UGA Football Coach Kirby Smart Stands Up For His Defensive Line
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ATHENS - Heading into spring practice, if there was one position group Georgia fans wanted to see the most improvement from, it might be the defensive line.
There are some question marks here and there in the secondary and at running back, but all eyes have been on Georgia’s defensive line since their loss to Alabama in last year’s SEC championship.
To win a national championship, you must have an elite defensive line. Nobody knows that more than Kirby Smart.
But will Georgia have that in 2024?
Is there a dominant force in the middle? A game-changer type? An elite, consistent pass-rusher on the edge?
Right now, we don’t have an answer. But Kirby Smart stood up for his group this week after rumors swept around town that his defensive line has struggled this spring against Georgia’s outstanding offensive line group.
“I do not know where this is coming from, maybe a narrative out there I don't know about”, Smart told reporters on Tuesday. “I have no idea what you guys are reading or saying or seeing. I am not down on our run defense. We are not as good as we were in 2021, but we are better than we have been a lot of other years. There is a scale of that. I would not trade our group for any group in the country, in terms of defensive line groups. As a collective whole, we have a group that can get the job done.”
A group that can “get the job done”.
If you’re a Georgia fan, that’s exactly what you want to hear. Kirby Smart loves to talk about how his best groups and best players could always get better. So to say that the defensive line can “get the job done”, meaning help them win a national championship, that seems like a great sign.
Of course, that group should get better and better heading into next fall. Mainly, because they’re practicing against arguably the best offensive line in college football. They're practicing every day against a group that will be better than just about everyone they see during the 2024 season.
“Iron sharpens iron”, Smart added. “We’re getting better by who we go against. I’m pleased with where we are. We have to get better. We have players on our defensive line who can get better. The worst feeling as a coach is when you don't have players that you can get better. There are coaches all across the country right now who don't have one 300-pounder. We've got several. We just have to continue to get them better and execute at a higher level.”
To be clear, nobody is saying this group is bad. In fact, Georgia should still have one of the better defensive lines across the SEC and maybe across the country. That’s the standard and the expectation.
But are they good enough to create havoc on a consistent basis? Will they be elite against the run again? Which players take the next step in their development?
Georgia’s line is comprised of several different types of guys. There are multiple experienced veterans, some hungry second-year players, and more young, talented freshmen.
It’s a group with a high ceiling, and they’ll only get better over the next several months.
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