After a surgery kept him off the field in 2019, Julian Rochester accepted a medical redshirt and returns to UGA football in 2020 for one more season.
UGA football benefits from the NCAA’s new redshirt rule this season. The new rule allows any player to redshirt as long as they do not play in more than four games.
A torn ACL and subsequent surgery in January 2019 prevented senior defensive tackle Julian Rochester from taking the field for most of the season. He only appeared in four games, though one of those games featured an impressive performance by him against Tennessee after Jordan Davis left the game.
before the season began, head coach Kirby Smart made plans to redshirt Rochester. Those plans were never hindered and Rochester gets to experience one more senior season in Athens.
Rochester returning is huge and cannot be understated. Georgia lost five contributors on the defensive line, including the always consistent Tyler Clark. Rochester would be the sixth departed player. Instead, Rochester can return and bolster an already talented defensive line. Depth has always been a strength on the line during the Kirby Smart era, and that isn’t going to change this season.
before his injury, Rochester was an integral part of Georgia’s defense. The former top-100 prospect appeared in 42 games across his first three seasons and started 12 games in 2018. Since his freshman season, Rochester has been known as one of Georgia’s strongest interior defensive linemen. He had 89 tackles and 8.5 sacks through his first three years, including 36 stops as a freshman.
Though, a chunk of Rochester’s value to the team comes from his leadership. He’s already known as a vocal leader who is always quick to steer his teammates in the right direction. Having a figure like that back for one more year can only help a team get better.