ESPN’s Greg McElroy Predicts Georgia’s Defense Will Look Like Its National Title Unit

ESPN college football analyst Greg McElroy predicts that the Georgia Bulldogs 2026 defense will resemble its national championship-winning unit.

The Georgia Bulldogs are gearing up for their 2026 college football season, as the team looks to build on last year's results and reach its first national title in nearly four seasons. One of the many ways the team can do so is by improving on the defensive side of the ball.

Georgia's 2025 defensive efforts were far from poor, but the unit did not always deliver on the Kirby Smart standard at times. Seeing that this year's schedule will also be a major challenge, the Dawgs defense will need to step up in a big way.

Luckily for Georgia, one college football analyst believes that the Bulldogs defense will not only improve, but will resemble a unit that won the Bulldogs a national championship.

ESPN's Greg McElroy is entering the 2026 college football season extremely high on the Bulldogs' defensive unit and believes that it will be more than capable of leading the Dawgs to a national title. McElroy outlined why he believes this will be the case during his podcast earlier this week.

ESPN's Greg McElroy Extremely Confident in Georgia's 2026 Defense

Jan 10, 2022; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Greg McElroy attends the 2022 CFP college football national championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

"This defense, I don't want to go too far and say that it's 2021 reincarnated. I'm not sure we will ever see a group quite like that," said McElroy. "But this group does have some 2022 vibes a little bit. Some guys that may be a little under the radar, but are probably a lot better than you realize. This group is long, they're deep, and they have an elite interior game-wrecking presence that can make everything else work around you."

Georgia's 2022 defensive unit, while not as statistically robust as the season prior, was heralded by many as one of the most dominant defensive units in the country and featured a plethora of first-round stars such as Nolan Smith, Jalen Carter, Mykel Williams, and Malaki Starks.

While a national championship-winning unit is certainly a lofty expectation for any team, Georgia's defense will have more than enough talent and coaching prowess to be one of the best units in the sport during teh 2026 college football season.

The Bulldogs will return to action for their season opener on Saturday, September 5th, when they take on Tennessee State. A kickoff time and TV network for this game have not been announced yet.