Georgia Bulldogs 23 for '23: No. 9 Smael Mondon

Georgia’s turn at SEC Media Days has passed, and with that the focus is very quickly turning to the football field. Fall camp begins in just about two weeks, and we’re counting down the days with out look at who the most important Bulldogs might be.

As we’ve stated before, important can have different definitions. Some players’ importance for this season is based on their past performance and ability to repeat that this fall. For others, it’s about their potential and what living up to it would mean for Georgia and its chances at winning a third straight National Championship. Now at No. 9 on our list of most important Bulldogs, linebacker Smael Mondon.

Smael Mondon

Position: Inside Linebacker
Class: Junior
Height: 6-foot-3
Weight: 220 pounds

Hometown (High School): Dallas, Ga. (Paulding County)

Anytime you bring back your leading tackler from the previous season, it’s big news. That’s exactly what the Bulldogs are doing this year with Smael Mondon.

A former five-star who started 13 of 15 games in 2022 as a sophomore, Mondon recorded 76 tackles. That was six more than his classmate and playing partner Jamon Dumas-Johnson despite playing in two fewer games due to injury.

Mondon recorded a career-high 11 tackles at Kentucky after returning from the injury as he played his best football down the stretch. He had five or more tackles in nine contests last season including seven of the last eight.

Headed into 2023 though, Mondon is dealing with an injury, something that’s becoming a bit of a theme for him. Last spring, it was a shoulder surgery that kept him out. In the fall, an MCL sprain sidelined him for two games, and then this year, he missed the spring game due to a foot injury suffered in the final practice before the scrimmage.

Kirby Smart said on Tuesday at SEC Media Days that Mondon will not quite be full go for the start of fall camp. He’s not sure whether he’ll end up missing any games or not, but the Bulldogs can get by without him early on. However, they’ll want him at his best for the stretch run once again when they’re playing their toughest games – both in the regular season and postseason.

It’s important that Mondon gets healthy. It’s important that he’s productive when he’s on the field. If he can accomplish that first part, the second one should come easily as we’ve seen time and time again, Mondon being one of the best linebackers in the entire country.

Know the Quote

“Smael played really well and Smael had a great offseason in terms of lifting weights and working and Smael’s come on, he’s played really good,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said this spring. “(Jamon Dumas-Johnson) and Smael, I think they started out the spring not knowing really. Like okay, I’m in a curious position, last spring I got a chip on my shoulder. Nobody know who I am, everybody’s questioning us, I’m the new leader, and they’re out there hungry. Just eating off the floor. They had good seasons, both of them did in their own right.”

“They go out to spring ball and there was a point in time there where I felt like I needed to call them in because I don’t know if they were practicing with the same ferocity that they would have been practicing with like they were last year,” he continued. “I showed them some clips, I said okay here’s last spring or last fall camp and this is the way you were practicing because you had something to prove. And now here’s the first four practices of this spring, is that the same two guys? I think they both acknowledged that it probably wasn’t and it needed to be, and that’s the disease that’s out there. Now I’ll say this, since that conversation they both have really picked it up and been great leaders and it wasn’t that they were doing anything wrong. It’s just they weren’t doing it right enough for the Georgia standard.”

Click here to find the complete rundown of our 23 for ’23 series