ATHENS — When discussing Georgia’s next starting center Drew Bobo, it’s important to consider part of the Bible verse Ezekiel 18:20.
“The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son,” the verse states.
Based on the work Bobo has put in during his time with the Georgia program, his development is the kind of story that has become harder to appreciate in the transactional era of college football.
Bobo wasn’t some big-name recruit when he signed as a member of Georgia’s 2022 recruiting class. He spent most of the cycle committed to Auburn before flipping to Georgia just before signing day. He was the No. 635-ranked recruit in the cycle. Of the 30 players Georgia signed, only three players ranked lower, and one of them was punter Brett Thorson.
But Bobo put his head down and got to work. He knew his best shot at playing would come at center, so he put his head down and watched Sedrick Van Pran-Granger and Jared Wilson throughout their careers.
When the latter went down in Georgia’s game against Alabama last season, Bobo came on for his first significant snap of his career. Georgia scored a touchdown on the play, but Wilson would return and finish out the game.
“When I played in the Alabama game for one play, I was a little nervous but excited at the same time,” Bobo said. “I went in for one play. I thought I was going to play the whole next series and I was excited, and then Jared came hobbling out of the tent and went back in. And I was a little upset, but I was happy that nothing was seriously wrong with him.
“But then the next couple games I got the opportunity to step in and play, and I just tried to have fun with it and be the best prepared I could be going into those games to help me play to the best of my ability.”
Bobo’s two starts against Auburn and Mississippi State served as a successful audition for the redshirt junior, who is now poised to be Georgia’s starting center for the upcoming season.
Of the five offensive linemen Georgia signed during the 2022 cycle, only Bobo and Earnest Greene remain. Bobo is an important piece of Georgia’s offensive line in 2025, a position group that knows it has to play better.
He is also, as just about everyone knows, the son of offensive coordinator Mike Bobo.
Drew Bobo does his best not to listen to the noise when it comes to his dad. He’s grown accustomed to it, as his childhood largely intersected with Mike Bobo’s first stint as Georgia’s offensive coordinator.
That time with Georgia, as much as some may not look back fondly on it, is a big reason why playing for Georgia means so much for the younger Bobo.
“It’s something I wanted to do my whole life was play for my dad and play at Georgia, and I appreciate that I get to do that now,” Drew Bobo said. “That’s why I think that I put so much effort and time into this because that’s something I’ve wanted to do my whole life and something that I want to happen.”
Mike Bobo is proud too, even if he has to walk the difficult line of being a coach first and father second when it comes to Drew. More often than not, the two speak in a coach-player dynamic, rather than father-son.
“I really didn’t share with him until after each game when I watched the film in the locker room and then when I watched the film, but proud of him and proud of how he works hard and he’s a total team player,” Mike Bobo said this past December.
To this point, the biggest play Drew Bobo made during his career came when he successfully pulled off a fake punt in the SEC Championship game. In the fourth quarter of Georgia’s win over Texas, Bobo completed a 9-yard pass to Arian Smith, converting a key fourth down.
His father was a quarterback, so as it stands, Drew Bobo has a better completion percentage than his dad.
“It wasn’t until after the game that somebody said, everybody kept saying, oh, your son with that pass,” Mike Bobo said. “I really didn’t know what they were talking about. So it was cool to find out that, you know, it was a pass that he threw on that fake punt, which was, you know, a huge play in the game and glad he executed and didn’t screw it up. Then we’d have two Bobos everybody could yell at.”
The hope for Georgia this season is that Drew Bobo makes a much bigger impact as the team’s starting center than as a passer. He’ll be stepping for Wilson on a more permanent basis, as Wilson is poised to be taken in April’s NFL Draft after one season of starting.
While Bobo isn’t the athlete that Wilson was — Wilson was one of the best athletes on the team, regardless of position — Bobo is a more natural center. He played the position in high school and is plenty adept at communicating along the line of scrimmage.
That will be a big boost for likely starting quarterback Gunner Stockton, who doubles as one of his closest friends on the team.
“He’s fun to coach. He works really hard,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “He’s the only player on the team, or at least on the offensive line, that covers down 30 and 40 yards every play. I mean, you can pick out a play in practice, and he’s running to the ball. He covers people up really well. He’s got great quickness. He continues to work on his strength and power. He’s been more consistent with his snaps, and he is bright.
“He understands what we’re trying to do offensively, and he knows where to point, who to work to as an offensive line.”
Smart has known Bobo longer than any player in the Georgia program, as Drew served as the ring bearer at Smart’s wedding.
Despite the family history, Bobo reached this point due in large part to his own merits. It’s impossible to separate him from his last name and all that comes with it. But a nepo baby, he is not. He wouldn’t be in line to be Georgia’s starting center simply because his dad is life-long friends with Smart.
He knows there will be criticism, seeing it often with his dad. Soon, it will be directed at him in the event he whiffs on an assignment or has an errant snap.
All that experience uniquely prepares him to block out any noise. He’s viewed as one of the leaders on the offensive line, one that was routinely criticized for its underperformance last season and one of the most scrutinized position groups this offseason.
Bobo knows the pressure that comes with being at Georgia. He wants all the good and bad that comes with it.
Because of his last name, it’s something he’s capable of handling.
“People have to step up,” Bobo said. “But it’s just an everyday grind to learn how to run the ball better. It’s not going to happen overnight. We’ve got to put in the work just to get better over time. As spring ball comes, summer, watching film, and then fall camp, we’ve just got to put in the work to get better at running the ball.”
