Kirby Smart sees youth, talent in Georgia inside linebacker room

ATHENS, Ga. — When Kirby Smart looks at his group of inside linebackers, he sees youth. This spring, senior Smael Mondon is rolling around on a scooter. That puts guys like CJ Allen and Raylen Wilson, a pair of sophomores, in starting spots. Their classmate Troy Bowles sounds like he’s making a move. Junior Jalon Walker is around, but the “HLB” is balancing time at both inside and outside linebacker. Then of course there’s the three true freshmen – Justin Williams, Chris Cole and Kris Jones – who are all talented but have a ways to go before making an impact for the Bulldogs.

“Young. That’s the first impression. A lot of youth there. A lot of reps,” Smart said. “Raylen and CJ are way ahead in terms of play time than a second-spring player — because this is their second spring — would normally be. In a perfect world, we would like these guys to be coming into playing time. That’s not the case. They got thrust into it and had to learn kinda trial-by-fire. The guys behind them are even younger than them.”

It’s not a problem. It’s reality of College Football these days. With the prevalence of the transfer portal and eyes on the NFL Draft, teams all around the country are young. Players, especially those of the caliber Georgia is recruiting, are wanting to be three-and-out, and if there’s no clear path to playing time early on, many enter the portal and look for other options. All that being said, youth is something that’s a bit of a theme on this team with 52 players on the roster this spring in either their first or second season with the program. So, linebacker is no different than any other position; it’s just one that’s easy to see with the veteran Mondon watching from the side.

“Between Smael and the next guy, there’s a big gap there. Part of that gap was created because the two young guys played well and were good last year. If you’re sitting behind that, sometimes you start questioning what you should do,” Smart continued. “The guy that’s had a good spring so far has been Bowles. He’s done a good job. He’s picking things up. He didn’t get the benefit from his high school not letting him go midyear. He didn’t get the benefit of coming in with those guys, but he’s just as good an athlete as those guys. He’s going to help us special teams-wise, learning the defense. The other three guys that are here midyear provide good depth, and they’re learning.”

Allen, Wilson and Bowles were all three top-10 linebackers and top-100 players overall in the Class of 2023, but the freshman seasons for each looked different.

In the case of Allen, he was on the field early. The Barnesville, Ga. native saw action in all 14 games and moved into a starting role late in the season after an injury to Jamon Dumas-Johnson. Credited with 41 stops including a pair for loss in 2023, Allen earned the national nod for Freshman of the Week in his first career start as he helped Georgia to a top-10 victory over Ole Miss with a team-high nine tackles on the night. It was one of three times he finished atop the tackle list for the team in the final five games.

Then there’s Wilson. While he earned Freshman All-SEC honors from the league’s 14 coaches, his stats weren’t nearly as impressive as Allen’s, nor did he gain as much experience. An injury during fall camp set the former five-star back during the early parts of the season before he too took on a bigger role with the injury to Dumas-Johnson in November. Wilson finished with 15 tackles in total including an assisted sack against Kentucky.

“They’re established in this program. They know the ropes of everything that’s going on,” Jalon Walker who spoke with reporters on Tuesday, said about Allen and Wilson. “They’re not the young guys anymore. They’re leading by example for the young guys in our room, and they’re leading the inside backer room as well. Just keeping everybody in tip-top shape, knowing what they need to do and still learning to this day, getting better as players.” 

Bowles rounds out the group entering their second season, and he might be the most interesting of them based on Smart’s comments. The head coach didn’t mention Walker when talking about the inside linebackers – although we know he’ll have some sort of a role with that group. His comments unintentionally cut down the group to Mondon, Allen, Wilson, Bowles and the three freshmen, and in doing so, provided plenty of praise for the improvement Bowles has shown.

After a freshman campaign that only saw him play in five games, tallying five tackles including three against UT-Martin, the son of Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles is looking to find his way onto the field more in his second season.

And don’t forget about the freshman either. Again, Glenn Schumann signed a class that features a trio of blue chip prospects including Justin Williams, a five-star plus+ player and the nation’s top-ranked linebacker. Chris Cole comes in at No. 3 per the industry among players at his position, cracking that five-star status too, while Kris Jones, coming off of an injury during his senior year of high school, is ranked the nation’s No. 11 linebacker.

“Spring ball’s all about opportunity and learning. With the young group we have, we’re just learning every day, learning to adjust to each other, learning about each other,” Walker said. “For young guys, helping those guys out, just help them learn the defense. Spring ball’s all about learning. For the young room, it’s a great opportunity for us.”

Georgia will hold its fifth practice of spring on Thursday. The Bulldogs will have 10 to go after that including a trio of scrimmages, the final of them acting as the annual G-Day spring game on April 13th (1:00 p.m. ET, SECN+).