Georgia and its case for country’s best line of scrimmage

Georgia’s success over the past few seasons starts in the trenches, and the same is expected to be true in 2023. On the back of two offensive line units that were finalists for the Joe Moore Award and four first round NFL Draft picks on the defensive line, the Bulldogs have won back-to-back national championships. The experts at Pro Football Focus certainly recognize that.

In buildup to the upcoming season, Max Chadwick has been running through ranking the top 10 squads at each position group across the country. To no surprise, Georgia came in strong on the line of scrimmage, ranking first on the defensive line and second on the offensive line. Michigan, the team that’s beaten the Bulldogs out for the Moore Award each season, ranked atop the list of offensive lines.

Defensive Line

Chadwick writes: Even after losing Jalen Carter and Nolan Smith, both of whom were 2023 first-round picks to the Philadelphia Eagles, Georgia still has the best defensive front in college football. Mykel Williams enters his sophomore campaign as a top-five edge defender in the country. The former top-10 recruit tied for the most sacks (six) among true freshmen last season while his 33 pressures were tied for the second-most. Expect him to become more of a household name in 2023.
Nazir Stackhouse made PFF’s preseason first-team All-SEC and was seventh among Power Five interior defensive linemen with an 86.1 run-defense grade last season. Warren Brinson is expected to start alongside him and was fifth among Power Five defensive tackles in 2022 with a 14.9% pass-rush win rate. The other edge spot will likely be manned by either Tramel Walthour or Chaz Chambliss, who each played over 200 snaps last year. As for depth, the Bulldogs return interior defensive lineman Zion Logue, who played 332 snaps last season. Marvin Jones Jr. was a five-star edge defender in the 2022 class while edge defender Damon Wilson and interior defensive lineman Jordan Hall were five-star recruits from the 2023 cycle.

Georgia’s defensive coaching staff has tons of incredible minds, and defensive line coach Tray Scott is certainly among them. Over the past two seasons, he’s helped change the narrative surrounding Bulldog defensive lines.

Kirby Smart coached Georgia had not had a defensive lineman drafted, and you had to go back to the early 2000s for Georgia’s last first rounder at the position. In the span of two years, Scott saw four players from the position picked in that first round tier: Travon Walker, Jordan Davis, Devonte Wyatt and Jalen Carter.

Scott will have his hands full this year in trying to replace Carter, along with outbound transfer Bear Alexander. Having two First-Team All-SEC players in Williams and Stackhouse, plus several talented veterans like Logue, Brinson and Walthour, certainly will help, but he’ll be looking for youngsters like the five-star Hall, Christen Miller and others to emerge as strong options too.

Offensive Line

Chadwick writes: The defending back-to-back champs return all three starters along the interior offensive line in Tate Ratledge, Sedrick Van Pran and Xavier Truss. Ratledge is my No. 7 interior offensive lineman in college football and earned an 85.6 pass-blocking grade on true pass sets in 2022, second among all FBS guards. Over the past two seasons, Van Pran has allowed a sack or hit on just 0.2% of his pass-blocking snaps, tied for seventh among Power Five centers. Truss is entering Year 2 as the starting left guard and tied for sixth among SEC guards with a 68.9 run-blocking grade last year.
Georgia will have two new tackles in Amarius Mims and Earnest Greene, although expectations for both are very high. Mims earned a 77.5 grade on 482 snaps last season and is currently a projected Day 2 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. With another impressive season, he could have a Broderick Jones-esque leap into the first round. Meanwhile, Greene was a top-50 recruit in the 2022 class and is the favorite to start at left tackle.

Little needs to be said about the Georgia offensive line. Last year, the Bulldogs became the first unit to play 15 games and give up fewer than 10 sacks. They return all three of their interior starters from that group, plus an offensive tackle that played greater than 30 percent of offensive snaps and started both of the College Football Playoff contests.

Van Pran’s decision to return in the middle gives Georgia a leader to its offensive line. Truss and Ratledge next to him gives Georgia experience at guard. The question becomes what the Bulldogs do at tackle, and it’s one expected to be answered in fall camp and early in the season as Austin Blaske and Greene battle for the left tackle job.

Georgia is going to rotate too. How much – with as much experience as they’ve got – remains to be seen, but don’t count out seeing the likes of Micah Morris, Dylan Fairchild, Jared Wilson and five-star freshman Monroe Freeling out on the field at some point this season, adding to everything the Bulldogs bring to the table in the trenches.

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