Thus far in our journey through the 12 George Bulldogs whose performance this season will play an outside part in the team’s success we have focused on returning players and potential impact freshmen.
But number seven on our list is actually a transfer player with two years of eligibility left who could make an instant impact on the UGA defense. Army transfer Elo Modozie began his high school career and college recruitment as a wide receiver. In fact, he garnered only one FBS offer (from the US Military
Academy, and went there to play receiver. It was only after he arrived at the Army prep academy that he expressed an interest in playing defense, and the staff decided to give him a shot.
This was a wise decision. Modozie emerged as one of the premier defensive players in the AAC in 2024, racking up 36 tackles and 6.5 sacks.
When he elected to enter the transfer portal, the Jacksonville native immediately became one of the top available defensive players in the nation. Landing him was a real coup for a Bulldog staff that has gone to great pains to emphasize their ability to develop players for NFL futures. Both Mykel Williams and Jalon Walker developed in that system all the way to the first round of the April draft. And it’s not that Georgia is without weapons on the edge. Gabe Harris and Quintavius Johnson both showed enough in 2024 to hint at larger roles this season.
But the 6’4, 245 pound Modozie has the potential to be special. Former Auburn standout and current SEC Network college football personality Cole Cubelic has even speculated that he could be the SEC defensive player of the year. As Cubelic noted Modozie has elite bend and explosiveness. While Georgia has some similar players on the roster not me has been productive in a full season of college football like the Army transfer. Also, and this is perhaps a personal preference not backed up by the numbers, I like the odds of a young man who spent two years on the banks of the Hudson committed to duty, honor and country to assimilate quickly to the locker room, emerge as a leader, and work hard from the first snap to the last.
Putting a numerical value on things makes Modozie’s importance from day one even more obvious. The Bulldog defense recorded 37 sacks last season. Only 8 of those were by returning players (Gabe Harris’s 2.0 sacks leads all returning players).Because the Bulldog defense depends on a consistent pass rush, and because Modozie is the most proven pass rusher in Athens, his success is mission-critical for the Red and Black in 2025. Until late…
Go ‘Dawgs!!!