In the four recruiting classes of the Kirby Smart era at Georgia, there have been eight offensive linemen who have signed with the Bulldogs as top-100 national prospects.
Half of those eight – left tackle Andrew Thomas, center Trey Hill, right guard Ben Cleveland and right tackle Isaiah Wilson – have been occupying first-team roles as the Bulldogs go through another preseason camp with lofty expectations. The top two backups – Cade Mays and Jamaree Salyer – were top-100 national recruits as well.
Then there is 6-foot-4, 330-pound redshirt junior Solomon Kindley, a three-star prospect in the 2016 class who started all 14 games at left guard last season and is maintaining that role.
“I definitely had to prove myself coming out of high school,” Kindley said in a news conference this week. “I wasn’t very highly recruited. I had three stars the entire time, so a lot of teams looked over me.
“I weighed a lot and didn’t come from a very big high school, so when I got to this level, I had something to prove.”