ATHENS — There’s understandably been a ton of chatter about Brock Vandagriff this week. The former Georgia quarterback will face his old team on Saturday.
But it’s another former Bulldog that will suit up for Kentucky that actually says a lot more about the current Georgia team and perhaps its greatest strength in Jamon Dumas-Johnson.
After three largely stellar years, Dumas-Johnson made what seemed to be a surprising move to transfer in December. The only reason he wasn’t starting at the end of the 2023 season was because he suffered a season-ending arm injury against Missouri.
When Dumas-Johnson went down with an injury, a door was opened for CJ Allen and Raylen Wilson to get more playing time.
Those two didn’t just walk through it but broke the whole door down.
“Raylen and CJ are both very intelligent, mature beyond their years,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “They’re guys that we’ve talked about repeatedly, they’ve been thrown in the fire. They’ve had to get in the fire and do it at a young age, and they’re both growing. I mean, most of the time, you’re playing your first real meaningful time at linebacker at Georgia has been in your second season.”
Allen led Georgia in tackles last week against Tennessee Tech, while Wilson looks significantly improved in his second season at Georgia. There’s a confidence that both are playing with simply because they’re no longer wide-eyed freshmen.
Had Dumas-Johnson been available at the end of last season, maybe that game against Alabama would have gone differently. For as much optimism as Wilson and Allen bring to the table, neither played as well last season as Dumas-Johnson would’ve.
But there were enough flashes from both players to see that Dumas-Johnson wouldn’t command the snap load he did in 2022 or the early stretches of the 2023 season.
When Smael Mondon announced that he would be returning for his senior season, there were going to be even fewer snaps to be had. Factor in Jalon Walker, who is playing both inside and outside linebacker, and you can see why Glenn Schumann’s linebacker room might be the best position group in the country.
Dumas-Johnson obviously would’ve helped the room this year. There’s still an experience level that Allen and Wilson have not yet attained that Dumas-Johnson possessed. He started in a national championship game.
Dumas-Johnson is still a productive player for the Wildcats, as he had 6 tackles on the season. He’s added 1.5 tackles for loss and an interception.
His former teammates will be happy to see him on Saturday, as they recognize how much Dumas-Johnson did for them and the Georgia program.
“It’s going to be exciting. That’s my brother at the end of the day. I came in there and he was still here,” Wilson said. “He took us under his wing just like Smael did and was helping us get around and learn the system. So it’s just brotherly love out there. It’s still a competition at the end of the day, but that’s still my brother.”
That Georgia is able to withstand the loss of a talented player and leader like Dumas-Johnson and still excel at the inside linebacker position speaks highly of what Allen and Wilson have been able to do thus far this season. The Bulldogs have yet to surrender a touchdown on the year and there have been whispered comparisons to the fabled 2021 defense that was led by the likes of Nakobe Dean, Quay Walker and Channing Tindall.
If Georgia’s defense reaches those same heights in 2024, its inside linebacker play will be a big reason. And Dumas-Johnson, even though he now suits up for Kentucky, will have helped this Georgia group of linebackers get there.
“A lot of schools were trying to say Georgia has too much depth, or they rotate too much, something like that or whatever,” Allen said. “But for me, I thought that was a good opportunity. Because if you’re good you want to play so that’s a big thing.”
