ATHENS — When the conversation turns to the sleeve of tattoos on his right arm, Georgia’s most outgoing offensive lineman blushes just a little. Known for his nationally-admired mullet as well as one of the most popular player-produced podcasts in the SEC, Tate Ratledge is borderline bashful when asked about his skin art.
Apparently it’s a Mama thing.
“Mom isn’t going to love this, but, um, it is what it is,” Ratledge said this past week. Then he proceeded to describe each one.
There is much to learn about the Bulldogs’ 6-foot-6, 310-pound, All-SEC guard from the decorative ink that adorns his massive right arm. To wit:
- There’s a clock tower, an homage to his hometown of Rome, Georgia.
- There’s a train — a Chattanooga Choo-Choo, to be exact — that calls attention to the city in which Ratledge was born.
- There are three road signs, each signifying the places that he has lived these 22 years.
- There’s a Bible verse, Matthew 23:12, which reads, “whoever exalts himself will be humbled and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”
- And, finally, the one that started it all. “Do It For Dev” is a tattoo Ratledge and several other linemen got in memory of fellow offensive lineman Devin Willock, who died in January of 2022.
Not exactly skulls and crossbones. More like a road map that illustrates exactly where Ratledge is and how he got to where he stood this past Thursday.
Entering his fifth season with the Bulldogs, Ratledge is a starter at right guard and leader within the locker room. An All-SEC designee a year ago, he’s considered an All-America candidate this season as well as a potential Lombardi and Outland nominee.
Outside of that, Ratledge is a big reason there is so much optimism surrounding the Bulldogs’ offense in 2024. Ratledge very easily could have decided to cash in his four years of work at UGA to begin his imminent NFL career. Instead, he joined quarterback Carson Beck and a handful other Georgia players to utilize their final years of eligibility to have another go at this college national championship thing.
“I think there was a bad taste in our mouth after last year,” Ratledge said last spring of his decision to return for a fifth college season. “Of course, there’s things I want to accomplish by myself and I want to see this team accomplish. Those things are a big reason I came back.”
Georgia’s offensive line is a big reason why the Bulldogs are expected to open the 2024 season as the nation’s No. 1-ranked team, same as they did last year. But Georgia came up short of the College Football Playoff and a chance for an unprecedented third straight national title when it lost to Alabama in the SEC Championship.
The Bulldogs rebounded with a 63-3 win over Florida State in the Orange Bowl, which represented the program’s 47th victory in its last 49 games. But that represented a hollow consolation prize.
As Georgia enters its second week of preseason camp, it looks like a budding offensive juggernaut that’s going to be hard to outscore. Ratledge is one of four starters back on a line that ranked first in the SEC and seventh nationally in sacks allowed (0.93 per game). The Bulldogs finished second in the SEC and fifth nationally in total offense (496.5 ypg), offensive pass efficiency (168.21) and scoring (40.1 mpg).
With Ratledge’s buddy Beck back at the offensive controls and some new targets to which to distribute the football, the prospect of improving on those numbers not only seems possible, but likely.
The effective leadership of those two fifth-years could go a long way in determining whether Georgia’s offense can reach its potential.
“I’ve had a few conversations with him about that, about when he speaks people are going to listen because he’s our starting quarterback,” Ratledge said of Beck. “I think every team needs their starting quarterback to have some sort of voice. Him stepping up — and he has — it’s been big and people listen to him when he talks.”
They listen to Ratledge, too. He said he really didn’t have to speak up much the last few seasons. Highly-decorated center Sedrick Van Pran generally took care of those needs.
But Van Pran has matriculated to the NFL, and that has left Ratledge as his undisputed heir apparent when it comes manufactured motivation.
Ratledge is even taking some turns at center. Though well entrenched at right guard, Ratledge actually gets work at all five of the positions on the offensive line. Meanwhile, 6-3, 310-pound junior Jared Wilson has drawn only rave reviews as Van Pran’s replacement at center.
Ultimately, how well Wilson will perform is unknown. What’s considered a virtual certainty, though, is what the Bulldogs will get out of Ratledge.
“He’s become kind of the centerpiece of that group,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said of Ratledge. “I think him coming back just validated to the others that they want to do something special. Both he and (right tackle Xavier) Truss made that decision. Their leadership has really been the different mindset in terms of our identity on offense and what they want to do in terms of forcing people into being physical. I could see it. It permeated our spring by the physicality that our offensive line played with, and they’ve got to continue to do that because they’ll be challenged this year.”
The Bulldogs are expected to receive the ultimate challenge in the season opener against Clemson. The Tigers and Georgia will meet in the Aflac Kickoff Game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Aug. 31. There’s a good chance the Bulldogs’ opponent could arrive as one of nation’s Top 10 teams.
That makes for a similar backdrop to the one Ratledge experienced when Georgia opened the 2021 season against Clemson in the Dukes Mayo Kickoff Classic in Charlotte. Ratledge won’t soon forget that Saturday as he suffered a Lisfranc fracture in his right foot on the third play of his first career start. Georgia won 10-3 and would go on to secure a national championship that season, but Ratledge would not play another snap.
“I definitely don’t take football for granted, seeing how fast it can be taken away from me,” Ratledge said. “I think that gave me a chance to mature. Like, I was just able to kind of get into the older players’ heads and kind of learn from them. So, I think that helped me.”
Four years later, that comparatively quiet and non-tattoo-adorned offensive lineman is considered a critical piece to the Bulldogs’ successfully navigating the SEC’s most challenging schedule to make a ceremonious return to the CFP Playoff.
Anything less than that will be a profound disappointment, especially to fifth-year guys like Ratledge who returned for another season at UGA for that express purpose.
“I’m definitely more vocal than I’ve been,” Ratledge said. “With Sed, I never really had to be that guy. So, this year, especially in our line room, I’m going to have to be that guy and kind of get people going. I’m the older guy, people listen to me. So, stepping into that role is one thing that’s going to big for me.”
Clearly, Ratledge is a man in search of more ink.
