Georgia Football: Who takes a step up in 2018?
Julian Rochester, DT:
Last but not least is a player who I think could decide how good UGA’s defensive line is. The Dawgs know what they have in their two other starters, Tyler Clark and Jonathan Ledbetter. Both of those two guys grew into potential All-SEC players in the latter part of the season last year. However, it will be Julian Rochester that pushes this unit over the edge. If he can reach his potential, the Dawgs could be downright scary this fall.
Rochester came into Athens as one of the highest regarded defensive tackles in the country. The Dawgs missed on Derrick Brown (still hurts), but Rochester was one heck of a consolation prize. In his freshman season, He took the starting DT spot from Trenton Thomspon for 5 games and looked like the future at the position. In his sophomore year, he saw that role taken by Tyler Clark as he ended up moving more to the Nose Tackle spot.
Despite his size, I’m not sure that Rochester is a natural at nose tackle. How he fits in this season is going to be critical because he’s going to responsible for eating up blockers in the run game. If he can take on linemen like John Atkins did, then our linebackers will have a chance to fly around the field and make tackles. He’s bigger than Atkins, the question is can he play with the technique and leverage needed to succeed in this role.
At times, Rochester will have the chance to rush the passer and when he does, he’s shown that he can cause disruption. But his success will not be determined on the stat sheet like some other players. The position he’s being asked to play isn’t exactly glamorous, but it is essential to Georgia’s scheme and that’s why it’s important that he’s a player that steps up and makes a leap in 2018. If he does, the Dawgs will likely once again have one of the top defenses in the entire country.