The Georgia Bulldogs are headed into the regular season here just a few days from now, and things are starting to become a whole lot clearer when it comes to who is going to be on the field.

One position where the Dawgs are deep and ripe with talent is the defensive line, especially on the interior. Even after the sudden departure of Xzavier McCleod, Georgia has recruited and developed at an elite level here over the years and has enough names to produce.

During this fall camp though, there's been a young true freshman there who has continuously had his name brought up as a guy who is operating at an extremely high level for a player of his age. Rusty Mansell of UGA Sports On3 doubled down on the recent noise on Valdin Sone and revealed the Virginia native is in line for an even bigger role.

"From everything I’ve heard throughout fall camp, Sone is going to play — and now there is even more opportunity in front of him," Mansell wrote.

True freshman used to very rarely play at a high level program like Georgia with the exception of the very best of the best, however this is a new era in college sports. Teams cannot hoard five-star prospects the way they once could and depth is not there, which means these young players are getting on the field earlier and earlier.

Sone would just be the latest example in a long line of elite defensive line talent to get on the field quickly in Athens, with last year's breakout star being one of the top recruits in the 2025 class in Elijah Griffin. Now, Griffin is expected to be one of the best defensive linemen in the nation, and Sone could join him.

Rated by 247 as a top-three defensive lineman in the nation and just outside the top-30 overall in the class of 2026, Sone was being pursued by every big-time program in the nation.

Being able to land him gave the Bulldogs potentially their next star at the position, and while losing McLeod certainly is a blow, it could create an even more open lane for Sone to get on the field and show what he can do.

Sone is a player fans will be watching closely in the early portion of the season, and it seems he will get on the field a whole lot sooner than anyone may have initially thought.