ATHENS \u2014 Jordan Davis, Jalen Carter, Devonte Wyatt, Travon Walker \u2014 might Elijah Griffin be the next \u201cGreat\u201d Georgia defensive lineman?<\/p>\n
Griffin, only a sophomore, still weighs 305 pounds, just like he did his last season.<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s safe to say the former 5-star prospect from Savannah Christian Prep figures to carry more weight for the Georgia defensive line this season.<\/p>\n
Griffin, an FWAA Freshman All-American last season, looks to be one of the Bulldogs\u2019 most impactful new starters this season starting with the opening game against Tennessee State on Saturday.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast year, coming in, I didn\u2019t know what to expect,\u201d said Griffin, who was rated the No. 1 defensive lineman in the 2025 class an No. 3 recruit overall by the 247Sports composite. \u201cNow I know \u2026 the speed of the game, and I know the playbook a lot better. And development-wise, I feel like I strike blockers better and the little things I could do a lot better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Griffin\u2019s weight hasn\u2019t changed, but he has added muscle and reduced body fat, the better to handle the offensive linemen he\u2019ll be taking on each snap and the quarterbacks and ball carries he\u2019ll looks to chase down.<\/p>\n
UGA defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann noted from the start that Griffin arrived from the high school ranks with an uncanny level of maturity.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has a maturity to him, a work ethic to him,\u201d Schumann said last fall. \u201cThe capacity with which he\u2019ll be able to help us is really about how he continues to grow and advance \u2026. \u201c<\/p>\n
Griffin said one of the things he has learned in Georgia\u2019s scheme is that getting to the quarterback for a sack is more than just beating the man across from you and giving chase, as he did 8.5 times as a senior in high school.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a lot different \u2026. once you get in college, you have guys that are stronger than you, or just as strong as you, and like I said, the game speed (is different),\u201d Griffin said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of factors that vary, like high school it was just to get free, you do whatever you want.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut now, you have a certain role and a certain technique on this certain specific play, so now you have to learn how to maneuver through that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Griffin recorded one sack his freshman season, a number he might double through the first two game with Conference USA member Western Kentucky the Bulldogs\u2019 second game of the season.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Griffin has always preferred being a leader with that sort of action, but this year he\u2019s looking to add a more vocal role to his resume.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s one thing during camp I wanted to focus on, becoming a more vocal leader, and I try to do that day by day,\u201d Griffin said \u201cBut the steps in order to do that, I just have to talk more and put myself in uncomfortable situations.\u201d<\/p>\n
One thing for certain, Georgia is banking on putting opponents in uncomfortable positions throughout the season on what\u2019s expected to be one of Coach Kirby Smart\u2019s best defenses in recent memory.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ATHENS \u2014 Jordan Davis, Jalen Carter, Devonte Wyatt, Travon Walker \u2014 might Elijah Griffin be the next \u201cGreat\u201d…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1037569,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[43],"tags":[12955,1441,2871,1318,4353,203602,1317,1315,1316,2973,62,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-1037568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ncaa-football","tag-alabama","tag-championship","tag-college","tag-football","tag-georgia","tag-mercedes-benz-stadium","tag-ncaa","tag-ncaa-football","tag-ncaafootball","tag-sec","tag-sports","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1037568","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1037568"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1037568\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1037569"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1037568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1037568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1037568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}