Georgia football: Can UGA’s senior DL step up?

Georgia football has a lot of ground to cover between now and the 2019 season but three 2016 recruits need big senior seasons.

In a couple of weeks, Georgia football will have closed the books on it’s 2019 recruiting class. As part of that class are five highly talented defensive tackle prospects. Travon Walker is the big name and he should be. He’s a 5-star player who many rates as the best DT in the entire class. He’s got freakish size and athletic ability which he uses to be a dominant basketball player in high school.

He’s joined by Bill Norton, Zion Logue, and Tymon Mitchell. All three of these guys are big bodies but in different ways. Mitchell looks like a John Atkins run stuffer, Logue is a mammoth 6ft6 300lb guy who could play just about anywhere and Norton looks like a natural fit for the 5-technique position. There’s also Tramel Walthour who just finished a freshman year at a JUCO college and is a versatile player in his own right.

Now, these guys are going to be competing for spots right away. If they’re going to see the field, however, they’ll need to beat out players that are already in Athens. They’re going to put a lot of pressure on those players and it’s going to be really interesting to see how UGA’s veteran DL players respond to the challenge. There are three guys right now that were all highly regarded in the 2016 class that come to mind.

Julian Rochester:

The highest rated of the 2016 DL prospects, Rochester has been up and down in Athens. At times, he looks like the 5-star player ESPN had him rated as. At others, he’s been lost and there’s no doubt that as of yet, he’s yet to live up to his potential. Some of that has been him being played out of position. His best year so far was in 2016 when he actually took playing time from Trenton Thompson at the DT position. Since then, he’s seen more snaps at nose tackle and that’s just not the right spot for him.

Rochester needs a big year in 2019. He’s a guy who should be a focal point of this defense if he puts it all together. He’s got the ability to be so much better than we’ve seen so far in Athens. If he can make that leap, he’s got the talent to be a day 2 draft pick so there’s a lot on the line for him going forward.

Michail Carter:

While not as highly rated as Rochester, Carter came into Athens with big expectations. He was a borderline top 100 player and someone that many thought would make a big impact with the Dawgs. The early returns were good in 2016, much like Rochester, but Carter never seemed to take that next step. He’s struggled to see the field over the past few seasons and has been passed on the depth chart by 2018 class members Jordan Davis and Devonte Wyatt.

Carter has a great story, as Chip Towers from Dawgnation covered back in 2016. That being said, as he enters his final offseason in Athens, he’s going to have to make huge strides to see the field more in crunch time. There’s no doubt that he has talent, but right now, this unit is loaded with that. They need players to start reaching their potential and Carter hasn’t been able to do that yet.

Tyler Clark:

Last on this list is the player that for me has played the best n this group. Clark has at times been absolutely dominant in the trenches during his time in Athens. His play in the CFP in 2017 still stands out to me. He looked like one of the best players on the field in those games. Clark wasn’t quite the same in 2018 but there’s no doubt that he’s a disruptive player. He accounted for 4 tackles for a loss this season including a sack.

Clark, just like Rochester is playing for an NFL future next season. If he shows that he can be the guy that we saw in those final 2 games of 2017, then this is a player that is going to get drafted in the top 3 rounds. If not, then he’ll likely be a late round flyer. 2019 is a huge opportunity for him as well as the other two players mentioned here to really finish off their career in Athens in style. If they do then with the likes of Malik Herring and Jordan Davis in the fold, there’s a very good chance that UGA’s defensive line is downright nasty in 2019.