Xavian Sorey, Jalon Walker showing continued development in Georgia's 'LBU'

ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia held its first practice of fall camp on Thursday, and Smael Mondon was nowhere to be seen. That’s not surprising news considering the fact that Kirby Smart said Mondon (foot), along with running back Branson Robinson, would not be full speed for the start of preseason practice – instead moving into the dry-land running phase of his return from an injury suffered this spring.

So, a world exists in which the Bulldogs are playing without their leading tackler from last season to start this season. Good news for them though, the inside linebacker room is loaded enough to withstand that temporary loss – part of the reason Georgia was named ‘LBU’ by ESPN for a fourth consecutive season.

In the absence of Mondon, two names have seemingly appeared the most as potential replacements. No, it’s not five-star freshman Raylen Wilson or his fellow top-10 linebacker and early enrollee CJ Allen who received praise from Smart after the National Championship Game for his work on scout team. Those youngsters will factor in, but a pair of players with a little bit more experience and time to develop in the system have seemingly emerged as the top options.

Xavian Sorey, who came to Georgia in the same signing class as Mondon and his partner on the inside Jamon Dumas-Johnson, has seen action in just 14 games over his first two years. He has just three tackles to his name. Since his teammate’s setback though, the former top-50 prospect has seemingly turned a corner.

“Since Smael’s injury, he has exponentially grown in terms of confidence, ability to execute,” Smart said of Sorey. “He’s been healthy, No. 1, and he’s had a lot of opportunity of reps of being out there with the 1s. He’s a guy who’s really picked it up in terms of leadership, growth, and he has a lot of athletic ability.”

Dumas-Johnson piggybacked off of Smart’s comments to say that he sees Sorey as the same type of guy he was when they arrived. The talent has always been there, and now its about taking advantage of the opportunity that exists, not only because of Mondon’s injury but also due to Trezmen Marshall (Alabama) and Rian Davis (UCF) deciding to transfer.

Then there’s Jalon Walker. A sophomore selected to the preseason All-SEC Third-Team by media, he recorded nine tackles including two for loss with a sack in 15 games last season. Walker, who stands at 6-foot-2, 225 pounds, spent time with both the inside and outside linebackers last season and saw the field down the stretch primarily for his pass rush speciality. He missed the entirety of spring practice after surgery to repair a torn labrum but is back in action this fall.

“He’ll start at inside. That’s his natural position. That’s what he wants to grow at, and he’ll be in that competition for guys that get an opportunity to play,” Smart said when asked about Walker. “He has a unique trait of being able to rush the passer well, which not all inside linebackers have. He has some outside linebacker characteristics and he helped us a lot last year on 3rd down.”

“Because of the injuries we had, we were like, ‘Okay, he’s got a better chance of playing OLB than ILB,'” he continued. “This year and really the entire time he was out in the spring with a shoulder, he still was in the ILB room, and he’ll start in the ILB room, but he’ll be part of the 3rd down package that allows him to rush the passer.”

Dumas-Johnson looks at that special skillset of Walker’s as an advantage for Georgia. Because he’s capable of doing different things, the Bulldogs can employ him however helps the most.

“Just a versatile player at the end of the day. He’s a person that can play both and a person that we can depend on playing both,” Dumas-Johnson said. “Whether we can adjust at halftime to take him to the outside linebacker room or to take him at halftime and put him back in the inside linebacker room, he’s that type of player and that type of person that we can depend on doing multiple things at once. Very flexible player, very trustful player, very hard worker. Just like I said, just a very flexible player and dependable.”

Don’t forget about redshirt freshman EJ Lightsey or true freshman Troy Bowles too. Both are part of what’s quite possibly the nation’s best group of linebackers where they’ll continue to learn the way of ‘LBU.’

“As an inside linebacker here at the University of Georgia, they respect you just by the position you play — not by who you are, just the position you play,” Dumas-Johnson said.

“We have talent everywhere. We’ve got the size, we’ve got the mindset,” he later added. “I just feel like as a piece of the defense that has been here the last two years, I just think we’ve got to have connection. At the end of the day, the connection brings a team together. That’s something we’re building right now.”