Trio of Georgia players land spots on Outland Trophy watch list
The Outland Trophy goes annually to the top interior lineman in College Football on either side of the ball, and Georgia sure does have some candidates this season. Three Bulldogs earned a spot on the preseason watch list for the award including at least one on both sides of the ball.
On offense, center Sedrick Van Pran and guard Tate Ratledge represent Georgia. Defensively, that title goes to tackle Nazir Stackhouse.
Van Pran is a two-year starter for Georgia having 30 consecutive starts to his name – also known as the entirety of the Bulldog run as back-to-back national champions. He earned First-Team All-SEC honors coming into this season and will likely be on the watch list for the center-specific award too.
Van Pran isn’t just a leader on the field. He’s also one off of it. Admitting that he’s the type that can turn quickly and snap on somebody – no pun intended coming from the center – that type of person to help hold teammates accountable is important. It’s also important that he helps whoever ends up as Georgia’s quarterback in the transition, being the closet to him at the line of scrimmage with every play starting in his hands.
As for Ratledge, he started all but one game last year. It came just a year removed from suffering a season-ending foot injury in the opener and gave Georgia consistent strong play at the right guard spot. A former four-star offensive tackle, Ratledge has a chance to hear his name called in the NFL Draft this coming spring assuming he lives up to expectations this season.
Finally, on the defensive side of the ball, it’s Stackhouse – looked to as a potential replacement as a game wrecking defender up front for Jalen Carter.
Stackhouse started all 15 games on the line last season totaling 33 tackles including 3.0 for loss. Stackhouse, who had a career-best five tackles twice on the season coming against Florida and Kentucky, recorded multiple tackles in 10 of Georgia’s last 12 games while also adding 14 quarterback pressures in total. Stackhouse was credited with the field goal block in the SEC Championship Game, helping Georgia to go on to a 50-30 win over LSU and earn a spot in the College Football Playoffs.
Georgia is one of five schools with three players represented. Others are Alabama, LSU, Ohio State and Utah. Meanwhile, the defending Joe Moore Award winning Michigan Wolverines have four players on the list – three on offense and one on defense.
Just two seasons ago, Jordan Davis became Georgia’s second ever winner of the award. The 6-foot-6, 340-plus-pound defensive lineman earned unanimous All-American honors for his showing as a senior, totaling 32 tackles – 5.5 of which were for loss – including 2.0 sacks with 14 quarterback hurries. Davis would go on to be the first round pick of the Philadelphia Eagles the following spring. Fellow defensive tackle Bill Stanfill was the first Bulldog to take home the Outland Trophy in 1968.
