ATHENS - Georgia Bulldogs defensive lineman Julian Rochester learned a lot playing alongside John Atkins at nose guard the past two seasons. This spring, he’s trying to apply those lessons to the field.
“Hand placement, composure, toughness and playing the hard way,” Rochester said after practice on Thursday. “He taught me how to go the hard way. We’re big bodies, when we get mad and get angry, learn how to play that way, it will go a long way for us.”
At 6-foot-5 and 301 pounds – yes, 301 pounds – it’s a nimbler version of Rochester than Bulldog fans are used to seeing.
The former McEachern standout battled some weighty issues when he first arrived at Georgia. But after two years of hard work, Rochester has lost 27 pounds, is in the best shape of his life and ready be an anchor for the Bulldogs on their defensive line.
“I feel great,” said Rochester, who made it clear fans shouldn’t see him as only nose guard on the Bulldogs defensive line.
At Georgia, defensive linemen are taught versatility, and like his counterparts, Rochester has the ability to basically play all the spots on the line.
“Coach (Kirby) Smart has done a good job teaching them all. I can go out and play the heavy-five, come in and play the three, the four; I can go out and play the nose. I can do all of them for the most part.”
Naturally, Rochester feels there’s plenty of improvement he can make at each.
“Hand placement and balance when I’m coming off the double-teams,” Rochester said. “When you play the 2-gap and nose guard it’s all about playing with balance. That’s what they wanted me to work on the most.”
Rochester played in all 15 games for Georgia last fall, making one start, finishing with 22 tackles, including two sacks for losses of 15 yards.
Despite the losses of Atkins and Trenton Thompson, Rochester feels Georgia’s future on the defensive line is bright as it can be.
Tyler Clark and Jonathan Ledbetter are back to help anchor the group, which also includes the likes of David Marshall, Michael Barnett, Michail Carter, Daquan Hawkins-Muckle, Malik Herring and Justin Young.
“If we don’t match that standard we don’t feel like we’ve accomplished anything. If we go in with the mindset of beating everything they did, the sky’s the limit for us,” Rochester said. “I’m not worried about any of it because all the guys are giving effort and they’re playing with intensity. I feel it’s going to be even better than last year, we’ve just got to keep putting in the work. If we do that we will be straight.”
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