Despite standing 6-foot-6 and weighing 305 pounds, Georgia fifth-year senior guard Kendall Baker somehow has become smaller in offensive line coach Sam Pittman's meeting room.
"Coach Pittman is recruiting some freaks," Baker told reporters late last week. "They're huge."
Georgia signed the nation's top crop of offensive linemen this past winter, headed by the top-100 trio of Jamaree Salyer, Cade Mays and Trey Hill. Mays is the lightest of that bunch at 318 pounds.
That haul followed a 2017 class topped by Andrew Thomas, Isaiah Wilson and Netori Johnson, with Thomas being the lightest at 320.
"We like those big kids, and you guys know that," Bulldogs offensive coordinator Jim Chaney said in a recent news conference. "What you have to understand is that when you go big and you try to develop a team the way we try to do it, we are physical playing the line of scrimmage and we are going to try to beat you up up front.
"With that, there are some inherent fleas that come with it. Some quick defensive linemen might give us a little bit of trouble, but we think by the end of the game - beating on you and pounding on you - our bigs will overcome."
After taking Sunday off, the Bulldogs held a closed practice Monday afternoon.
Thomas certainly overcame his share of challenges last year, starting all 15 games at right tackle as a freshman. He struggled during the 40-17 loss at Auburn, when the Bulldogs rushed 32 times for 46 yards, but was marvelous in the rematch as Georgia pounded out 238 rushing yards in the Southeastern Conference title game.
The Bulldogs averaged 435.3 total yards and 258.4 rushing yards per game last season, and they allowed a respectable 22 sacks in the 15 contests.
"What made us a great team last year was how we came in and attacked practice," Thomas said. "We practiced hard and physical so the games can be easy."
There has been no shortage of the motto "iron sharpens iron" this year in Athens, with the veteran offensive linemen experiencing it on two fronts. Georgia has four starting offensive linemen back with Thomas, who is flipping from right to left tackle, Baker at left guard, Lamont Gaillard at center and Ben Cleveland at right guard.
Wilson, who redshirted last season, has been practicing as the first-team right tackle with Mays as his backup. Another true freshman, Warren Ericson, has been working as the second-team center.
"A lot of the freshmen are really smart," Thomas said. "Most of them played two or three different positions in high school. It's exciting to see them come in and work. We've got a lot of guys with a lot of talent. There is a lot of competition."
Said Baker: "The younger recruits are pushing us to do what we have to do to get better. If you don't, you get your spot taken."
Baker signed with the Bulldogs in 2014 and had played in just five career games before the start of last season. After coming off the bench against Appalachian State in the opener, the Atlanta resident got his first career start in the 20-19 win at Notre Dame.
His final preseason has contained not only younger and larger offensive linemen looking to take his spot but a daily grind of facing the likes of Julian Rochester, Jonathan Ledbetter, Tyler Clark and others on the defensive front.
"We go against some great guys every day," Baker said, "and practicing against those guys every day is going to make us that much better. We're coming off hard at the snap, and they're coming off hard.
"I learned last year that you've got to relax and own what you do, but there is definitely more competition out there this year."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.