Georgia Football Defensive Freshmen to Watch this Season

A look at some freshmen on defense to watch for Georgia during the 2025 college football season.

Freshmen having major roles on Georgia's roster may not happen all of the time, but it certainly can (insert Nate Frazier/Chris Cole). If you show the coaching staff that you are too talented not to play, then you will see the field in your first year. So with that said, here are a few true freshmen to keep watch of on offense this season.

Elijah Griffin, DL

Some special things have been said about Griffin during fall camp, and if any of them ring true, then Georgia has found the next one. Christen Miller, Xzavier McLeod and Jordan Hall were kind of the headliners at defensive line coming into the season and Griffin very likely will join them by the end of the year. Georgia fans shouldn't expect to wait long at all to see Griffin on the field this season.

JJ Hanne, DL

Anytime a true freshman is rocking the blue cap at practice, indicating he has been practicing with passion, fire and energy, that means buy stock now. Again, it's not often that true freshmen stand out amongst the rest of the roster at Georgia, but Hanne has found a way to do it. He is still in the young stages of his football career, but when you play as hard as Hanne does, you'll eventually find yourself on the field.

Isaiah Gibson, DE

Georgia has a bit more depth at this position than we initially thought when the offseason started, but Gibson is still going to earn snaps this season. This is certainly a player that you could see earn more and more snaps as the season progresses and as Gibson continues to grow and evolve.

Dominick Kelly, CB

This might seem like a bit of a stretch to say, considering Georgia doesn't even know who their two starting cornerbacks will be this season, but Kelly looks like he is going to be one of the next ones at Georgia in the secondary. It's not often a freshman walks in and looks the part of an SEC defensive back, that's the way he looked this spring and fall.