Georgia freshman DT Trenton Thompson poised to make immediate impact

Coaches try to downplay expectations for incoming freshmen who have yet to play a college down, but it’s not always easy.

Especially when that freshman boasts the body and strength of a mature college player.

So it is this year for stud defensive tackle Trenton Thompson, the five-star recruit and Parade All-American who many figure will become the next great Bulldogs defensive lineman. Thompson, a 6-foot-4, 307-pounder who was the USA Today All-USA Defensive Player of the Year, comes with excellent quickness, great hands and a great feel for the game despite his youth.

As a senior at Albany Westover High School, Thompson recorded 84 tackles, including 36 stops for a loss, four sacks, an interception and a forced fumble.

It’s apparent that both coach Mark Richt and defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt like what they’ve seen so far, even if they’ve gone to great lengths to temper early expectations.

#UGA LB Lorenzo Carter: Trent (Thompson) – powerful, Trent is just powerful." pic.twitter.com/V2kzpiLdsq

— Dawgs247 (@Dawgs247) August 4, 2015

Pruitt recently caught himself raving about Thompson.

“[Thompson] is a guy that can play every down,” the Bulldogs defensive coordinator said, according to a recent article in the Athens Banner-Herald. “He’s a big guy. He plays the run well. He has the ability to rush the quarterback.”

Pruitt must have realized he was breaking protocol by heaping so much preseason praise on a true freshman.

“You know, there’s a lot of guys every year somewhere across the country, somebody’s ranked the No. 1 player, you know,” he added to the newspaper. “It probably doesn’t matter when we go out here to practice this afternoon or when we play the first game. I don’t think they flip the coin and ask him what he was ranked last year.”

It’s rare to see an interior defensive lineman make an immediate impact in the SEC, let alone start because of the tremendous strength and perfect technique required to play against so many future NFL-caliber players. It’s even less common at talent-rich programs like Georgia that regularly produce NFL defensive linemen.

Consider that neither former Georgia great and NFL first-round draft picks Richard Seymour nor Marcus Stroud started right away.

Thompson is expected to get a look at nose tackle, but Richt has publicly said that he expected that Thompson would also be tried at the 3- and 5-technique defensive tackle spots as well. A 3 technique is a defensive tackle who lines up on the outside shoulder of a guard, while a 5-technique defensive tackle lines up on the outside shoulder of an offensive tackle.

It doesn’t hurt Thompson’s prospects that Georgia opens the season against what figures to be a pair of greatly overmatched opponents in Louisiana-Monroe on Sept. 5 and at Vanderbilt the following week.

The lessened pressure will be make it easier for Thompson and the other handful of top true freshman to acclimate to before the arrival of the season’s more challenging contests.

Trenton Thompson is a name you will likely get to know this season.

Other newcomers who could make an impact for Georgia this fall include:

LB Chuks Amaechi

The junior college transfer is a big hitter who enrolled early at UGA. He was ranked as the No. 69 JUCO prospect, according to 247Sports composite index.

QB Greyson Lambert:

The graduate transfer from the University of Virginia remains in the mix for the starting job. He started most of last year for the Cavaliers before poor decision-making cost him the starting job. Lambert (6-foot-5, 220 pounds) still has two years eligibility remaining. He threw more interceptions (11) than touchdowns (10) in Charlottesville last year.

DE Jonathan Ledbetter:

The true freshman was an Under Armour All-American and ranked as the No. 8 overall prospect, according to the 247Sports composite index. Ledbetter (6-foot-4, 255 pounds) enrolled at Georgia in January.

LB Natrez Patrick:

The true freshman (6-foot-3, 248 pounds) was a second-team USA Today All-USA selection and ranked as the No. 10 prospect in Georgia, according to the 247Sports composite index.

John Hollis

John Hollis is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers Georgia and Florida.