Georgia Has a Bevy of Young Defensive Stars
Development in the refined skillsets required to be an elite football player come through countless hours spent building and shaping the body and mind through practices and workouts.
Though nothing is more valuable for the development of a young player than in-game reps. And thanks to a combination of the four-game redshirt rule passed in 2018, along with an average margin of victory of 28.4 points per game in 2021, Georgia had plenty of young players see the field.
Those same young players will need to make considerable leaps in 2022 in order to protect Georgia's aspirations of defending a national title, particularly on the defensive side of the football.
Today, we review a handful of young players that flashed in limited time in 2021:
Kamari Lassiter, CB (Sophomore)
In his freshman season, Lassiter played in all 15 games and did he ever flash on tape. Most will remember his diving interception in Nashville against Vanderbilt, though it was more than that. On tape, Lassiter combines an explosive nature about himself paired with an elite sense of awareness for the football. The instinctual nature of a cornerback like Derion Kendrick, on a physical profile that projects as a first-round caliber athlete, Lassiter has the pedigree and freshman tape to be a breakout star for Georgia in 2022.
Freshmen don't often make plays like this, Lassiter made it commonplace in 2021 it seemed.
Jamon Dumas-Johnson, LB (Sophomore)
JDJ was a "My Guy" coming out of high school — prospects that I go all-in on. I went as far as to say of the three linebackers Georgia signed in 2021 (Smael Mondon, Xavian Sorey, and JDJ) that it was Dumas-Johnson was the one most likely to impact the roster early. The reasons being? Instincts. After watching a few hours of tape of Dumas-Johnson's freshman season at Georgia, I'm left even more taken back by his ability to be the first to read and react.
It's Nakobe Dean-like. To watch a player diagnose, have the ability to get to the spot, to strike with impact, all while maintaining an acute nose for the football. He's a joy to watch on tape.
Smael Mondon Jr, LB (Sophomore)
A 6'3, 225-pound freshman that runs like a spooked deer but has some growing to do on the reading of keys. That's Smael Mondon, or as I like to call him, "The Quay Walker to JDJ's Nakobe Dean." Every strong point of JDJ's game, the instincts, the awareness, the block shedding ability... those are all areas of Mondon's game where he needs improvement. On the flip side, Mondon does things on tape that JDJ won't ever be able to do. He's as physically gifted as any backer Georgia's seen, and that athleticism flashed on tape as a freshman.
It plays like this, slippery and explosive, yet slightly outside of the "traditional" way of playing the position, and only executed by athletic specimens like Mondon.
Javon Bullard, DB (Sophomore)
I don't know if he's a safety, I don't know if he's a STAR, I don't know if he's a starter in year two, or will even find much more time to impact the roster considering the experience and depth in front of him, but I do know one thing about Javon Bullard... he's a football player. He's the smallest guy on the field every single Saturday and he just might be the most violent at all times. He's the most fun watch on tape, and it reminds me of watching a 5'10, 185-pound Nickelback for LSU running around bullying grown men on a college football field that people called the Honey Badger.
