Georgia’s new-look defensive line is ready to take the stage.
The Bulldogs lost several veterans from the 2024 team. The departures include first-round pick Mykel Williams, Nazir Stackhouse, Warren Brinson, and Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins.
Georgia head coach Kirby Smart has seen what the different faces can do since the end of last season. He’s not expecting anything to change when Georgia kicks off the season Saturday afternoon against Marshall.
“I don’t think you necessarily learn more in a game with those guys,” Smart said Monday. “Their action in a practice is very similar to their action in a game, where that might be different for a receiver or a defensive back who has to tackle. Not these guys, they’re going to war every day. So striking blocks, getting off blocks, running the ball. I mean, who you are is on your tape, that’s your resume. It speaks for itself. We show our guys every day in the team meeting. This is who you are, this is what you put on tape.”
Redshirt junior Christen Miller enters the season with high expectations and is expected to anchor the Georgia defensive front. Returners such as Jordan Hall, Xzavier McLeod, Nnamdi Ogboko, and Joseph Jonah-Ajonye are expected to step into bigger roles.
Hall is the oldest among that group, entering his third season in Athens. He feels the defensive line room, even with the loss of some key leaders, is extremely tight-knit.
“I feel like our greatest strength is how connected we are with each other,” Hall said “That’s one of the bigger, more important things when it comes to playing football in any aspect, no matter how good you are. You can have 30 good players on the team and none of them like each other so they don’t mesh well, so they don’t connect well. I feel like from top to bottom we’re connected. We love playing with each other and being around each other.”
Freshmen such as Elijah Griffin and JJ Hanne have impressed throughout their initial months in Athens. Both are in position to potentially contribute this season.
A former five-star himself, Hall has preached to both Griffin (a five-star) and Hanne (a three-star) to not worry about expectations.
“All the hype and everything, it really don’t mean nothing,” Hall said. “Potential is really just a word. You can’t really use that for nothing. That’s what Coach Scott (Tray Scott, defensive line coach) tells us. Potential is just a word. You got to put action behind it.”
The Georgia defensive line did not play up to its typical form in 2024. The Bulldogs struggled at times to stop the run, something Smart defenses have prided themselves on during his tenure. Georgia ranked in the 30s nationwide in both yards allowed per game and per rush.
With new faces in bigger roles in 2025, Hall said the unit is ready to get back to a championship level of play.
“I think the mindset is just sending the message to everybody, making sure that we know that we’re the Georgia defensive line,” Hall said. “We’re going to try to come in and stop the run, be physically imposing, and play to our standard. I don’t think there’s no extra pressure, no weight that wasn’t already on us that it would be different from last year or this year or the 10 years before now. It’s the same thing: just going out there and playing hard and having fun.”