What Does Akelo Stone's Departure Mean For The Georgia Tech Defensive Line?

Stone entered the portal after being one of the top players in the spring

Yesterday, Georgia Tech had a surprise entry into the transfer portal. 

Akelo Stone had a terrific spring and was one of the captains of the spring game, as well as being named the outstanding defensive lineman for the game. He entered the portal yesterday and joined redshirt freshman K.J. Miles as the Yellow Jacket defensive lineman that was in the portal. 

Losing Stone is going to hurt Georgia Tech's depth along the interior of the line, but I don't think it is a crippling loss for the Yellow Jackets. This team still has players that it is excited about. 

Georgia Tech defensive tackle Akelo Stone entered the transfer portal yesterday / Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sport

It is possible that Stone would have challenged for a starting spot in 2023, but I don't think it was a guarantee. The Yellow Jackets are bringing their two starters from last season back, D'Quan Douse and Makius Scott, and Douse in particular really came on at the end of last season. 

Douse was tied for second on the team in sacks with 3.5 and you could see him get better in each game, especially his performance against Virginia Tech, where he had 2.5 sacks and earned a high grade on PFF for his performance.

Scott had 1.5 sacks last season and 22 tackles as well. I think there are some holes on this football team where I can't definitely project the starters, but defensive tackle is where I think it is safe to pencil in Douse and Scott as the two starters.

However, Stone was probably the third guy in that group and Miles was a talented young player. So with those guys gone, who is going to step up as the backups and rotational guys at defensive tackle?

I think Clemson transfer Etinosa Reuben is going to be used along the defensive line at both edge and interior and it would not surprise me if he plays more snaps at defensive tackle now with Scott gone. 

What kind of role will Etinosa Reuben have for Georgia Tech in 2023? :: Ken Ruinard / USA TODAY NETWORK

Reuben is a former three-star recruit and top 500 player from Park Hill South High School in Missouri and during his time with the Clemson Tigers, Reuben tallied 19 tackles and 2.5 sacks.

One guy I think is ready to have a big breakout season for the defensive line is Zeek Biggers. Biggers is 6'6 341 and has the size to be a run-stopping force in the ACC.  Jason Moore is another name to know as a defensive tackle and he should see plenty of playing time as well. 

Here is what defensive line coach Marco Coleman had to say about Biggers and some of the other defensive linemen this spring:

"I can move him inside, I can move him outside, he can play nose and he can play tackle. Its more so for the pass rush, we have a couple of guys like E.T, he is one, we can try a little bit of Sylvain (Yondjouen) in there, Josh, just for the pass rush more than anything, just develop some depth and get quicker out there from time to time. The spring is kind of experimental, just trying to see what we look like and the summer we will narrow it down to who we feel can help us in that way."

It might be unlikely for a true freshman to get serious snaps along the interior, but Bryston Dixon could be a factor as the season goes along. 

I think this group is going to be fine in the long run, but it is never great to see a guy that had such a good spring and was praised by the coaching staff for his play. I think this group still has the potential to be solid, but they will all need to step up and ensure their improvement due to the losses of Stone and Miles. 

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