Georgia defensive line continuing to develop despite lack of star power

ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia Football has become known as a defensive line factory of sorts over the last few years. Between a trio of Bulldogs on the d-line going in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft including No. 1 overall pick Travon Walker and another Dawg going in the top 10 the following year, Tray Scott has earned the raise he received this offseason.

Having lost the likes of Walker, Jordan Davis, Devonte Wyatt and Jalen Carter over the last two seasons, if Georgia’s defensive line is dominant once again, the Bulldogs better pay up in order for Scott to stay. He’ll have earned it to say the least.

After the team’s first scrimmage of the fall on Saturday, head coach Kirby Smart was asked about this year’s unit up front. While it sounded like the defensive line got the better of the offensive line on the day, Smart was not thrilled with where the group is at. According to him, the Bulldogs have the necessary leadership in the group but need to continue to grow.

“We’ve got some really tough, hard workers in there. I don’t know that we have a dominant, disruptive, super hard to block guy,” Smart said. “I think we’ve got to create that through our athleticism on the perimeter and our athleticism at ‘backer, but we have some guys that believe in the core values of our defensive program which is to strike blockers, knock the hell out of them, knock them back.”

For Smart, that starts with the veterans and the leaders of the group. Together, the trio of Zion Logue, Nazir Stackhouse and Warren Brinson have played in a combined 81 of a possible 90 games over the last two seasons.

If there was a star, it’d be Stackhouse Chosen as a First-Team All-SEC player in the preseason, Stackhouse started all 15 games and totaled 33 tackles. After emerging as Carter’s counterpart on the defensive line last year, he’s already creating some buzz ahead of this year’s NFL Draft. If he – or any of the other defensive linemen – get taken, it would mark the third consecutive season a Bulldog has been drafted from the defensive line after a nine-year drought from 2013 to 2022.

As for Logue, Brinson and Jonathan Jefferson, who’s name Smart also mentioned as a reliable option on the interior, Georgia is looking for the three of them to step up their production this season. Logue and Brinson have 27 and 21 tackles respectively over the last two years each having played in at least 27 games while Jefferson redshirted in 2021 and only saw action in five games last year.

“We have very good experience there and very good toughness there when you count Naz, Z-Lo, Warren and Jonathan Jefferson, those guys have really pushed hard and give us four quality SEC players in there to help us.”

Smart also, unprompted, brought up the name of five-star freshman Jordan Hall. While Smart may not see a “dominant, disruptive, super hard to block guy” in the group already, it’s Hall who has the chance to become that. Much like the elite defensive linemen that came before him – Davis, Walker, Carter – Smart says Georgia is counting on Hall to make an impact in his first season.

“I think Jordan Hall is coming along. He had a tough day. He’s got to grow up and be able to help us and play and be disruptive.”

Hall, the No. 25 overall player and No. 4 defensive lineman in the country according to the On3 Industry Rankings – and seen even higher in-house by On3 as the 13th best player in the nation and No. 2 player for his position, signed with Georgia in December, choosing the Bulldogs over the likes of Florida and Alabama. He was among the top players at the All-American Bowl in San Antonio before heading to Athens early to get his college career started in spring practice.

Hall’s teammates see that potential too. Logue said in the spring that he’s “going to be a very good third-down player once he gets everything in hand” while Stackhouse, his roommate, said he “learns at a decent pace for a freshman.”

“Got a ways to go. They’re not ready. They know that. They’re working really hard at it. The sooner they get ready, the better we’re going to be because we’re going to need both those guys to step up and play,” Smart said about Hall, and fellow five-star defender Damon Wilson, in the spring. “They’re just young. It’s okay to be young. They have a ways to go and I think they’ll get there. I think both of those guys will contribute and help us next season. I’m very pleased with where they are and how hard they work, but they’re not there yet.”

Even without a star like Walker, Davis, Wyatt or Carter, Smart feels Georgia’s defensive line is going to be okay. No need to hit the panic button yet. They’ve got the leadership in place to still be strong and there’s untapped potential with some of the talent there. For the defensive line and the team as a whole, it’s all about continued growth and development.

“We’ve got an extremely long way to go as a football team,” Smart said. “I think so many people make an assumption off of last year’s team and their accomplishments. This team, number one, I asked them after the scrimmage and after we ran, what have you done to deserve anything you’ve gotten? And they’ve done nothing. They’ve done nothing. We’ve got to get the right guys in the right spots, find the guys that can really tough it out and compete.”