Gaillard the anchor of formidable line
ATHENS, Ga. — Lamont Gaillard was ranked among the top 10 defensive tackles nationally in the 2014 signing class, but he enters his senior season at Georgia still without a collegiate tackle. A recruiting bust? Hardly.
The 6-foot-2, 308-pounder from Fayetteville, North Carolina, was moved to the offensive line early in his Bulldogs career and is scheduled to make his 29th career start Saturday when Austin Peay visits Sanford Stadium in the season opener for both teams. Gaillard was a starting guard during the 2016 season and started all 15 games for last year’s Southeastern Conference champions at center.
“Lamont has great toughness,” Georgia thirdyear coach Kirby Smart said this week. “He’s able to push through pain and injury. He’s very bright, and I’ll tell you what he is — he’s really competitive. When we mess something up and don’t do something right on the offensive line, he gets upset. It bothers him.
“He wants to command the other offensive linemen to get it right, and when he demands that, we
usually have pretty good success.”
Georgia enjoyed a lot of success up front last season, as the starting five of Isaiah Wynn, Kendall Baker, Gaillard, Ben Cleveland and Andrew Thomas headed a unit that helped the Bulldogs rush for 258.4 yards per game and 5.8 yards per carry. The Bulldogs also surrendered just 22 sacks in 15 games, with
several of those the result of then-freshman quarterback Jake Fromm holding the ball too long.
Wynn was the senior left tackle of last season’s team before becoming a first-round pick of the New England Patriots, and he was the unquestioned leader.
“I definitely consider myself the leader of the group now,” Gaillard said.
“Of course, Isaiah was the bell cow last year, but I’ve taken it over. I’ve got Drew helping me, and that helps having someone there who can back you up.”
Thomas has flipped from right tackle to left tackle to replace Wynn, with Isaiah Wilson replacing Thomas. With Thomas at 6-5 and 320 pounds and Wilson at 6-7 and 345, the Bulldogs expect to have one of the largest lines in the country.
Gaillard will be the anchor of the group, which may have seemed unlikely when he redshirted in 2014 and was moved to offense in the spring of 2015.
“I just wanted to play, and I didn’t care what position,” Gaillard recalled. “I didn’t care what side of the field. I just wanted to contribute to the team.”
Gaillard played just two games as a redshirt freshman before earning a starting spot in Smart’s first season. He has now continued Georgia’s streak of stability at center, following former multiyear starters Ben Jones (200811), David Andrews (201214) and Brandon Kublanow (2015-16).
It’s a position Gaillard never played in high school, but Smart believes he has found the perfect home.
“The switch was a good move for him,” Smart said. “When we do sprints, the shuttle drills and the change-of-direction drills, you watch Lamont, and he’s beating the defensive linemen. Offensive linemen don’t always beat the defensive linemen, but Lamont does.”
As for the leadership up front, Smart believes Gaillard is first and foremost but has a stellar supporting cast.
“I think Isaiah was the quiet leader last year, because he didn’t do it vocally,” Smart said. “He did it by how he practiced and his toughness, and he didn’t have to say anything. It was more like Nick (Chubb). Whereas this year, Lamont commands respect, but so does Andrew Thomas, and Andrew does it quietly as well.
“Ben has spoken up more lately, so I think Lamont has probably a little more help than Isaiah had when it comes to that because he’s got some guys who have a lot of playing experience. Last year, we didn’t have a lot of guys with a ton of playing experience.”
Odds and ends
Senior receiver Terry Godwin did not practice Tuesday and is now dealing with a calf strain. … Smart told reporters Tuesday night that Mecole Hardman and Ahkil Crumpton are handling punt returns and that Hardman, Tyler Simmons, Elijah Holyfield, Jayson Stanley and Demetris Robertson are in the mix to return kickoffs.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.