Tale of the Tape: The Georgia Defensive Line

Mar 17

The 2021 Georgia defense will be etched in history as one of the most outstanding units in college football history. They shut down offenses like few before, and it all started with the (interior of the?) line. This defensive line has a chance to do something special, as four players are likely to be first-round picks.

While sophomore Jalen Carter, the brightest of the bunch, will have to wait until next year to hear his name called, Jordan Davis, Devonte Wyatt, and Travon Walker have teams salivating for the chance to add them to their team. After all three destroyed the combine, the hype has reached a fever pitch. Here is everything you need to know about the big three Georgia defensive linemen in the 2022 NFL Draft.

Jordan Davis

In a unit stacked with future NFL players and freak athletes, one stood out above the rest…quite literally! At any point watching Georgia over the last two years your eyes were immediately drawn to the massive #99 at nose tackle. Standing at 6’6 341 pounds, the senior Davis towers above a field of giants like the Colossus of Rhodes.

Davis is a double-team magnet, with offensive coordinators sending extra players at him at all times. This rarely matters as Davis’ size and strength are too much even two linemen to handle. As if bolted into the turf, Davis refuses to give up ground in the run game.

One of the best examples of this was against Alabama in 2020. Frequently Alabama double-teamed Davis with center Landon Dickerson and guard Deonte Brown. Dickerson and Brown were two of the biggest and nastiest linemen in college football last season, with Brown weighing in at 364 pounds at the 2021 Senior Bowl. Despite bullying poor defensive tackles all year, the duo could not get Davis to budge, resulting in a stalemate nearly every play. When Davis takes on a double team, he is like a tree in Grand Theft Auto that slams you to a halt.

Just featuring Davis’ size and strength would discredit the best parts of his game. While he can stay and hold his ground against double teams, he's not just a space-eater at nose tackle. Davis uses his quickness and hand strength to quickly shed blockers, meeting panicked running backs at the line of scrimmage. If he’s not making the tackle, he’s setting up one of the other monsters amongst the Georgia front to make the tackle.

When facing a defensive tackle the size of Jordan Davis, the plan is usually pretty obvious… just run away from him. A big problem for bigger nose tackles in the modern NFL is the usage of outside running concepts. Teams aren’t just going to pound it up the middle. Your defensive linemen will be forced to move laterally, testing their mobility and long-term stamina.

Most big lumbering nose tackles simply do not have the athleticism to go sideline-to-sideline to keep up. This makes Jordan Davis a special… generational even… type of run defender. Davis is a legit 4.78 athlete, and it is not just fluke time he ran in the Indianapolis underwear Olympics. Routinely you see teams try to run outside, and big #99 is chasing the ball carrier to the sideline. He’s an overall freak run defender.

With his physical attributes and dominance rarely seen in the run game, Davis will improve the rest of the team in general on defense. He’s the type of player that doesn’t just upgrade your nose tackle position, but helps out the other 10 guys on the field and makes the coach on the sideline's blood pressure cool down. Why isn’t he a consensus top ten pick then?

Of course, there are some potential knocks on Davis’ game. For one, he isn’t really much of a pass rusher. While a plus athlete laterally, rarely have we seen that translate into getting free to reach the quarterback in the backfield. This might not entirely be his fault though.

Being a pass rusher was not his role in the Georgia defense. With so many fantastic players, Georgia didn’t really need one player to just pin his ears back and make a play happen in the backfield. This is something we’ll get to later on with Travon Walker. Davis also had superstars Jalen Carter and Devonte Wyatt, not to mention Travon Walker, who played everywhere on the Georgia line, who could also rush the passer from the interior. While we have no idea if Jordan Davis can be a successful pass rusher, there is a shot that he never develops that part of his game…but it shouldn’t be an automatic assumption that he can’t.

The second biggest concern with Davis is his overall time on the field. This does not refer to his productivity when he plays, because he’s a star whenever he steps foot on the green, but rather how much he’s on the field. According to Trent Smallwood, a recruiting analyst at UGASports for Rivals, Davis only played around 38% of defensive snaps for the Bulldogs. He played fewer snaps than both Devonte Wyatt and Jalen Carter, who both missed time with injuries this season.

