Georgia Bulldogs' critical key to success is clear as Kirby Smart leans on inexperienced defense for 2025 college football season
Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs will be leaning on a ton of inexperience and youth on both sides of the ball for the 2025 college football season. Gunner Stockton will get his first shot at a full season starting at quarterback. Most of the offensive line and wide receivers are young or completely brand […]
Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs will be leaning on a ton of inexperience and youth on both sides of the ball for the 2025 college football season. Gunner Stockton will get his first shot at a full season starting at quarterback. Most of the offensive line and wide receivers are young or completely brand new to the team. But the most critical key to success for the Georgia Bulldogs this year lies on the defensive side.
Georgia Bulldogs pass rush is the key
Georgia's defense already performed below typical expectations last season outside of a few games, ranking 55th in EPA per play allowed. While the pass rush was one thing holding the defense together at times thanks to game-changing talents like Jalon Walker and Mykel Williams (both first round NFL Draft picks this spring), it's the one area replacing more production than any other on the team in 2025.
Seven of the eight top contributors from Georgia's pass rush last year are now gone via the NFL Draft or Transfer Portal (over 1600 pass rush snaps between those seven). Christen Miller and Gabe Harris are the only two returning players from last year's team who logged even 100 pass rush snaps on the entire season.
So, given that huge loss in production and experience, how will Georgia possibly have a pass rush ready to dominate the SEC?
Kirby Smart and his staff haven't been known to dive too deep into the Transfer Portal–especially for pass rushers–but seeing their dire need made an exception this spring, adding Elo Modozie from Army. Modozie likely figures to be the most important addition to the team.
Modozie posted a pass rush pressure rate near 16% last season with seven sacks for Army and should immediately plug into the role that Damon Wilson (now with Missouri) played last season for the Bulldogs. But Georgia can't just have one good pass rusher.
Christen Miller at defensive tackle surprisingly posted pass rush win and pressure rates 50% above positional average last season although that didn't show up in the sack column too often. He's expected to step up as the havoc creator on the inside.
Gabe Harris should be the other edge rusher opposite Modozie, but he'll have to improve immensely compared to what he brought a year ago.
Given how multiple and creative the Georgia Bulldogs' defensive front can be when they're at their best they'll also need plenty of depth to bring pressure when called upon too.
Former five star Joseph Jonah-Ajonye will be one that Georgia desperately needs to step up as well even though played just 50 snaps last season. Then five star true freshmen Elijah Griffin (DL) and Isaiah Gibson (EDGE) could be the final secret ingredients to a surprisingly explosive pass rush for the Bulldogs too.
There hasn't been a less experienced group of pass rushers for Georgia since Kirby Smart became the head coach. That much is a fact. And if the Bulldogs can't figure out how to bring pressure this season Georgia could possibly post their worst record in nearly a decade. However, if anyone can figure things out it's likely Kirby Smart and his stacked staff.
Georgia Bulldogs and Kirby Smart hosting elite set of recruits to build around five star QB Jared Curtis with their 2026 class
Georgia Bulldogs recruiting had been on a hot streak until the middle of this past week when they finally missed out one major recruiting target. Jackson Cantwell–the top player in the 2026 recruiting class–opted to join Miami instead of Georgia on Wednesday. However, that bad news followed three important commits for Georgia in the preceding […]
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And if you want to see the kind of skills that Elo Modozie brings to the Georgia Bulldogs check out some of his highlights in the video below!
