Top players by position: Georgia boasts five of nation's top offensive linemen

ajc.com

Credit: Brian O'Shea (AJC)

Credit: Brian O'Shea (AJC)

Georgia is the most well-guarded state in the country this season. Five of the top 20 senior guard prospects in the 247Sports Composite Ratings are from the state.

They are No. 1 Jamaree Salyer of Pace Academy, No. 2 Trey Hill of Houston County, No. 14 Christian Meadows of Macon County, No. 15 Warren Ericson of North Gwinnett and No. 20 Jalil Irvin of Stephenson. And John Harris of Mill Creek checks in at No. 42.

Not all of them will play guard in high school, though. Salyer, for one, is moving to left tackle, stepping in for his graduated fellow all-state teammate Andrew Harris, now at Georgia. He is rated the No. 7 prospect at any position nationally.

Here is our list of Georgia's 10 best offensive linemen.

*Christian Armstrong, Warner Robins (6-5, 355): Armstrong, rated the consensus No. 27 tackle nationally, is committed to Florida State. He was the only junior offensive lineman to make first-team all-Region 1-AAAAA last season.

*Warren Ericson, North Gwinnett (6-4, 290):Ericson made first-team all-state last season, the only junior offensive lineman to do it in AAAAAAA. Committed to Georgia, Ericson is the consensus No. 15 guard nationally.

*John Harris, Mill Creek (6-4, 260): Harris, now the best all-around player at state contender Mill Creek, was all-Gwinnett County and second-team AP all-state last season in the highest class. He is committed to Virginia Tech.

*Trey Hill, Houston County (6-4, 340): Hill is the consensus No. 2 guard nationally behind Jamaree Salyer (below). He was second-team GSWA all-state in AAAAAA last season and first-team all-Region 1 and all-Middle Georgia. Georgia, Florida State and Clemson are his college leaders.

*Casey Holman, Brookwood (6-4, 285): Holman made first-team all-county from the Gwinnett TD Club, one of two juniors. Ericson was the other. Holman also was first-team all-Region 7-AAAAAA. He's rated among the top 50 tackles nationally and is committed to Duke.

*Jalil Irvin, Stephenson (6-3, 245): Irvin, an Auburn commit, made first-team all-state last season in AAAAAA. He's among the top 20 senior guards nationally.

*Christian Meadows, Macon County (6-3, 330): Meadows, who is committed to Florida State, was the best lineman on the Class A public-school champions last season and didn't allow a sack during QB K'hari Lane's state-record season of 56 touchdown passes. He's the consensus No. 14 guard prospect.

*James Ohonba, Woodland-Stockbridge (6-5, 320):Ohonba was first-team all-region in 4-AAAAA when he graded 96 percent for the season and had a school-record 26 pancake blocks. He's the consensus No. 33 player overall in Georgia per 247Sports Composite. His leaders are Alabama, Duke, LSU, Michigan and Southern Cal.

*Jamaree Salyer, Pace Academy (6-3, 285): Salyer is the consensus No. 1 guard prospect in the country, the No. 7 player overall, with a chance to become a rare three-time first-team all-state player. Georgia, Clemson, Ohio State and Stanford reportedly are the leaders in his recruitment.

*Dylan Wonnum, Tucker (6-4, 280): Wonnum made first-team all-state last season in AAAAAA and again will be the best offensive lineman for Tucker, the 13-2 state runner-up that should be even stronger in 2017. South Carolina is the reported leader for one of the 10 highest-rated tackles nationally.

Coming Monday: Defensive linemen

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