As the spring practices continue, one area of concern seems to be the Georgia Football defensive line, which is currently somewhat undermanned.
Spring practice is well underway right now for the Georgia Football team. Kirby Smart has expressed some concern about the defense so far. Right now, it looks like the Georgia offense is getting the better of the defensive side of the ball in practice. That’s not a huge concern, the same happened last year, but there do seem to be some particular issues cropping up.
The main one seems to be the defensive line. While a lot of observers were worried about the linebackers and secondary, it seems that it’s the line that is struggling. With Trenton Thompson and John Atkins leaving, the team has lost two contributors. Now it’s a matter of how this smaller unit can hold up going forward. Can it be as good as it was last year? Or will it take a step back and cause the whole defense some issues?
I don’t think it’s time for UGA fans to start panicking. Sure, Kirby Smart is frustrated right now about how his defense is doing right now. However, there are plenty of reasons to think that Georgia is going to put together a good DL in 2018. Here are some of the things fans need to keep in mind:
The starting rotation is as good as any out there:
One thing that fans probably shouldn’t worry about is the starters. Jonathan Ledbetter, Tyler Clark and Julian Rochester make a formidable front. All three of these guys look like they are going to be even better in 2018 than they were last year.
Ledbetter and Clark both stepped up big towards the end of last year. Rochester has slimmed down quite a bit but he looks ready to have a great season starting at nose tackle. With all of them now have 2 years of starting experience, there isn’t much these guys haven’t seen. They likely make up the best starting DL in the SEC right now. At least, that’s my opinion.
The issue that Georgia has is not with these three, it’s the depth. Thompson and Atkins both played serious minutes at the DT and NT spot. Those minutes now need to be made up from somewhere.