Chris Barnes Slides to Defense for Now

ATHENS - There is balance among the big guys at Georgia. 

For now at least. 

That’s what happened today when UGA offensive lineman Chris Barnes, who has only played once, flipped to the defensive side of the ball. The Athens Banner-Herald’s Marc Weiszer wrote about the change in his practice report on Tuesday. 

The Bulldogs now have 15 players on the offensive line and 15 on the defensive line heading into the fall of 2018. We can’t know, of course, if Barnes will stay on the defensive side of the ball in the fall, but its clear he has a ton of work to get into the rotation at one of the most competitive spots in the program. 

In terms of raw talent its certainly possible that Barnes would help more on the defensive side of the ball. Of the 15 offensive linemen in the program currently, 12 of them were consensus Top 300 prospects coming out of high school. Only eight of the 15 on the defensive line were the same coming out of high school. 

This isn’t an ideal move for Barnes if we are being honest, but its the right thing for the program considering how many defensive linemen are banged up right now. Michael Barnett, Justin Young, David Marshall and Tyler Clark have all had injuries this spring. None of those should keep them off the field in the fall, but you get the point.

Georgia needs some help over there, and its good Barnes is available to make that happen. Don’t expect big things from him, however, any time soon. In the time I watched Lee County play he didn’t play on the defensive line. He strictly played on offense. 

So its a move to watch - its just not one that will win or lose a game in the fall.