Georgia outside linebackers looking for consistency considering lack of experience
ATHENS, Ga. — Nolan Smith and Robert Beal accounted for just shy of 700 snaps in the Georgia outside linebacker room last season. Keep in mind, that’s with Smith only appearing in eight games last season, suffering a shoulder injury that sidelined him the rest of the way in October. As for the other Bulldog outside linebackers, combined they played just 333 snaps.
Well, Smith and Beal are off to the NFL, and the numbers don’t lie. Georgia is in need of help at outside linebacker. For a team that returns as many starters as it does and is favored to bring home a third straight National Championship, it’s one of the most pressing questions as the Bulldogs enter 2023.
“I’m excited to see that group grow,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said about the outside linebackers last week to open preseason practice. “We have a lot of young, eager guys that need to grow, and we’ve got the oldest vet in the room is Chaz, and he sets the tempo and the tone of the room all the time. I’m looking forward to seeing those guys grow. We’ve got to find unique ways to use those guys because some of them have really good athletic traits, and we’ve got to have times where we have two and three guys on the field at that position.”
Chaz Chambliss, as Smart pointed out, is the oldest in the room. A junior, he’s played in 26 of 30 possible games his first two years on campus and has seen how Smith and Beal operated on a daily basis.
Last season when Smith went down, it was Chambliss who was asked to step up the most. He did so by totaling 16 tackles including three for loss with a pair of sacks, both of which came after in important games.
Of course he wasn’t the only one tasked with doing more. Freshman Marvin Jones Jr. was right there too. The five-star out of South Florida didn’t have the best year statistically – totaling just four tackles with a sack – as he played through his own bumps and bruises but managed to provide a body when called upon. Jones Jr. missed spring practice after having offseason surgery to repair his torn labrum but is back on the practice field with fall camp underway.
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The Dawgs didn’t quite go as far down the depth chart as Darris Smith or CJ Madden, a pair of first year players like Jones, but both are in the thick of things fighting for playing time this year. There’s also three new faces in the room with freshmen Damon Wilson, Sam M’Pemba and Gabe Harris – all three of whom were top-10 EDGE players in this past year’s recruiting class.
“Consistency decides who is able to help us. So being on practice six, everybody — no matter how experienced they are — still has a long way to go to the consistency we expect and the standard,” Georgia defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann said about the outside linebacker room.
“Those guys flash. Those guys have ability,” he continued, speaking about the freshmen now part of the ‘Wolfpack’ as the group calls themselves. “They have traits whether it’s in pass rush or in run defense and they are embracing what we’re asking of them. But practice six, I couldn’t have told you for sure on practice six of last year. We still have two scrimmages, really 25 practices before the first game. About 18 of those are camp style so we’re a third of the way. I’ll be better able to answer that question after two scrimmages and those 18 practices.”
Georgia hosts that first scrimmage of the season on Saturday. Afterwards, media is expected to hear from Kirby Smart who is almost certain to be asked about how the outside linebackers looked. The Bulldogs, ranked No. 1 in the preseason Coaches Poll, open the season on September 2nd at home against UT-Martin (6:00 p.m. ET, ESPN+/SECN+).
