The bad news is that Georgia didn’t sign a five-technique/defensive end in the 2020 class. The good news is that Georgia has three studs at the five-technique/defensive end for the 2020 season.
Malik Herring (senior): The former four-star prospect has showed some tremendous flashes over the past two seasons. Consistency has been lacking, but Herring clearly has game-changing ability against the run and the pass. He was a healthy hold out of the season opener against Vanderbilt largely because he’s not the best practice player out there. UGA’s staff puts a lot of stock in how players perform in practice and if Herring improves in that area, he has a chance to open some eyes as a senior.
Travon Walker (sophomore): Despite being a five-star prospect coming out of high school. expectations weren’t all that high for Walker as a freshman. Georgia was loaded with talent an experience along the defensive line in 2019 but Walker still found a way to make a huge impact. He was fixture on third downs and showed the ability to get after the quarterback. He’ll take on a much bigger role in his second season with UGA losing David Marshall and Justin Young.
Tramel Walthour (redshirt sophomore): The Bulldogs signed Walthour twice for a reason. He’s a gifted player. He spent 2018 at junior college despite being a full qualifier and enrolled in January of 2019. He would have likely played a lot more in 2019 if a foot/ankle injury didn’t hamper him for the first few weeks of the season. By the time he was fully healthy, it was clear that UGA had everything it needed at defensive end and it would be best to preserve a year of eligibility. Now he’s in line to be a part of the rotation at defensive end and the Bulldogs like to use at least three guys at this spot.
I’m guessing the coaches will be forced to add an inside player or two to the defensive end rotation. I would also expect that these will be among the first guys subbed for when Georgia takes control of a game. But they all can play.
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I’m eager to see Walthour. When Kirby signs a 3-star, it usually means the kid is flying under the radar of the recruiting sites. And Kirby has exercised an extraordinary amount of patience bringing Walthour into the fold.
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That’s the first real praise I’ve read of Walthour, and I haven’t seen much from him in the field yet. Not saying he can’t improve, but I really believed the lack of a 280 lb DE was a big miss in the 2020 class. I’m not sure there’s another position out there that has such little depth behind the starters for what Kirby does with that position, especially given the relative dearth of running offenses we play.
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Good points. I share your concern about depth at this position, and Malik leaving after this year will just add to the worries.
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