This past recruiting cycle might as well have been labeled “The Year of the Defensive Linemen.” The SEC brought in an unfair haul of elite defensive line signees, something we detailed earlier this week.

Several of those defensive linemen are getting an incredible amount of hype. Byron Cowart could be a star in Will Muschamp’s defense at Auburn, CeCe Jefferson’s signing day saga became national news, Daylon Mack could be a key piece to John Chavis’ defense at Texas A&M and so on.

The one player who doesn’t seem to be getting enough buzz is, oddly enough, the top-rated player in the class. Georgia’s Trent Thompson was the No. 1 player in the country according to 247sports and was rated in the top 5 by just about every other recruiting service.

Part of the reason people seem to have forgotten about Thompson: he’s the rare player who committed early and stuck with it. The Albany, Ga. native committed to the Dawgs in June 2014 and stuck with them all the way through National Signing Day, no drama at all. While some of his classmates withheld their National Letter of Intent for a few days, Thompson was signed, sealed and delivered with no fanfare.

Thompson is also part of a heralded class of defensive linemen, something that may be dampening his buzz. Four-star defensive end Jonathan Ledbetter is already making noise on campus as an early enrollee, and four-star defensive ends Natrez Patrick and Michael Barnett were mid-year enrollees as well, although both appear to be moving to linebacker. Another two touted defensive ends, D’Andre Walker and Rashad Roundtree, as well as three-star defensive tackle Justin Young will join Thompson in the fall.

With all of that talent coming in, it’s easy to forget that Thompson is the jewel of Georgia’s recruiting class. He’s also the player who seems most likely to earn a starting role early in his career.

The nose tackle position in Georgia’s 3-4 defense is ripe for Thompson to grab ahold of. Both Mike Thornton and Toby Johnson, who started a combined 14 games between them, were seniors last year. Chris Mayes, who played in eight games and recorded seven tackles (1.0 for loss) is one of the only defensive tackles on the roster with any experience.

As Seth Emerson of The Telegraph (Macon, Ga.) reported, Georgia is looking for its big uglies to be a little smaller than in the past. Jeremy Pruitt likes a slimmer type of defensive lineman, and Thompson fits that bill for a nose tackle. While he’s a big boy at around 6-foot-3, he weighs in at less than 310 pounds. That’s still huge, but significantly lighter than Mayes (330 pounds) and closer to the mold the DC likes.

If Thompson emerges and lives up to his billing when he arrives on campus, it gives the Bulldogs a force in the middle that will free up its pass-rushing outside linebackers to do just that against single coverage, and it’ll allow the Dawgs middle linebackers to get up to the ball much quicker. He has a defensive end’s first step and the strength to move offensive linemen off the ball with ease.

While his recruitment may not has been as dramatic as some of his classmates, and while there’s no defensive coordinator change to have fans drooling over how Thompson might be used, the big man can quietly live up to his top billing.