Georgia linebackers looking to become next Bulldog three-headed monster

ATHENS, Ga. — Nakobe Dean, Quay Walker and Channing Tindall gave Georgia quite the grouping of linebackers on its 2021 National Championship team. Dean won the Butkus Award that season, Walker was taken first round by the Green Bay Packers and each of the three are already contributing for their respective teams in the NFL just two years in to their careers.

Fast forward to 2023 and the Bulldogs could be looking at another three-headed monster at inside ‘backer. After Smael Mondon and Jamon Dumas-Johnson finished first and second respectively on the team in tackles last season, their classmate – and roommate – from the Class of 2021 Xavian Sorey wants in on the action.

In his first two seasons at Georgia, Sorey – a top-50 player and the No. 5 linebacker according to the On3 Industry Ranking – saw action in 14 games. He redshirted in 2021 and was limited largely to special teams action in 2022.

This year has been different however. With Mondon suffering an injury during spring practice that kept him less than full speed until recently, Sorey stepped in as the starter next to Dumas-Johnson. Even with Mondon back, Sorey is still a part of the rotation and seeing regular playing time.

“Playing with them is nice,” Sorey said about his increased role next to his two roommates.

“We came in together, so just seeing them boys play and do all that, they motivate me,” he added. “They push me to be whatever. They push me hard, and they want to see me succeed. When we came in, we always said we wanted to be the three-headed monster like Nakobe, Quay, and Channing was.”

Sorey said that when he was done with the interview and got home, he felt certain that Mondon and Dumas-Johnson would be waiting for him to watch film from practice. Life on the football field very much bleeds over into life at home for the three.

“We love football. That’s what it is,” Sorey said. “We always talk about football. We talk about other things too but we’re here for football and we’re always talking about something dealing with football.”

Mondon, Dumas-Johnson and Sorey got to see the three-headed monster of Dean, Walker and Tindall in action during their first year on campus. Now it’s their turn to make a run at accomplishing similar things.

On the season, the three have combined for 20 stops. Dean, Walker and Tindall had 32 together through three games in 2021, but also had more experience under their belt. They would go on to finish the year with a combined 206 tackles in 15 games.

“I don’t know how far along we are from being there. We’re still working to get better every day,” Sorey said about becoming that same kind of three-headed monster. “I think it’s going to be fun when we finally get to do everything we said would do coming in. And doing it with them, we live together so it’s kind of different. It means a little bit more.”

And while the pairing of Mondon and Dumas-Johnson has proven to be one of the top in all of college football, and the addition of Sorey has been a bonus, those aren’t the only ones Kirby Smart is counting on to play at the inside linebacker position though. He pointed to Mondon’s absence throughout much of the preseason as something that presented an opportunity for someone like Sorey – along with Jalon Walker, CJ Allen, Raylen Wilson and others.

“We have to have three or four guys to be able to play that position, and that’s the part that we’re still a little unsettled on is really the rotation there of who’s going to be the guy that goes in like Rian and Trezmen did last year or Channing did the one year,” Smart said.

“I think if you have an outside backer who can rush, it’s a luxury to have an inside backer that can rush,” he added on the skillset he’s seen be successful in the past for rotational linebackers. “Sorey has developed that skillset. When he came in, he was a natural, really speed guy, an edge guy. The element in pro-football, and really college football, has been how much speed can you get on the field? With all the passing, Jalon and Sorey give us an abundance of speed. They’re two of our fastest players, and they’re able to chase things down, run things down.”

No. 1 Georgia (3-0, 1-0 SEC) hosts UAB (1-2, 0-0 American) on Saturday at Sanford Stadium. Kickoff time is set for 7:30 p.m. ET between the hedges on ESPN2.