Most areas of the 2008 Bulldog team were far from perfect, but I doubt I’d be alone in naming the pass rush as one of the top positions for improvement going into 2009. The defensive ends were hit by preseason injuries as hard as any group, and they struggled to make an impact during the season.

Prospects for upgrading the defensive end position took a big hit this morning when the recruiting services reported that Toby Jackson will not qualify out of Hargrave prep school and will instead enroll at Georgia Military College next season. Jackson was considered a likely contributor as a true freshman in 2008 before he failed to qualify out of high school, and Georgia coaches and fans had big hopes for him in 2009.

Georgia will continue to recruit Jackson, and he’ll have the option to be a JUCO transfer should he stay with it and complete enough hours at GMC. But that won’t help Georgia in 2009. The Dawgs have only one defensive end commitment in the current class – Montez Robinson. Robinson is a fine prospect, and it’s huge in hindsight that Georgia was able to get him away from Auburn after the coaching change over there. Robinson’s impact notwithstanding, Georgia is going to have to hope that improvement in the pass rush comes from a healthier group of relatively inexperienced returning players. As Anthony Dasher notes, a couple of position changes might not be out of the question.