LB Jamon Dumas-Johnson, Former Georgia All-American, Transfers to Kentucky

Kentucky scored another big win in the transfer portal. This time they found an All-American linebacker. Jamon Dumas-Johnson announced on Instagram he will complete his college career with one final season at Kentucky.

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The college football world was stunned when Dumas-Johnson entered the transfer portal on Friday. One of the top-ranked players in the portal was in Lexington the following day for an official visit. His whirlwind weekend ended on The Plains before he ultimately decided to commit to Kentucky over Auburn.

Productive Power Five players are a hot commodity in the transfer portal. Finding an available former All-American is rare, like Mr. Clean with hair.

Dumas-Johnson was a top 300 recruiting win for Georgia that played right away in 2021. He served as Nakobe Dean‘s backup, rotating in regularly to tally 2.0 sacks and an interception while playing in 14 of 15 games. Dumas-Johnson became a star during Georgia’s second straight National Championship season. He was a finalist for the Butkus Award, given each year to college football’s top linebacker, after totaling 70 tackles, 9.0 for loss and 4.0 sacks.

This year the Georgia linebacker faced some adversity. He started in every game for two seasons until he broke his forearm against Missouri. Dumas-Johnson’s 2023 season ended with 34 tackles and 3.5 sacks.

He totaled a career-high eight tackles against Kentucky in 2022. This fall he ate a sack lunch at Devin Leary‘s expense.

Georgia’s Jamon Dumas-Johnson lines up in the A-gap and is shot out of a cannon to beat the OC and hammer the QB for the sack.

The Bulldogs LB is one of the top players at his position in the 2024 NFL Draft. (So is CB Kamari Lassiter who helps clean this up.) pic.twitter.com/ivq3ifPa4R

— Seven Rounds in Heaven (@7RoundsInHeaven) October 8, 2023

Impact of Dumas-Johnson Addition

Dumas-Johnson is the fifth Kentucky football addition from the transfer portal this offseason and the second that previously played at Georgia. Wide receiver Ja’Mori Maclin is the only newcomer that wasn’t a four-star recruit at a Power Five program.

The Kentucky defense must replace a significant amount of production after Trevin Wallace announced Friday night that he’s entering the NFL Draft. Wallace ranked second on the team in tackles (69), TFLs (7.5) and sacks (4.5). Dumas-Johnson could replicate those numbers, albeit in a slightly different manner.

Both players are off-ball linebackers, but Wallace primarily played Will, while Dumas-Johnson is a Mike. Allow me to translate: Wallace made his plays scraping off the edge sideline to sideline, whereas Dumas-Johnson is more of a North-South run-stuffer.

Even though Dumas-Johnson will bring a slightly different skillset to the table, this is talented tackler that’s called the defense for one of the best units in college football. This a massive move for the Kentucky defense this offseason.