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ATHENS - Early during Georgia’s 24-20 win over the Gators, the already beat up Bulldogs got hit with another injury on defense.
This time it was Jordan Hall who went down. The third-year lineman has battled through injuries throughout his Georgia career and will be out with a knee injury for “some time” according to Kirby Smart.
It’s unfortunate, but it also gives others a chance to step up and see more of an expanded role.
Now, guys like Nnamdi Ogboko have a big opportunity in front of them. The powerful 6-foot-4 340-pound redshirt freshman made two tackles against the Gators and made his presence known as the game moved along.
Others like Elijah Griffin, Xavier McLeod, JJ Hane and Josh Horton also play a role, but Ogboko also showed that he’s capable of making a big impact on the defensive line moving forward.
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“Nnamdi did a good job,” Smart told reporters. “He’s going to probably play a little more of a role now, and he continues to get better. I spend a lot of time with Nnamdi down on the scout D when I run the scout defense. He is a guy that is similar to how Christen [Miller] was his sophomore year. Christen went down there with us. Jordan [Hall] went down there with us. We've had a laundry list of guys who have gone down there and what we say, ‘Go against the best of our O-line.’ A lot of time, their growth explodes. They get better, faster than the guys that aren't doing that, and I've seen that with Nnamdi. He's gotten better and better at striking blocks. There’s a big emphasis for him from a conditioning-level standpoint. He takes a lot of pride in getting that right, so he can be on the field for more snaps. He was a big boost the other night because he's very good at block recognition. He understands leverage. He strikes and gets off blocks.”
Ogboko has made five tackles this season and one sack that he recorded against Kentucky. The light is turning on for him, and the opportunities will be there for him to make plays and help Georgia win the battle in the trenches moving forward.
