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Georgia OL Tate Ratledge announces return for 2024 season

On3 imageby: Jake Rowe01/05/24JakeMRowe
Georgia Football
Oct 7, 2023; Athens, Georgia, USA; Georgia Bulldogs offensive lineman Tate Ratledge (69) blocks against Kentucky Wildcats defensive lineman Darrion Henry-Young (50) during the second half at Sanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Another Georgia veteran is running it back. Bulldog right guard Tate Ratledge, a starter for the past two seasons, says he will be back for the 2024 season. His announcement comes just over an hour after nose tackle Nazir Stackhouse made it known that he would be returning for a fifth and final season.

Ratledge started all 15 games in Georgia’s 2022 National Championship campaign. That gave him 16 in all after he began the 2021 season as the starting right guard but only appeared in one game. He came back to start 13 of 14 games in 2023, missing only the clash with Georgia Tech due to a knee bruise sustained against Tennessee.

The return of Ratledge, a former four-star prospect, gives Georgia over 1,500 snaps of experience at right guard. He played over 800 snaps last season and over 700 this season as the Bulldogs fielded one of the best and most efficient offenses in the countries in each of those years.

As a prospect Ratledge was the nation’s No. 41 overall prospect per the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that includes all four sites that issue ratings and rankings for prospects. He was the nation’s No. 4 offensive tackle in that 2020 class and the No. 7 prospect in Georgia.

The Darlington School (Rome, Ga.) product committed to Georgia while Sam Pittman was coaching the offensive line. When Pittman left to become the head coach at Arkansas and Kirby Smart tapped Matt Luke to step in, keeping Ratledge in the fold became a top priority for Georgia.

Luke was able to secure Ratledge’s signature but he didn’t make an impact in year one. His redshirt freshman season ended after just four plays due to a lis franc injury in his first career start.

Ratledge will enter spring as the projected starter at right guard but he’ll have to compete for the job. The Bulldogs have two others interior offensive linemen, Micah Morris and Dylan Fairchild, who showed a great deal of promise during the 2023 season.

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