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The 2 big reasons Austin Blaske could be the starting left tackle for Georgia football in 2023
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The 2 big reasons Austin Blaske could be the starting left tackle for Georgia football in 2023
Georgia’s offensive line has been well-stocked with former top recruits. Broderick Jones and Amarius Mims were both 5-star prospects. Tate Ratledge, Sedrick Van Pran and Earnest Greene all ranked among the top 60 overall prospects when they were recruits.
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Glad to see Blaske doing so well, another example of the benefits of grinding, relentless hard work. I think that wrestling background is significant (ditto Dylan Fairchild)... those dudes not only bring the overall toughness but also have super quick feet and hands. Go Dawgs!
Hard work pays off ! He can handle the heat coming form Effingham .
Nice article. Go Austin. How do you pronounce his last name?
1) Blask - e (2 syllables) or
2) Blask (silent e; rhymes with "task"; 1 syllable)
Competition!
Man, do we have depth!
I love these articles about the guys in the trenches, and their grit and determination. I love hearing Kirby talk up players whose names are not household words. I love what's being reported about the team's fundamental strengths as this point in the training cycle.
Blaske sounds like the real deal.
Go, Dawgs!
Yeah ... Warren McClendon was a consensus 4 star recruit. Rivals - the best of the 3 main services IMHO - had him as the #167 player overall with a 5.9 rating. By comparison, Carson Beck and Gunner Stockton had 5.8 ratings, and Trevor Lawrence, one of the highest rated recruits in history, was a 6.1. (With Rivals, a consensus 5 star is a 6.1 and a guy that some rate as 5 stars but not others like Dom Blaylock are a 6.0. A 5.9 is the highest grade you can get from Rivals.) In addition, McClendon was the #18 player in the state of Georgia and the #20 rated OT. For most P5 schools - indeed for 9 of the 14 teams in the SEC - he would have been the highest rated OT in their class.
As for Xavier Truss, while he wasn't a consensus 4 star recruit like McClendon, he was for 2 out of the 3 services (ESPN and 247) leaving Rivals as the only dissenter for the 2019 All-American Bowl participant. And even Rivals had him as the #40 OT in the country. 247 had him as the #15 OT and the #138 player overall! Even if you go by Rivals, Truss would have still been rated highly enough to be the starting RT by his true junior season for half the schools in the SEC.
Yeah ... if you want to talk about "not a star studded recruit" then that should be 2 star guys like Stetson Bennett and Tae Crowder or Ladd McConkey (3 star but unranked nationally, state and position), not consensus 4 star players and high school All-Americans.
Made a post about this grown man some time ago.... clearly his hand and foot work has been refined....can see a lot of David Andrews style of play and understanding of the game in him...looking forward to seeing his hard work pay off....have fun and GO DAWGS!!!
I think Connor was primarily and rightfully putting the spotlight on Blaske, working his way into playing time and high value, despite his relative unheralded-ness (regardless of the measuring stick). I, frankly, like a good story where the less-hyped dude fights his way to the top. :) Go Dawgs!
I realize it is the off season and Dawgnation has to find content somewhere. But I have 2 observations. CKS is very risk averse. What that means is that there is no reason to juggle the 3 returning starting IOL considering the lack of experienced reserves. If it ain't broke don't fix it. The tragic loss of DWillock has reduced the flexibility available to the UGA staff to move experienced people around.
That being said, UGA the coaching staff must be hard selling the OL configuration to the players "for the benefit of the team". The logical OT rotation is LT Mims, RT Ratledge, Swing OT Greene with Linberg and Blaske in reserve. Blaske is also #2 OC. When Mims came to UGA he started at LT w/BJones at RT. They eventually (rightfully) switched. So maybe the staff doesn't think Mims can play the blind side. But is there a better choice on the roster now to play LT? LT is the NFL money position. Very surprising that Mims isn't asking for the switch in his last season at UGA. Ratledge is probably an NFL ROT.
You would think it would be easier to find a RG from the guys (Morris, Wilson, Alou) already in Athens than to put a scrappy but undersized Blaske at LT. .
Not to be disrespectful but you should probably sit this one out. Several of your assumptions aren't even in the ballpark. GoDawgs!
Option 1
I'll try to remember "Dogfeathers" in september so I can remind you where you were wrong. If your parents haven't taken your computer away before then.
Cool. We can compare notes on French Creek as well. Semper Fi!
I think Jones went 6'4" and 310. Andrew Thomas was 6'5 and about 315. Blaske is 6'5" and 310. It'd be interesting to know hand size and arm length, but those dudes seem about the same size to me. That said, I'm a little nervous having guys much bigger than that on the interior, since QBs (especially shorter ones like Bennett and Stockton) have to navigate the trees. I'm just thankful Kirby, Bobo, and Searels have these kinds of "problems" to deal with. Go Dawgs!
Broderick Jones Draft and Combine Prospect Profile
Prospect Grade ; 40-Yard Dash. 4.97. Seconds ; 10-Yard Split. 1.74. Seconds ; Vertical Jump. 30'' ; Broad Jump. 9' 0'' ; 3-Cone Drill.
Arm: 34 3/4’’
Height: 6’ 5’’
Weight: 311 lbs
BJones was considered a bit undersized too before the combine. He makes up for it with elite skills and athleticism. Arm length is also considered essential to OT success. One of the main reasons JSalyer fell to the 6th rd. BJones has Blaske beat in all those areas.
The question isn't is whether Blaske is a good player. The question is whether Blaske is the best player to man the blind side. There are reasons Thomas and Jones were high 4* and 5* players and Blaske was a 3*.
The other question is if LT is THE marquee OL position and Mims aspires to play LT in the NFL why wouldn't he want to start showing what he has there now? Maybe he can't play LT? But if Orlando Brown Jr can play LT (pretty well) after a "historically bad" (Mike Mayock) combine performance you have to think that Mims can play LT.
Interesting. What are Blaske's numbers for comparison?