ATHENS, Ga. - Georgia's offensive linemen weren't going to double in size overnight.
Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart made it clear upon arrival that he wants the Bulldogs to get better and bigger up front, and that process is underway. New Georgia offensive line coach Sam Pittman had the most gargantuan front in all of football last season, college or pro, when his five Arkansas Razorbacks starters averaged a well-fed 327.6 pounds.
"I've gotten a little bit bigger," Bulldogs senior lineman Brandon Kublanow said this week. "I've put on five pounds from where I was before, but nothing too crazy. Nobody has put on anything insane, because most of us were already pretty big."
The Bulldogs held their second spring workout Thursday afternoon, practicing for two hours in helmets and shorts.
Georgia began spring drills Tuesday with redshirt sophomore Kendall Baker at left tackle, junior Isaiah Wynn at left guard, Kublanow at center, junior Dyshon Sims at right guard and senior Greg Pyke at right tackle. The spring roster does not update any weight changes since the TaxSlayer Bowl win over Penn State, so the current first-team line on paper averages 295.2 pounds.
Kublanow said almost every lineman has put on five or six pounds since the coaching change, but Smart believes the up-front Bulldogs remain too low in girth and number.
"The offensive line has been a concern all along - the size and the depth there," Smart said. "It's important that we improve on that going forward. I would like to have a three-deep offensive line every spring, but that means 15 guys, and that's hard to do in spring unless you get midyear enrollees.
"It's a challenge to get 15 good, quality offensive linemen, but I think that's one of the areas we've got to work on."
Georgia is having to replace three starting linemen - right tackle John Theus, center Hunter Long and left guard Kolton Houston - from the bowl game.
Pyke started at right guard most of last season with Kublanow at center and Wynn at left guard, but injuries hampered Pyke down the stretch. That resulted in several shifts, including Long becoming the starting center and Wynn moving to left tackle and bumping Theus to the right side.
Now everything has changed again.
"I'm at tackle now, but I don't know if I'll stay there," Pyke said after Thursday's practice. "Last year was last year, and this is a totally new experience."
Said Wynn: "I don't have a preference where I play. I think it's good to be able to play all positions."
Smart expects the shifting to continue this spring so coaches can determine the most effective quintet.
"We're going to work different groupings there," Smart said. "I think it's important to cross train because we cannot anticipate injuries, and they ultimately will happen in the offensive line. We've got to be ready and more prepared to handle those situations as they come up.
"Coach Pittman did a really good job both at Tennessee and at Arkansas of having another guy ready when somebody goes down and training those guys across the board."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.