Why Georgia Tech's Defensive Line Should Be Much Improved This Season

The Georgia Tech defensive line shone on Saturday, and it was one of the more disruptive performances you will see, especially in the first half of the game. It is very early, but you can make the argument that this is the best defensive line in the Brent Key era. They play as a unit; they are fast, physical, and disruptive.

Strong Saturday Showing

Two dominant players on Saturday were Jordan Walker and Noah Carter, who each finished with four sacks combined. Both were extremely disruptive and caused problems. You also can’t forget about Tawfiq Thomas, who also made plays and collapsed the pocket.

It wasn’t just the sacks; it was also how disruptive the defensive line was at the line of scrimmage and how they were able to wreak havoc on the offensive line, not just in the passing game but in the running game as well. The Yellow Jackets finished with 6.5 tackles for loss in the game between Team Wreck’Em and Team Swarm. You have to throw in A.J. Hoffler, Christian Garrett, and Christian Speakman. The performance has the Yellow Jackets' head coach, Brent Key, excited.

“The first D line was really a first. You almost don't really consider a first D line right now because we have a lot of, I think, really good players that can help us this year on the defensive line. Yes, I did just say that. It's great to say it. So I thought those guys did some good things. The first team offensive line. Big emphasis this week were our line games. Finishing on the line games on the defensive side, blocking movement in line games on the offensive side. " Thought we made an improvement there,” said Key.

Coach Key also talked about what he envisioned and would like for them to do in the fall and be as a unit.

“Number one, stop the run. Number two, generate pass rush to create negative plays, affect the quarterback and get sacks. Bam. Everybody here knows it was a mission of mine to set out to increase the size and length of our defensive line, right? You want ends that look like Amontrae (Bradford) right? Well, now we do. We needed more girth inside, we needed more depth inside. That's what that has been very encouraging. We put a lot of defense in this spring to really see what sticks and see what these guys, what their attention level is. I've been pleased with those guys. But being able to play technique up front, being able to play attack mode, single gap up front, and being able to play varying fronts. I've been pleased with their coaching of them,” said Key.

“I think Jess and Kyle have done an outstanding job with those guys. Simplified a ton of things, especially at the edge position, where those guys can just feel free to go play. Obviously, the acquisition of talent. Like I said earlier, this week was a big week of work on our line games. Big work with the playing technique in the run. These guys, though, can play on the edge with speed. A lot of them showed how the ability to play with power. They have girth to them, size, and we're deep there. So I'm not trying to oversell it and act like we're the best that's ever come, but I'm damn excited about them.”

What is most exciting is that the Yellow Jackets are very deep on the defensive line and don’t even have the full amount of their players on the defensive line. That is a scary sight for opposing offenses and something that could make them a top unit in the country. The depth and how competitive the group is will bode well. They are also talented and one of the best groups Georgia Tech has had in a long time.

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