ATHENS — Starting as a true freshman on Georgia’s offensive line is a lot like playing first base. It’s incredibly hard.
Cade Mays was the last Bulldog to do so, all the way back in 2018. The last true freshman to start the season opener was Andrew Thomas. He went on to have an All-American career at Georgia before later becoming the No. 4 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.
For all the talented offensive linemen Georgia has signed over the years, it has proven difficult to crack the starting lineup right away.
Yet Juan Gaston appears to have a very real case of doing so.
Gaston worked with the first team offensive line during this past Saturday’s scrimmage at right guard. That development comes after a very strong spring practice showing for the former Westlake High School standout in Atlanta.
“I’ve been really impressed with Juan,” Drew Bobo said on Wednesday. “I think he’s done a really good job. Just, I mean, he’s huge. He takes up space. He literally, when he’s blocking somebody on film, it looks like he just engulfs them, because you can’t even see him anymore.”
Gaston is battling Daniel Calhoun and Michael Uini for playing time at the right guard position. Calhoun and Uini both have a year of experience under their belt, though they each redshirted in their first season on campus.
It would be surprising at this point if that is the path Gaston follows.
Perhaps what is working against Gaston at this point is his size. He arrived at Georgia at close to 380 pounds, far above what would be an acceptable playing weight.
He’s worked hard to reshape his body this offseason, with Kirby Smart noting he’s lost between 25 and 30 pounds since getting to Athens in January. But Smart still notes he has further to go if he is to become an every-down contributor for Georgia in his first season on campus.
“Juan has got to get in better shape,” Smart said. “He’s a talented player, but he plays a lot of snaps. And as his volume goes up, he struggles to sustain, which is usually the case with freshmen. They just can’t handle the volume, the practice load that they get. And he’s growing at that.”
Part of the reason Gaston has this opportunity is that the offensive line is not as strong as it has been in previous years. Injuries greatly hurt the Bulldogs a season ago and the group, which featured three NFL draft selections, never meshed like it needed to.
The Bulldogs have put a renewed focus on the running game this offseason, a challenge the offensive line takes personally to this point.
Having a 6-foot-7, 360-pound mauler like Gaston could certainly help.
“I want to continue to see an identity,” Smart said of the offensive line. “An identity of toughness, physical, setting edges, delivering the run game, denting the defense. And it’s what we have to be, and we need to have a great run game to, number one, help our quarterback, relieve third and longs, feature backs, and then utilize play action. So those guys are working really hard. I’ve been pleased with the group. They continue to work hard and do what we need to do.”
The emergence of Gaston gives Georgia another talented option to work with on the offensive line. He ended the 2025 recruiting cycle as one of the top offensive line prospects in the country, as he was rated as the No. 52 overall player per the 247Sports Composite rankings.
If he can hone in his conditioning and continue to push through fall camp, Gaston may be able to make an immediate impact at the very start of his Georgia career.
“I think if he keeps going on the right track, he’ll be a great player,” Bobo said of Gaston.
