Trend Predicts Massive Season from Georgia Linebacker Duo

Based on a recent trend, Georgia linebackers Jamon Dumas-Johnson and Smael Mondon are in store for a massive 2023 season.

Georgia recruits and develops well at pretty much every position, but arguably no position measures up to what they have done at the linebacker position. Since Kirby Smart's arrival in Athens, the Bulldogs have strung together some of the best linebackers play in the nation every single year. Right now Jamon Dumas-Johnson and Smael Mondon are holding down the two linebacker spots and getting ready for a second season as a duo. 

Last season, Mondon and Dumas-Johnson had a stellar year together. They combined for 146 total tackles, 17 tackles for loss and five sacks. Dumas-Johnson was nominated as a Butkus award semifinalist, which is annually given to the nation's top linebacker. He would have become the third Bulldog to win the award in just the last six years. 

Georgia linebacker Jamon Dumas-Johnson. Photo by UGAA/Tony Walsh

So as Dumas-Johnson and Mondon prepare for their second season as a starting duo, what can fans expect from their two starting linebackers? Well based on a recent trend, it's safe to assume that the two will have an even better season than they did a season ago. 

Let's start from the very beginning of the Kirby Smart era with a guy named Roquan Smith. In 2016, Smith tallied 95 total tackles and five tackles for loss. The very next year, Smtih bumped those numbers up to 137 total tackles, 14 tackles for loss, and 6.5 sacks along with becoming the program's first-ever Butkus award winner. In 2018, Monty Rice and Tae Crowder became the next linebacker tandem. In that season they combined for 112 total tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, and 2.5 sacks. In 2019, they went for 151 total tackles and seven tackles for loss. 

Crowder and Rice then passed the torch to Nakobe Dean and Quay Walker. In 2020, Walker and Dean stacked up 114 total tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, and 3.5 sacks as a duo. The following year, they posted 137 total tackles, 16 total tackles, and 7.5 sacks. Dean would also go on to win the Butkus award as well. Notice the trend yet? 

It may seem obvious that players would continue to progress the longer that they are in college, but Georgia linebackers seem to take a significant jump in their second years as a starter. It's how the program has wound up with two Butkus award winners since 2017. 

Mondon and Dumas-Johnson flashed in their first season as full-time starters and based on some recent Georgia history, the linebacker tandem might just explode in 2023 and continue the trend for the Bulldogs. 

Other Georgia News:

• 2024 QB Dylan Raiola Set to Visit Georgia and Others this Spring
• Nolan Smith Discusses Bulldogs' Future at Linebacker Position
• BREAKING: Georgia Defensive Lineman no Longer with the Team

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