While the Georgia defense likes to rotate their players to keep the main starters fresh, it is a bit concerning to see Davis’ number so low. While he’s a fantastic athlete and can combat against teams running outside, does he have the stamina to do so all game? Are you going to be able to rely on Davis to give the same effort for all four quarters without constantly needing to be substituted out? Like his deficiencies as a pass rusher, we cannot confirm that Jordan Davis has a bad gas tank, it could be Georgia deciding to keep the starters fresh, but it does raise concerns.

Nobody in this draft does a single thing better than Jordan Davis and his run defense. There’s always a bit of prospect fatigue, and there are some good run defending interior linemen such as Uconn’s Travis Jones and LSU’s Neil Farrell. None of them do what Davis does in the run game. He is the perfect combination of size, strength, and athleticism. He makes it impossible to run up the gut, and he’ll come out to the sideline to make a play. Davis could be the best run defending nose tackle in the league very quickly and there are just those few key question marks in pivotal parts of football that make me hold off on crowning Davis this year.

Run defense is significant, but it is a passing league. You cannot draft Davis thinking he is an immediate fix to your defensive line in the mold of an Aaron Donald. He’s not that caliber of player. If you have some good pass rushers and need a force up the middle who can truly unlock them, such as the Chargers, Davis can be a Draymond Green-like glue player for your defense.

Devonte Wyatt

While Jordan Davis receives the lion's share of attention from major media outlets, Devonte Wyatt should not be overlooked. There is an argument that Wyatt is the better of the two Georgia defensive tackles in this draft, and it’s an argument I support.

Wyatt would have stolen the combine if not for his Bulldog compatriots. While he may not be 340 like Davis, Wyatt is still around 6’3 and 304 pounds. He is not tiny whatsoever. Wyatt had a fantastic combine, highlighted by a 4.77 40 yard dash. He best utilizes this athleticism to beat (outside zone reaching offensive lineman) reaching offensive linemen to their landmarks. His first step is a thing of beauty, putting his opponent at an immediate disadvantage. His assigned blocker has to scramble simply to keep up with his first movement. He has the quickness and toolbelt to be a fantastic three-technique.

Wyatt is fantastic at taking on double teams. Because of his height, Wyatt has a natural leverage advantage. He gets low and shoots up into the offensive lineman’s pads. I’ve seen people say that Wyatt can struggle against double teams, and I wholeheartedly disagree.

While not entirely on Davis’ level when combating double teams, nobody is, Wyatt more than holds his own and uses his quickness to squeeze between gaps in the blocking. One of my favorite examples was against Arkansas. The Razorbacks sent three blockers his way, and thanks to his quickness and strength, Wyatt popped through and made the tackle.

The balance in his game gives Wyatt an advantage over every other lineman this year. Wyatt is a complete player, equally good in all facets of the game. He beats blockers in the run game with both strength and quickness. A lot of times blockers are unable to get their hands on Wyatt as he rips into the backfield. Wyatt can be one of the most disruptive interior linemen in the league. With his quickness, a good set of pass rush moves, and strength, Wyatt can be the next Geno Atkins.

There isn’t really that much to say about Devonte Wyatt. He’s one of the no-brainer players in this draft, not to be overthought. He was one of the key cogs of the Georgia defense and deserved far more recognition than he was given. It is genuinely hard to find holes in his game. Maybe you wish he was a tad bit larger, with possibly a bit more production in college, but all-around, he’s just a tremendously sound football player who will make your defense better.

Travon Walker

Travon Walker is the most hyped out of all of the Georgia defensive linemen this year. While most of the attention was placed on Davis early in the cycle, Walker stole the show at the combine. Hopes were high for Walker to perform well, and he exceeded expectations. Travon Walker ran a 4.51 at 272 pounds… Let me just repeat that because you clearly did not understand the gravity of that last statement… Travon Walker ran a 4.51 at 272 pounds.

