Georgia signed four defensive linemen in the 2022 signing class. Only Christen Miller is still with the program.
Mykel Williams is off playing with the San Francisco 49ers. Georgia will live with him becoming the latest first-round pick on the defensive line.
But fellow signees Bear Alexander and Shone Washington are now off playing for other Power 4 programs. Alexander will play for Oregon this fall, while Washington is at LSU.
Miller has been an important role player in his time at Georgia. In 2025, he’ll be tasked with being the team’s leader and also the best player in the group.
It’s a lot for Miller to live up to, especially with how important senior defensive linemen have been at Georgia.
The 2021 team had Jordan Davis and Devonte Wyatt. In addition to leading Georgia to a national championship, they went on to become first-round draft picks. The 2022 team had Zion Logue and Tramel Walthour in the group. Neither was the star that Davis or even Wyatt were, but their experience made a difference as Georgia was able to win another national title.
Logue returned once again in 2023, with Warren Brinson and Nazir Stackhouse becoming fourth-year players on the defensive line. Those two were important seniors last season, while Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins proved to be a big-time piece on the defensive line.
Ingram-Dawkins elected to enter the NFL draft last season despite having another year of eligibility. His departure led to him being taken in the fifth round by the Minnesota Vikings.
But it also puts a greater burden on Miller. He’s the only defensive lineman on the roster who was a part of either championship team at Georgia.
Georgia is a young team in 2025. Nowhere else is that more apparent than on the defensive line.
The Bulldogs knew they were going to lose a lot of the 2024 defensive line. The group had three draft picks, while Stackhouse signed with the Green Bay Packers.
Miller is the lone senior. Jordan Hall is the only other player in the group who has spent two full seasons with the program.
“I’ve seen the transition he made, the leap he made last year,” Hall said of Miller this spring. “Y’all don’t know how much work we put into (the) offseason last season. This year is a big year for him, a big year for our defensive line, but he’s the leader in our room, and he has some special things coming for this season.”
Georgia has six defensive linemen entering their second season at Georgia, to go along with three first-year defensive linemen.
There are some talented players in that group — Elijah Griffin and Joseph Jonah-Ajonye were former five-star prospects — but they’re unproven.
Miller will have to show them what it takes to grind through an SEC schedule.
“We lost a lot of offensive and defensive linemen, like eight or nine, really good offensive, defensive linemen,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said in an interview with Paul Finebaum. “When you lose those, you either replace them with guys that are vets or you replace them with youth and fire, passion and energy. And that’s what we’re counting on is having guys that have fire, passion and energy and play really hard.”
Georgia doesn’t have many vets to replace Brinson, Stackhouse, Ingram-Dawkins and Williams with. Miller is the lone fourth-year player on Georgia’s defensive line in 2025.
This upcoming season is pivotal for Miller. It’s a chance to show he can be a big-time player for the Bulldogs.
In addition to having more on his plate for a workload standpoint, more is going to be asked of Miller from a leadership standpoint as well. Not just from the normal amount that comes with being a veteran on Georgia’s defensive line.
But even more so, given he’s the lone fourth-year player in the defensive line room.
“Guys in their fourth year really do well here,” Smart said in April.
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