Spring Position Review: Inside Linebacker
In Georgia Football's defense, inside linebacker might be the most important position, especially when the spots are filled by mature players.
The Bulldogs require inside linebackers to do everything from blitz through the interior, track mobile quarterbacks and cover elite wide receivers man-to-man. Because of this, Georgia is never truly deep at the position, even if the depth chart is full of five-star prospects.
Depth Chart
- ILB1: Nakobe Dean
- ILB2: Quay Walker
- ILB3: Channing Tindall
- ILB4: Rian Davis
- ILB5: Smael Mondon
- ILB6: Xavian Sorey
- ILB7: Trezman Marshall
Dean was limited during the spring and missed the G-Day game, but that doesn't affect his role on the team. Georgia's defense revolves around Dean, much in the same way it previously featured Monty Rice and Roquan Smith. He is a field general, and that's not just what we at Dawgs Daily are telling you; that's how the coaching staff views Dean.
With Dean limited, this was a big spring for everyone else in Georgia's linebacker corps, especially Davis and Mondon. Davis came to Georgia with a lot of hype in 2019, but an injury he suffered in high school, along with a stacked depth chart, has kept him from reaching his potential in Athens. With Georgia signing two studs at linebacker in the 2021 class, there was a feeling that Davis might get buried in the depth chart yet again.
The G-Day game revealed a lot about Davis's development. He started and played most of the game at inside linebacker with the red-team defense, but it was how the team used Davis that possibly revealed his role. He was asked to blitz and get after the quarterback quite a bit.
Mondon was the other starting linebacker and he played very well, but it's hard to gauge where the freshman fits in Georgia's defense. Clearly, he's behind Davis because Davis had more responsibilities. But fellow newcomer Sorey missed spring with an injury, and Marshall was in a no-contact jersey during G-Day.
Walker and Tindall still round out Georgia's main linebacker rotation. Walker is an elite talent and he frequently makes high-level plays. However, he's also inconsistent, allowing himself to get gobbled up at the line of scrimmage too often. He was guilty of some of those same mistakes in the G-Day game.
Tindall isn't as talented, but he reads offenses and plays defense very well. Plus, Tindall is possibly Georgia's best pass-rushing inside linebacker. The Bulldogs like to blitz and they will rely on Tindall to create some extra havoc this year.
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