I'll go position by position and give you a look at my projected defensive depth chart based on conversations with sources, what the players and coaches are saying publicly and where I think there I think things are still open.
DEFENSIVE ENDS
| Field End | Rush End/OLB |
| Keion White | Kyle Kennard or Noah Collins |
| Sylvain Yondjouen | Kevin Harris |
| Joshua Robinson | Christian Burkhalter |
| Grey Carroll |
The field end spot is Keion White club and all's gig and he will be really interesting to watch because he has tons of NFL potential and is one of the strongest DLs to play at GT in a while. Hopefully his club hand goes away quickly but apparently it has not slowed him down much per everyone I've talked to. Yondjouen has had a strong fall and positioned himself again in the two spot for now holding off Joshua Robinson. Grey Carroll is starting to show some signs of the guy they signed out of HS a year out from his foot injury.
The big battle here is the rush end spot where Noah Collins has been coming on again. Collins finished spring ball pushing for a starting job and a slow start to fall camp had him a bit behind the other two Kyle Kennard and Kevin Harris, but he has come on lately. Kennard has made major strides as well. Harris is very twitchy, he just needs to continue being more fundamentally sound. Burkhalter has even shown a little bit despite just learning the system. The big thing with this group is run defense and avoiding over pursuit of the QB. That was a major issue last year.
DEFENSIVE TACKLES
| Defensive Tackle | Defensive Tackle |
| Makius Scott | D'Quan Douse |
| Zeek Biggers or Daniel Carson | TK Chimedza or Akelo Stone |
| KJ Miles | Horace Lockett |
This is a group I'm actually excited to see in action. This has been the biggest rebuild on the roster other than the OL from when Collins took over because of a lack of bodies moving from the 3-4 to an even front and the loss of Brandon Adams (RIP) and injuries like Chimedza that altered his career.
Douse has really stepped up and is leading by example in the room and he is probably the best DT right now. Basically they can all play on either side so I set it up how I think the rotation might work in a game. Scott has really come on and gives them a bigger guy in there same with Biggers or Chimedza. Stone and Carson are the two wild card guys to me because anything you get is a bonus. Stone has been dealing with the death of his mom and some family stuff but seems to be turning the corner now and was a little bit more like the old Akelo this past week and even got some love from coach Collins. Carson looks serviceable, not sure what his ceiling is. I would not be shocked if we see Horace Lockett in some short yardage or goal line sets as he has apparently been really good in those specific situations.
LINEBACKERS
| MIKE | WILL | SAM |
| Ace Eley | Charlie Thomas | Charlie Thomas (Tatum takes over WILL) |
| Trenilyas Tatum | Demetrius Knight/Trenilyas Tatum | Sirad Bryant |
| Taylor McCawley | Khatavian Franks | Trenilyas Tatum |
| Kyle Efford | Tyson Meiguez |
This room is one of the spots where even the most pessimistic people I talk to within the program have been impressed. Jason Semore has done a great job with getting them on the same page and executing the game plan along with the tweaks made to the defense. Eley and Thomas are playing at a very high-level going into the season and they like their 3 LB package which they can run for the first time. I am still curious to see what Tyson Meiguez can do when he is fully healthy and cleared. He is still working his way back from his knee injury and was non-contact most of camp. Knight has really developed and Tatum has a boatload of talent and will be all over the field as the 3rd LB in the rotation depending on the package.
SAFETIES/NICKEL
| FREE SAFETY | STRONG SAFETY | NICKEL |
| Jaylon King | Derrik Allen or LaMiles Brooks | Kaleb Edwards |
| Khari Gee | Jalen Huff | Kenny Bennett |
| Clayton Powell-Lee | Jaylin Marshall | KJ Wallace |
Jaylon King has been the glue guy for this group and he has really matured and is playing with confidence now that was lacking under the old DB coaches. He was a national recruit and a big win for GT at the time so people still sleep on him for some reason. The big story in this group has been the battle between Derrik Allen and LaMiles Brooks at the strong safety spot. Brooks finally healthy with a stronger shoulder has been putting in work and that has been a really good battle in camp and is likely to continue throughout the season. That is a plus for GT. At the nickel, Kaleb Edwards gives them the strong safety/LB body type that is a great matchup for GT from that spot and when they play teams with more of a spread/dynamic slot look they can use Kenny Bennett in there as a versatile piece as well as more of a cover guy. KJ Wallace has even been a pleasant surprise. Of the backup safety types Clayton Powell-Lee may have made his way into the rotation or is on the edge of it following a strong August and Jalen Huff keeps finding ways to get on the field somehow even though he isn't impressive physically, he just finds a way to do his job and make some plays.
CORNERBACKERS
| FIELD CORNER | BOUNDARY CORNER |
| Zamari Walton | Myles Sims |
| Kenan Johnson | Kenyatta Watson |
| Ahmari Harvey | Kenny Bennett/Eric Reed Jr. |
| Rod Shelley | Connor Mack |
The corners can now play both field and boundary which is a good thing. I'm not a huge fan of having that and they had to do that with Tre Swilling because he struggled to play to the field so much. I think that Zamari Walton and Myles Sims are two of the better CBs in the ACC and will end up both having big years for GT. Kenyatta Watson has come on and he is very good in the one-on-one type battles downfield as Thacker spoke about this week. Kenan Johnson is like Jalen Huff, he doesn't look amazing, but the guy just makes plays and does his job which is great at CB. I have really been impressed with Eric Reed Jr. and Ahmari Harvey's development as well. Rod Shelley is also really interesting to me because he can fly. I think they actually have a pretty good CB room now.
SPECIALISTS
I'm not going to do the whole chart, obviously, David Shanahan is the punter, Jude Kelley is probably the kicker right now and Gavin Stewart the kickoff guy. I think Nate McCollum is probably the punt returner and Hassan Hall/McCollum/Malik Rutherford are the kickoff return options. I am not sure that is totally set yet.
