Dabo Swinney knows a high-quality defensive lineman when he sees one. In the 2019 NFL Draft alone, Swinney saw three defensive linemen of his get taken in the first 17 picks.

So when the Clemson head coach was asked about the Georgia defensive line this week, he didn’t hesitate to discuss the group.

“Man they all look the same. They are all massive,” Swinney said. “You can just change the numbers out. No. 88, (Jalen Carter), 95 (Devonte Wyatt), 99 (Jordan Davis).”

Related: Jordan Davis ready to be an every-down ‘problem’ as he returns to Charlotte

But also singled out one Bulldog in particular with some lofty praise.

“No. 44 (Travon Walker) is kind of like how Christian (Wilkins) was here,” Swinney said. “He can go play 3-tech, 9-tech, legit d-end.”

Wilkins was a key leader on the 2018 Clemson team that won a national championship. He finished his senior season with 14.0 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks before being taken with the No. 13 overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft by the Miami Dolphins.

That’s a very lofty comparison for Walker to live up to, especially with Saturday’s game against Clemson being his first-career start.

Walker has already made an impact at Georgia in the past, but he enters the 2021 season with significantly higher expectations. He’ll be replacing Malik Herring as a starter at the defensive end spot on Georgia’s defense, with the added hope he takes on a much bigger role as a pass rusher for the Bulldogs.

Related: Travon Walker expected to make ‘a lot of plays in the backfield’ for Georgia football

As a situational pass rusher for Georgia in his first two seasons, Walker had 3.5 sacks. Georgia is going to need that number to be much higher this season if it is to accomplish some of its defensive goals.

In that respect, it’s one area where Kirby Smart would love his defensive line to in fact play a little bit more like Clemson’s.

“Ours is a lot bigger, built to stop the run, and theirs is pushy, more athletic and built to rush the passer,” Smart said while comparing the two defensive lines. “They’ve done that, statistically, really well. They’ve affected every quarterback they play in terms of sacks and those numbers. We’ve been better in those categories, but not as good as what they’ve done.”

Clemson will look to get after JT Daniels with the likes of Bryan Bresee, Myles Murphy and Xavier Thomas. The Tigers though might be without standout defensive tackle Tyler Davis, as his status is uncertain for Saturday.

Related: Clemson receiver out with COVID concerns, Georgia injury update

While the Bulldogs will look to improve as a pass rush along the defensive line, it will be hard for them to get much better against the run. Georgia has had the No. 1 rushing defense in college football in each of the last two seasons.

Between, Walker, Davis and the rest of the group, Georgia has a number of standout individuals. But the reason the group really shines, it because of the entire strength of the collective unit.

And they should make things very difficult for a Clemson offense that struggled to run the ball at times last season and must replace all-time leading rusher Travis Etienne.

“They are incredibly difficult to move even with double-teams,” Swinney said. “Everybody has a hard time moving these dudes, You have to attack them in different ways. because they are amazingly athletic with that size all across the front.”

More Georgia football stories from around DawgNation