Georgia Tech’s defense took a step forward under the direction of Tyler Santucci in his only year with the Jackets before taking the role as Linebacker Coach with the Baltimore Ravens. Blake Gideon was brought in from Texas (Secondary Coach) to continue that trend, but he will do so with a defensive front that has struggled to find consistent pressure on opposing QBs, and will have plenty of new faces across the line.
The lone starter returning will be Jordan Van Den Berg at the defensive tackle position. Van Den Berg became an instant success last year after transferring from Penn State. He was essential in the run game and added a sack while he often was able to push the center or guards into the pocket. He accumulated 23 tackles with 4 being for a loss, which also included a sack. There will be familiar help lining up next to Jordan this year with Akelo Stone transferring back from Ole Miss to fill in the Nose Guard position vacated by Zeek Biggers, who was drafted in the 7th round by the Miami Dolphins.
Stone never quite cracked the starting role at Ole Miss, but did serve as a rotational piece that gives him experience to compete with Matthew Alexander, who transferred in from UCF. It’s hard to say where each stands at this point. Both Stone and Alexander are of similar build, with both playing significant snaps despite never claiming a starter role.
The defensive ends and edge rushers are going to be new faces down the depth chart this year. Romello Height continues on his cross-country adventures (Auburn, USC, Georgia Tech) with his final stop being Texas Tech, and Sylvain Yondjouen exhausting his eligibility. Tech took a heavy haul of transfers on the edge to rebuild depth with Ronald Triplette from UTSA, Brayden Manley from Mercer, and AJ Hoffler from Clemson. Manley was one of the best ends at the FCS level with Mercer last year. He finished last season with 9.5 sacks and earned FCS All-American honors for the effort. Triplette also generated 5 sacks in his two years at UTSA. There will be an increase in competition for both, but Tech was in dire need of two experienced players to lead a group of new players.
Two new additions that should be highlighted are freshmen Christian Garrett and Andre Fuller. Both should slot at the ends, but are two very different styles that Tech can utilize based on the offense they face. Garrett is a big-bodied end standing at 6’4” and 290 pounds and was a consensus 4-star and rated a Top 150 recruit. He has the frame to set the edge against the run and has accumulated 35 sacks during his high school career. Andre Fuller is on the lighter side at just 235 pounds, but he was still rated the 27th-best defensive end in the nation by Rivals. Fuller will likely lineup farther on the edge as a standup hybrid. Fuller will give Tech a quicker end to oppose spread offenses that want to go heavy on screens or try to sneak tight ends underneath. Fuller is also a player I’ve seen some practice reps on, and he has great power for his size. Expect both of these young players to get into the rotation early and make an impact this season.