NFL Draft Profile: Nakobe Dean

One of a potential five first round picks for Georgia in this year's NFL Draft, Nakobe Dean looks to continue a tradition for Georgia at inside linebacker.

The top inside linebacker in the 2022 NFL Draft class, according to a majority of analysts, Nakobe Dean is looking to add to an already lengthy resume of inside linebacker coach Glenn Schumann. Schumann, an original UGA staffer under Kirby Smart, is heading into his seventh season as the inside linebackers coach and is weeks away from sending a second first-rounder to the NFL from Athens.

The program's second-ever Butkus Award winner quite frankly lived up to the hype and expectations that came with his signing back in December of 2018. The former five-star prospect from Horn Lake, Mississippi, immediately drew comparisons to former Georgia linebacker Roquan Smith. The program's first Butkus Award winner was fresh off a season in 2017, where he led the Georgia defense to the doorstep of a national championship. 

For starters, the measurables were there for the comparisons; both are considered undersized linebackers; Roquan Smith stands in at 6-foot-1, 232 pounds, while Nakobe Dean is 6-foot, 230 pounds. But, as many say, height and weight are just a number at the end of the day. Both are sideline to sideline open-field tacklers; Dean also proved his ability in coverage as a true freshman anchoring Georgia's third-down defense alongside Tae Crowder.

Despite the lack of "NFL size" for the position, what made the difference for Nakobe Dean in his junior season, was his improvement as a pass rusher, specifically as a blitzer. Georgia's ability to send five, sometimes six pass rushers after the quarterback proved to be a major factor in bottling up Bryce Young in the national championship game. 

The NFL Network's Daniel Jeremiah doesn't seem to have worries about the length concerns: 

I remember Vilma when he first came into the league and I remember during the scouting process and something that people had concerns about size or this, that or the other and the guy was just dripping with instincts. Everything was so natural to him. He saw things and was two steps ahead of everybody on the field. That's who Nakobe Dean reminds me of.

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