For reference, Walker ran faster than 13 running backs and 12 wide receivers at the NFL Combine. This includes potential first-round selection, Treylon Burks. Two players who tested most similarly to Walker were Myles Garrett and Jevon Kearse, a man literally nicknamed “the freak.” This is the company of elite athletes Walker is in.

The athleticism should not shock anyone who observed Georgia at all last season. There was a fantastic play in the National Championship against Alabama where Walker sprinted from the line of scrimmage to catch up with Crimson Tide receiver Agiye Hall. Georgia would drop Walker into coverage at times and he even has some special teams experience.

The athleticism constantly pops on tape. Like most Georgia defensive linemen, Walker is a terror moving in space on stunts. He has fantastic agility and then a crazy burst when presented an opening in the offensive line. What impressed me most about Walker is his ability to bend the corner on pass rushes, even weighing as much as he does. Sure, he isn’t Von Miller out there, but there’s clearly some bend and flexibility there. At his size, the ability to bend isn’t really the most necessary tool but it is just another conceivable way Walker can beat you.

My favorite way Walker uses his athleticism is in the run game. While there are some potential concerns about his pass-rushing, there are no doubts about Walker’s effectiveness in the run game. He outmaneuvers blockers on run plays and blows up plays in the backfield before they even have a chance to develop.

His pursuit is relentless. With all of this talk about his athleticism, it is easy to forget that Walker is massive. As a bigger defensive end, Walker gets hands-on opponents and uses his strength in run defense as well. His size and strength allow him to be used in a multitude of ways. Walker is a player you can line out wide and inside. Rarely did he ever leave the field for the Bulldogs, showing he is one of the most complete players in this draft.

The biggest concern about Walker is his lack of production as a pass rusher. For his incredible athleticism, it hasn't translated into many sacks or tackles for loss. He did not get to the quarterback nearly as much as other top defensive ends in this class, such as Aidan Hutchinson or David Ojabo.

Walker only recorded nine and a half sacks in his three years in Athens, six coming this year. He only recorded 13.5 tackles for loss too. Aidan Hutchinson had 16.5 tackles for loss just this year. Walker's former Georgia teammate Jermaine Johnson racked up 17 TFLs this year. With Walker being hyped as a potential top-five pick, and his generational athletic stature, why are his numbers not close to his peers?

Walker suffers from the same problems Wyatt and Davis did: the scheme. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the Georgia scheme at all. It is not a faulty system that held the players back, rather, it relied on all 11 players performing their roles. It was a true team effort, akin to the Golden State Warriors team defense in the NBA.

The defensive linemen were not asked to simply pin their ears back and rush the passer most of the game. There were a ton of stunts, and the linebackers frequently blitzed into the backfield. The players up front had to take on blockers to open up holes for the linebackers to go to work. With all of the great players on the Georgia defense, the wealth was more or less shared equally amongst the crew. When you look at the Bulldogs stats, all of the pass rushers have nearly identical stats. Not one player really stands out, the top sack leader of the corps Robert Beal.

Much like Jordan Davis, we don’t really know where Walker is as a pass rusher just yet. While definitely further along than Davis is, Davis currently possesses a limited pass-rushing toolbox little in terms of pass-rushing, it is still unknown if Walker can be a consistent 10+ sack guy a year yet. The flashes say he can be, and there are plenty of those. A couple of times a game Walker will barrel into the backfield on a stunt and chase the quarterback to the sideline to cause a throwaway. Occasionally Walker will throw the offensive tackle aside and get to the quarterback.

These flashes are just that... flashes. It cannot be said with certainty yet that Walker is an elite pass rusher. There still is work that needs to be done in that area for him. You want to see him rush with more of a plan, to have a bit more counters in his toolbelt. He definitely can add those to his arsenal, but the work still has to be done.

Overall the jury is really still out on Walker as a pass rusher. There are things he needs to improve on as a prospect, but the Georgia scheme did limit his role as a pass rusher. While we know a phenomenal run defender, there still is a good amount of projection on his ability on passing downs. The way NFL teams view this will determine if he goes in the middle of the first round, or if he is a top-five pick come April 28th.