Pre-Camp Position Battle: Inside Linebacker
Over the years, Georgia has had a host of elite linebackers playing on the inside, dating back to Thomas Davis, Rennie Curran, Roquan Smith and most recently Tae Crowder and Monty Rice.
There was a time where Smith, Rice and Crowder were in the same linebacker room in Athens. Now with Rice joining the latter two in the NFL, Georgia is left with Dean as the only returning full-time starter.
Dean is coming off a sophomore season where he led the team in total tackles with 71. Compared to his freshman season when he recorded only 25, the former Horn Lake, Miss., native made great strides in 2020.
With Rice leaving the linebacker room, Dean will be the leader as the only returning starter and will likely once again be Georgia's most productive inside linebacker. So, while inside 'backer looks to be a strength for Georgia this season, the only question remaining is who will start next to Dean?
The Dawgs have two seniors in Quay Walker and Channing Tindall coming back to Athens for one more year after three years of playing in a reserve role. Walker may be the most experienced one as he started in two games last season, filling in for Rice.
Walker has shown the potential to be Georgia's running mate alongside Dean, but is often held back by inconsistency. At the same time, Walker is a consistent tackler; he often overshoots when pursuing ball-carriers and makes mistakes in coverage. There is no doubt that Walker is an athlete and has the talent to play at a high level; he just needs to work on being consistent from down to down.
We've seen enough of Walker to be able to evaluate him and offer analysis on the rising senior linebacker. But, unfortunately, the same cannot be said for fellow rising senior Channing Tindall.
Tindall looks to be Georgia's best blitzing inside 'backer from what we've seen over the last three seasons. Tindall has a knack for chasing down opposing quarterbacks and forcing them outside of the pocket. Being a blitzing linebacker on third down has been his primary role over the last three seasons, but now he will be asked to take on more responsibilities in pass coverage and helping out in stopping the run.
The one question about Tindall: Does he bring the same consistent tackling prowess that both Dean and Walker possess to unseat Quay Walker as the favorite to win the job? Tindall is very much the wild card in this race for playing next to Dean, but should not be counted out in the battle.
Aside from the two rising seniors, Georgia will have another fall camp to evaluate redshirt sophomore Rian Davis. Davis redshirted in 2019 following an injury during his senior season of high school. Davis spent the majority of 2020 contributing on special teams following recovery from his injury and is now a potential up and comer at the position.
G-Day allowed us our first looks at Davis at inside 'backer since his senior year of high school. Much like Tindall, Davis's role on G-Day was to be a blitzing presence and get after the quarterback. Having a similar player in Tindall above him on the depth chart, barring injury we do not expect to see much of the redshirt sophomore in 2021.
Much of the same can be said about five-star linebacker Smael Mondon, a part of the 2021 class. Mondon played on the red team defense alongside Davis, but we do not expect to see much of Mondon this season as his exact role is not set in stone. However, he will make an immediate impact on special teams considering his athletic ability.
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