At the beginning of the year, the idea that Jamon Dumas-Johnson wouldn’t be on the 2024 team didn’t seem far-fetched. Dumas-Johnson was a preseason All-American and a draft-eligible junior.
Instead of entering the 2024 NFL Draft, Dumas-Johnson will be finishing his college career elsewhere. Dumas-Johnson entered the transfer portal on Thursday.
He’s the third inside linebacker from Georgia to enter the transfer portal. But his impact on the Bulldogs has far out-matched that of Xavian Sorey and EJ Lightsey.
Dumas-Johnson has started 24 games over the last two seasons. Georgia never lost a game that Dumas-Johnson started.
A forearm injury against Missouri ended Dumas-Johnson’s season and effectively his time at Georgia.
Dumas-Johnson’s replacement in the starting lineup does offer some light as to why the veteran linebacker is looking elsewhere to finish out his final of eligibility.
CJ Allen started the final four games of the season for Georgia. In that time, he picked up 24 tackles. He was twice named SEC Freshman of the Week for his play.
Perhaps most impressively, he drew comparisons to Nakobe Dean.
“I mean, I don’t really want to compare nobody to nobody because then it kind of leaves real high expectations,” Smael Mondon said of Allen. “But yeah, he does remind me a lot of Nakobe — even like how he runs and stuff like that and how he moves around. It kind of reminds me of how Nakobe ran, so yeah. But yeah, CJ’s real smart though. You know, he takes it real serious — like, his preparation.”
This isn’t to say that Allen is going to become Georgia’s next Butkus-winning linebacker. But Georgia very clearly likes what it has in the freshman linebacker.
He might not be the only one either. Raylen Wilson was named to the SEC’s All-Freshman team, an honor Allen inexplicably didn’t get. A knee injury slowed his start to the season and he did give up a touchdown in Georgia’s loss to Alabama, but Wilson flashed enough promise this first season to show why he was a 5-star prospect in the 2023 recruiting cycle.
As for the other linebackers, Mondon still has a decision to make regarding his future. Like Dumas-Johnson, Mondon didn’t have the season he wanted to. Injuries kept Mondon from being the best version of himself, really even dating back to last spring when he sustained a foot injury that limited him at the start of the season.
Like Dumas-Johnson, he is draft-eligible. What Mondon does will go a long way in determining how big of a loss Dumas-Johnson ends up being. In addition to what Dumas-Johnson brought to the field as a player, he was a key leader for the program. Dumas-Johnson was one of the most vocal members of the Georgia team and someone who could and would hold people accountable.
Jalon Walker may be able to replace Dumas-Johnson in that regard. He is a similarly boisterous player and Georgia has made it very clear that it sees him as inside linebacker moving forward, despite his productivity as an edge rusher. Dumas-Johnson’s departure in theory makes it more plausible to see Walker at the inside linebacker position.
And as is almost always the case under Glenn Schumann, the Bulldogs are bringing in a strong inside linebacker class. It’s led by Justin Williams, the No. 1 ranked linebacker in the 2024 class and a 5-star prospect. He’s the highest-ranked linebacker Georgia has ever landed under Schumann, including the likes of Dean, Mondon and Quay Walker.
There’s also Chris Cole, the No. 3 ranked linebacker in the class. Of course, recruiting rankings aren’t everything and Georgia also likes linebacker Kris Jones as well.
Few positions in all of college football have been as consistently well-developed as the inside linebacker position under Schumann. Even with the injuries this year, Mondon still earned Second Team All-SEC honors.
Even with a loss as substantial as Dumas-Johnson, a team captain for the Bulldogs and starter on the 2022 National Championship team, the Bulldogs have players waiting in the things to step in for Dumas-Johnson.
We’ll see if whoever that ends up being is able to have a comparable impact as Dumas-Johnson.
