Collective effort expected from defensive line
Of all the players on Georgia’s defense, the expectations for junior defensive tackle Jalen Carter may be the greatest of all.
Even on a line that last year featured Travon Walker, Jordan Davis, and Devonte Wyatt, Carter stood out.
Depending on who you believe, Carter is destined for All-American status and will be an early first-round pick in next year’s NFL Draft.
While that may all prove to be true, defensive coordinators Will Muschamp and Glenn Schumann insist Georgia’s defensive line cannot afford to be a one-man show.
“When you play defensive football, you have to play at a certain level in terms of your effort, toughness, mentality—that competitive edge,” Schumann said. “So, the best version for him or anyone else on the defense would be those traits. Playing as hard as you possibly can with the toughness required and competing. You have to win your battles. That's what we expect of all our guys.”
Bodies will not be a problem.
Tramel Walthour and Zion Logue both appeared in all 15 games, with Nazir Stackhouse and Warren Brinson playing decent roles.
Veteran Bill Norton had his moments, but overall, the position features a lot of youth, with redshirt freshmen Jonathan Jefferson and Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins, and true freshmen Bear Alexander, C.J. Madden, Shone Washington, and Mykel Williams looking to play early roles.
Ingram-Dawkins could be one to watch.
The South Carolina native was a surprise starter with the first team during G-Day, and has apparently continued his solid work thus far in camp.
Getting in better shape has been the biggest key.
“I think the biggest thing is, when he went into the spring, he really attacked his body and his ability to be a guy around the edge,” Schumann said of the 6-foot-5 Ingram-Dawkins, who is now a svelte 300 pounds. “That’s a battle you take as a big guy every single day, all throughout the summer and into fall camp. The biggest thing is when you’re leaner, you can be quicker and more explosive; it’s beneficial.”
Although Muschamp likes what he’s initially seen, the veteran coach withheld any judgement when asked about specific individuals.
Tuesday was the first day in fall camp, and the first scrimmage is not until Saturday.
“We are five days into camp, and we're putting full pads on today, so we’ll learn a lot more about these guys. We don’t really change how we practice,” Muschamp said. “Tray Scott does a phenomenal job with our defensive line and the development of our defensive line. Some of those guys weren’t really highly-ranked recruits when they came in here, and they got developed by Tray, who I think is as good of a defensive line coach as I’ve ever worked with.”
That’s why the last thing both coaches are concerned about is the defensive line.
“I’d put Tyrion and Nazir and our entire room in Tray’s hands and let him develop those guys as we continue to move forward. I’ve seen improvements, drastically, in my time with Nazir and obviously Tyrion last fall a little bit, and he made huge strides in the spring,” Muschamp said. “We have to get a lot better. I do know that, especially at that position, how critical that is and the number of snaps we lost in our front seven, we’ve got to continue to take strides forward.”
Schumann agrees.
“That’s at every position. He’s (Ingram-Dawkins) really done that, and we want that in position whether it’s him or Tramel Walthour or Mykel Williams, when they’re out there we want them to be guys that are able to be quick, athletic, lean, guys that can make plays in terms of pursuit but also go inside. But his growth, especially in the spring when he leaned himself up, it helped him.”
