Will This Be The Season That Georgia Tech DL Christian Garrett Breaks Out?

Christian Garrett was a huge cornerstone piece for the Yellow Jackets in the 2025 cycle and was a blue-chip prospect responsible for them building a Top 25 class and a Top 3 ACC class. Last season, he showed some flash, but unfortunately, he dealt with an injury that derailed his freshman season. However, he finished with eight tackles and 1.5 sacks. During his freshman campaign, he played more of a tweener role, switching from defensive tackle to defensive end. This spring and moving forward, things are different. Here is more on the position change for Garrett.

“It definitely helped me. Helped me just get better at one position, and I'm just learning one position and getting good at it. Focus on the details, focus on getting all the little things right. So just help better my game and the team.”

Now, Garrett will get to focus on mastering one position and making sure he plays his gaps correctly and generating pass rush on the interior, which is something the Yellow Jackets have struggled with. Garrett is a specialist when it comes to generating consistent pass rush and wreaking havoc in the interior of the defense. He now will get the chance to shine, and for the first time in his collegiate career, he is fully healthy.

“Yeah, it's been fun. Christian is probably really 100% healthy. First time, he's been at Georgia Tech, coming off a high school injury. I think that's a big deal. Christian's body has completely changed in the last four or five months. I think a year ago this time, he was in the 250s, and he's gained a lot of muscle, man. He's a good-looking kid. Obviously, he's had a position change. We're playing him inside, and he is a big man who's an athlete, and those are the guys that I like. I love his athleticism,” said defensive line coach Jess Simpson.

“His ability and understanding of how to play on the interior. Playing inside is very different from playing on the edge. The blocks that you get, where the blocks come from, sitting on 600 pounds of a double team, like there's some, we got a lot of hard jobs that we do inside. He has not resisted that he is owning it. Every day, you can just see like he took a step today. It's just fun to watch. Like you can tell from the look in his eye. He wants to be great. He wants to be better every day. He's not perfect. You know, it's ebbs and flows with like every young player, but man, you know, he is on the right trajectory. His arrow is up right now. I'm excited about it.”

Garrett is taking his body and the weight room seriously this offseason and spring, and we should see a more dominant defensive lineman as a result. Garrett has all the potential in the role and should have a profound impact on the Yellow Jackets in his second season. We saw the flashes last year; now it is time for him to put it all together. With his attention to detail, work ethic, and ability to learn and get better, opposing teams very well may have a problem on their hands in 2026. Garrett is one to pay attention to and should be in store for a breakout year.