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The Georgia Bulldogs enter 2026 looking to make a statement that they are still the team to beat not only in the SEC, but in college football as a whole coming off three straight seasons without a playoff victory.

If Kirby Smart and his team are going to not only get back to the College Football Playoff but also make a deep run when they get there, a lot of guys are going to have to step up. Much of that conversation revolves naturally around Gunner Stockton and the offense, but it's the defense of this team which really raises the ceiling.

On paper, this may be the most talented group Smart has had since the historic 2021 unit, and that is a major statement given how great that defense was. Led by a veteran group of linebackers and a shutdown secondary, Georgia is going to cause a whole lot of teams fits this season.

In order for the Bulldogs to reach their full potential though, the defensive line is going to have to be great as well to make things easier on everyone else. That conversation starts with former top recruit in the nation Elijah Griffin.

Griffin Taking Next Step This Year Could Be Enormous

Despite being a freshman, Griffin played in every game for Georgia last year and wound up with just about every single All Freshman conference and national honor you can get. Doing this as a freshman in a Kirby Smart defense is astoundingly impressive, and the former five-star who was one of the best players in the nation coming out of high school lived up to the billing.

Now though, after a promising freshman campaign, it's time for him to take that next step and become more than that and be an absolutely dominant force that can wreck an offense's game plan. All of the best Georgia defenses have had that from Jordan Davis to Jalen Carter, and now it's Griffin's turn to join the long line of elite defensive lineman to come through Athens.

Everything he has done to this point seems to indicate that he can, and if Griffin can just keep on developing, the rest will take care of itself. Taking that next leap as a sophomore will not just put him on pace to be the best of a long line of Bulldogs interior defenders.

It also has the potential to make Georgia the best defense in all of college football.

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