Georgia leads the way on Athlon All-SEC teams
It’s almost summer which means magazine season for College Football fans. Athlon Sports is among the most respected, and with the release of their preview magazine already this month, their All-SEC teams for 2023 are out with Georgia not too surprisingly leading the way.
Fifteen Bulldogs were named to Athlon’s four All-SEC teams, one of six squads to have double digits. However, making Georgia’s accomplishment of leading the way even more impressive, all 15 come on the top three teams with just two below second team status.
Tight end Brock Bowers and center Sedrick Van Pran represent Georgia on the first-team offense. A pair of juniors by eligibility, Bowers and Van Pran have been big parts of Georgia’s back to back national championships in 2021 and 2022. Bowers led the Bulldogs in receiving both years while Van Pran has started all 30 games in the middle of the offensive line. In 2021, Bowers had 56 catches for 882 yards and 13 touchdowns. While he only scored a total of 10 times in 2022, he managed to go for over 1,000 yards rushing and receiving combined. Bowers won the Mackey Award for the nation’s top tight end.
Georgia has three on the first-team defense – one at each level – with defensive lineman Mykel Williams, linebacker Jamon Dumas-Johnson and safety Malaki Starks.
Williams and Starks are both just sophomores but were outstanding in their first seasons on campus, earning Freshman All-American honors in 2022. Williams led the Bulldogs in sacks (4.5) while Starks with third in tackles with a pair of interceptions to his name.
As for Dumas-Johnson, last season served as his first as a starter and finished second on the team in tackles with 70, second in tackles sacks (4.0) and first in tackles for loss (9.0).
Four Georgia players made both the second-team offense and defense according to Athlon with the final two coming on the third team offense (running back Kendall Milton and offensive lineman Amarius Mims). Second-Team All-SEC selections included wide receiver Ladd McConkey, wide receiver Dominic Lovett, offensive lineman Xavier Truss, offensive lineman Tate Ratledge, defensive lineman Nazir Stackhouse, linebacker Smael Mondon, cornerback Kamari Lassiter and safety Javon Bullard.
McConkey and Lovett are expected to be major contributors to Georgia’s passing game in 2023 in an improved, talented wide receiver group.
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Last year, McConkey hauled in 58 passes for 762 yards, both good for second on the team. He turned that into seven touchdowns, tied with Bowers for first. Meanwhile, Lovett, a transfer from Missouri, led the Tigers with 56 catches for 846 yards. He scored three touchdowns.
Between Van Pran, Truss, Ratledge and Mims, Georgia has four of its five expected starters on the offensive line represented.
Mondon, who led the team with 76 stops in fewer games than many of his teammates missing two, gives Georgia both starters at inside linebacker as returnees and represented on the Athlon All-SEC teams.
Then there’s Lassiter and Bullard in the secondary to join Starks. Bullard won Defensive MVP of both College Football Playoff games with a trio of turnovers in the National Championship while Lassiter proved to be a reliable presence at cornerback throughout last season.
Bowers (1st), Dumas-Johnson (1st), Starks (1st), Williams (2nd), Van Pran (3rd), Bullard (3rd) and Mondon (4th) also earned spots on the Athlon All-American teams.
