ATHENS — Few schools if any have done as good of a job as recruiting, developing and producing talented defensive linemen in recent seasons as Georgia.

The Bulldogs have had four defensive linemen taken in the previous four first rounds of the NFL draft. Georgia looks poised to push that to five this coming spring, with Mykel Williams likely to be a first-round pick.

"If he doesn’t get hurt in that Clemson game and we see him a full strength, we’re talking about him as another top 10 lock," Daniel Jeremiah of the NFL Network said on a conference call with reporters. “He’s got a lot of freaky qualities to him, freaky traits. He can really get off the ball. He’s got a lot of power and violence as a rusher. He can set the edge.”

Williams, like Travon Walker and Jalen Carter before him, arrived at Georgia as a 5-star prospect. Even with the Bulldogs losing one talented defensive lineman, defensive line coach Tray Scott has gone to great lengths to make sure Georgia’s defensive line is stocked with talented prospects.

Scott has landed a 5-star defensive lineman in each of the previous three signing classes.

Now, with Williams, Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins, Naz Stackhouse and Warren Brinson off to the NFL, it is time for Jordan Hall, Joseph Jonah-Ajonye and Elijah Griffin to validate why they earned such lofty recruiting rankings.

Hall and Jonah-Ajonye both had their 2024 seasons derailed by injury. Hall had stress fractures in both his legs, which limited him to just six games last season.

Jonah-Ajonye seemed poised to carve out a role early in his time at Georgia but a lower-extremity injury ended his season after just four games.

Hall is in his third year in the Georgia program, while Jonah-Ajonye will be in his second. Health is paramount for both, as is continued development.

Hall is likely to see an increase in snaps on the interior of the defensive line, potentially at nose tackle. That spot had been held down by Stackhouse. As for Jonah-Ajonye, he might be best suited to take up Williams' role at defensive end.

Then there is Griffin, who only just arrived in Athens. Of all the defensive linemen Scott has inked during his time at Georgia, none have entered the program as decorated as Griffin. He was the No. 3 overall prospect in this past recruiting cycle, with all four recruiting services ranking him as their top-ranked defensive player.

It’s difficult for freshmen to carve out a significant role on Scott’s defensive line, but it’s not impossible. Walker and Carter both did so in their first seasons in Athens, while Williams actually led Georgia in sacks during the 2022 season that ended with a national championship.

Griffin will play on the interior of the defensive line. He enters college at 6-foot-4 and 300 pounds. How quickly he’s able to reshape his body will go a long way in determining just how impactful he can be as a freshman. Perhaps he, like Carter, can carve out a role as an interior pass rusher on obvious pass-rushing situations.

The former 5-star prospects aren’t the only defensive linemen that need to step up. It’s a young room, which is to be expected when you see two fifth-year players, a fourth-year player and Williams exit the program.

Consider that all five members of Georgia’s 2024 defensive line signing haul ended up redshirting last season. They’ll all need to find ways to push for playing time if Georgia’s defensive line is to play up to the standard it has set in recent seasons.

Christen Miller is Georgia’s most proven contributor to this point on the 2025 defensive line. Hall, Jonah-Ajonye and even Griffin emerging as such over the course of this coming season is paramount for Georgia’s defensive line, defense and team success.

“Looking forward to seeing what happens, you know, but you got to put action behind that potential," Scott said prior to the Notre dame game.