Georgia Tech has established two adjectives to define its defensive line

With Georgia Tech football working through another change at defensive coordinator, the interior defensive line has established an identity.

Vertical and violent.

“That’s who we want to be,” redshirt junior Shymeik Jones said. “That’s who we’ve got to be.”

Defensive line coach Jess Simpson has developed two NFL draft picks over the past two years, Zeek Biggers and Jordan van den Berg. Now he is guiding a group with an unbalanced mix of experience heading into this season.

Transfer portal additions Tawfiq Thomas from Colorado, Vincent Carroll-Jackson from UConn, and Jones are veterans expected to be part of the rotation. Almost everyone else is entering his first or second year of college football.

“It’s been really different because it’s either really old or really young,” Simpson said. “There’s not a lot of kids right there in the middle.”

For Simpson, vertical means getting off the ball and attacking the line of scrimmage, creating confusion for opposing offensive linemen. Violent means playing with the physicality necessary to disrupt plays.

If the defensive line can live up to that standard, it could make the transition easier for new defensive coordinator Jason Semore. He arrived this offseason from Southern Miss and is expected to employ a more multiple scheme with a greater variety of fronts and coverages than Georgia Tech has used in recent years.

“There are so many little dynamics and intrinsic things that happen with it,” Simpson said.

“I think we’ve been hard to block (in camp), so we’ll see if we can make that come to life on Saturdays.”

The first test comes Sept. 3, when Georgia Tech opens the season against Colorado at Bobby Dodd Stadium.

Simpson said ideally the rotation will include five or even six players. For that to happen, young players must turn potential into reliable production quickly.

Sophomore Christian Garrett, a former four-star recruit from Monroe, is one of them. Garrett, 6-foot-4, 300 pounds, split time at edge rusher during his first season but is now devoted to the defensive line.

Simpson said he has “big hopes and aspirations” for Garrett as he makes the adjustment.

“Things just happen so fast,” Simpson said. “You hit blocks in less than half a second, you’re reacting to pressure, you’re reacting to color, you’re moving and reacting off the next blocker. It comes at you really fast, different from playing off the ball or different from playing off the edge.”

True freshman Christian Speakman has been another making his case for playing time.

Speakman, an under-the-radar recruit from Morrow High, enrolled earlier this year, and Simpson said he “has been a huge surprise.

“He has a lot of natural instinct for understanding how to fight blocks, play blocks, fight pressure, play with his hands, for his age and his experience.”

Landen Marshall is also in the mix. The 6-foot-2, 300-pound redshirt sophomore entered the transfer portal this offseason before withdrawing his name. With older, established players competing alongside younger players trying to earn their way onto the field, Marshall has responded to the competition.

“This room is real and there’s real competition here,” Simpson said. “I think it’s been good for all of us, especially (Marshall).”