing playing time this year, Glenn, Harmon, and Owens are headed for redshirts.

What does it all mean? This year's OL should come out of the gate much stronger than in '07. The loss of the seniors will be more than offset due to the experience of the entire line as a group. If Jones does nab the starting center position as a true freshman, you can bet he's as much a badass as advertised. Otherwise, it's just a bunch of sophomores who have some talent, some experience, and a track record of success to build upon for 3 more years.