Georgia freshman LB CJ Allen earns conference honors
To the surprise of likely no one, Georgia linebacker CJ Allen has earned conference recognition for his efforts against the Ole Miss Rebels last Saturday, as the former Lamar County standout was named the SEC Freshman of the Week on Monday.
In his first career start for the Bulldogs and in place of injured veteran linebacker Jamon Dumas-Johnson, Allen showcased the talents that made him one of the most sought-after defenders in the 2023 cycle and a top-100 prospect for his class. His speed, awareness, and willingness to strike netted him nine total tackles on the day, a career-high, as well as a sack and a tackle for loss. He also received the most snaps of any linebacker on the team on Saturday per Pro Football Focus.
Allen has featured in all ten of Georgia’s games to this point in the 2023 season, totaling 21 tackles in those appearances.
Since arrival in Athens, buzz has grown substantially around the freshman, with Kirby Smart making note of his work earlier this season.
“The praise I have for CJ Allen is not more about his performance, but his ability to handle information and play within our defensive scheme at the signal caller position,” Smart said. “That position? You go comb the country, you’re not gonna see a ton of freshmen linebackers that are out there playing, making the calls. That is impressive.”
Allen is Georgia’s second freshman to earn the conference honor this season, joining placekicker Peyton Woodring.
Per Georgia:
“This marks the 10th SEC weekly honors for the Bulldogs this season. Junior center Sedrick Van Pran was named the SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week on Sept. 18 for Georgia’s first weekly honor this season. Junior ILB Smael Mondon (Defensive Player) and freshman PK Peyton Woodring (Freshman) earned the honors after the road win over Auburn. Woodring was again named the league’s Co-Freshman after the win over No. 20 Kentucky while junior QB Carson Beck was the SEC Co-Offensive Player of the Week. Woodring won his third straight Freshman honor after the win at Vanderbilt. Junior WR Ladd McConkey garnered SEC Offensive Player of the Week honors for the first time after Georgia downed Florida. Senior DL Nazir Stackhouse (Defensive Lineman) and Woodring (Special Teams) were honored after the Bulldogs’ win over No. 12 Missouri.”
Allen is one of two freshmen inside linebackers who featured prominently for Georgia on Saturday, with former five-star Raylen Wilson also seeing significant snaps.
“These kids, they prepare every day and they work really hard. They’re good football players. Raylen would be way further along. He must have missed five weeks with an injury. They’re both, they’re different man. They take notes in meetings, they listen to Coach Schumann. Coach Schumann works really hard with them. They played really well tonight in an environment against a really hard offense to play against,” Smart said after Saturday’s contest.
With Dumas-Johnson sidelined for an unclear amount of time, look for the Bulldogs to continue to lean heavily on both Allen and Wilson in the coming weeks.
Georgia heads to Knoxville this Saturday for a 3:30 matchup with the Tennessee Volunteers on CBS.
