Georgia Tech 2024 Report Card: Defensive Line Showed Some Flash But Still An Area of Concern

When you assess the state of the defensive line in 2024, you get a mixed bag. On the one hand, you get a unit that underachieved in creating pressure on the quarterback and forcing sacks. The unit ranked near the bottom of the country at getting to the quarterback, recording just 18 sacks this past season.

But you have to give defensive line Jess Simpson and defensive coordinator Tyler Santucci credit for having one of the best units in run defense in the ACC. Something that was very impressive about the Yellow Jackets and that they can hang their hat on is that their run defense was one of the best in the country. Georgia Tech was ranked No. 30 in yards giving up 122.2 yards per game. The Yellow Jackets were also top 30 in total rushing yards given up this season giving up 1,588 yards on the ground.

Romello Height was the best defensive lineman for the Yellow Jackets. He finished with 34 tackles, 2.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, and an interception. He finished with eight most tackles on the team and his 2.5 sacks were tied for second most on the team. His two best games of the year came against Louisville and Miami. Height posted a season-high five tackles in the loss against the Cardinals. Against the Hurricanes, he made one of the biggest plays of the game forcing a strip sack, and putting Georgia Tech in prime position to seal an upset.

Height got better as the season wore on and had one of the most productive seasons in his collegiate career posting career-highs in total tackles, solo tackles, forced fumbles, fumble recoveries, and interceptions. He finished with the 5th highest PFF grade on defense with a 73.8 grade on 485 snaps.

Our own Jackson Caudell sums up Romello Height’s impact on the Yellow Jackets this past season.

"Height was arguably their best one and made an impact in several games. He had the strip sack on the final drive of the game against Miami and Cam Ward in the upset win against the Hurricanes and finished the season with 34 tackles, 2.5 sacks, and an interception. Height set career highs in tackles, forced fumbles, and interceptions this season. At Pro Football Focus, Height was the No. 6 rated player on the Yellow Jackets defense and finished with a 71.8 grade in 485 snaps. The Red Raiders have been doing a lot of work in the transfer portal so far and currently have the No. 1 overall transfer class in the country and No. 1 in the Big 12."

Height won’t be back in 2025 but he showcased how impactful he could be for the Yellow Jackets in 2024.

Jordan van den Berg was another standout for the Yellow Jackets and was the best interior defensive lineman for Georgia Tech this season. He was initially a rotation player but after the first bye week, van den Berg led the team with the highest Pro Football Focus (PFF) grade with a score of 84.6 in 127 snaps. The Georgia Tech coaches took notice and he saw an uptick in the amount of snaps he was seeing on the field.

He finished the season as the top-rated guy with a 77.3 grade in 377 snaps. He finished with 23 tackles, two fumble recoveries and a sack. He set career-highs in total tackles and fumble recoveries in 2024. He is set to return in 2025 and will give the Yellow Jackets a boost on the defensive line not only with his ability to defend against the run but also with the pressure he can put on the quarterback.

Thomas Gore finished with 14 tackles and a half-sack. He was the third highest-rated player on the defensive side of the ball per Pro Football Focus with a 78.2 grade. He was very stout upfront and did a good job this year plugging holes.

Zeek Biggers finished with 23 tackles, three pass deflections, a sack, and a fumble recovery. Biggers is a player. You have to look beyond the stats to truly know the impact he had this year. Biggers had several games where he stood out this past season. One was the season closer against Vanderbilt when he finished with four tackles and a sack. The other was against Notre Dame when he made a living in the backfield against the Fighting Irish finishing with a season-high five tackles. During the game against Syracuse, he was a force on special teams and had a field goal block to help prevent points from going against a prolific offense. He was another leader on the team that the Yellow Jackets will miss not only on defense but also on special teams.

Sylvain Yondjouen finished his senior year the right way and was a reliable edge rusher for the Yellow Jackets. Youndjouen had 24 tackles, five pass deflections, and 2.5 sacks. Those 2.5 sacks were tied for second-most on the team. An area where Yondjouen was very disruptive was when the ball was in the air. He didn’t always get to the quarterback but made sure to time his jumps right and get in the throwing window of the quarterback. He finished with a team-high and career-high five pass deflections. The senior defensive lineman finished his Georgia Tech career strong and recorded a tackle in every game this season.

In his final year with the Yellow Jackets, Josh Robinson set career-highs in tackles, sacks, and pass deflections. During his senior year, he recorded 20 tackles, a sack, and a pass deflection. Robinson posted a 61.6 PFF grade on 367 snaps this season.

Thomas Gore and Makius Scott combined for 28 tackles and two sacks this season for the Yellow Jackets. Gore posted a 74.3 PFF grade and Scott posted a 60.6 PFF grade.

Kevin Harris finished with 12 tackles and a sack. Jordan Boyd and Jason Moore each finished with six tackles apiece for the Yellow Jackets.

Amontrae Bradford and Shymeik Jones didn’t see the field a lot as young players behind a senior-laden defensive line group but still were able to put up stats. Bradford finished the season with two tackles and will look to compete for a job in 2025. Jones had the sixth-highest PFF grade with a score of 72.0 on 14 snaps. He also has been getting it done in the classroom and was named student-athlete of the week for January 13th.

This was definitely one of the harder grades to assess especially with how good Georgia Tech was in their run defense and being one of the better units in the country. However, the Yellow Jackets have struggled to rush the passer effectively. It feels like Georgia Tech is missing a game-wrecker. While Height showed some flash of that in 2024 the Yellow Jackets have yet to get that consistently in every game. With so many players like Makius Scott, Kevin Harris, Sylvain Yondjouen, Josh Robinson, Thomas Gore, and Zeek Biggers leaving, the defensive line remains a position of need. Georgia Tech will need its young guys and portal additions to step up in 2025. The defensive line will certainly play a factor if Georgia Tech is going to contend in the ACC.

Georgia Tech On SI Grade: C+

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