This Sentell’s Intel rep on Georgia football recruiting has the first DawgNation read on 4-star Rutgers commitment Chase Linton. The Peach State prospect ranks as the nation’s No. 36 DL and the No. 335 overall prospect for 2025 on the 247Sports Composite. The On3 Industry Ranking has him as the No. 26 EDGE and at No. 257 overall.
There are a few interesting complexities in the life of North Atlanta EDGE defender Chase Linton.
He loves video games. Linton loves comic books and is an avid reader of almost double-digit titles monthly.
The 6-foot-4, 220-pound EDGE calls himself a “Marvel guy” but his favorite superhero is the Dark Knight Detective from rival publisher DC. Batman is just the best, he says.
“It is hard to explain,” Linton said. “Batman is the best superhero but in terms of franchise Marvel has the best franchise.”
That’s not the lone unique paradox in his world right now. Especially since July 28. That was when he was perfectly committed to Rutgers.
Linton was still feeling sublime about his June 2 pledge to play for the Scarlet Knights. But then came another offer. Like a lightning bolt from the sky.
Georgia offered him on July 28.
Linton had worked out at UGA on a couple of occasions this summer. He showed out well, but he got noticed when he ran for the Dawgs.
The time was golden. It verified he has every right to have a first name like “Chase” here.
When the home state Georgia Bulldogs say you can play for them, it would be logical for anyone to kick the tires on that opportunity. That’s what he is beginning to do now.
“I look at it like it is a big school and it is closer to home,” he said.
The North Atlanta star said he can run the 40 in the 4.6 to 4.5 range. He told DawgNatiion that he was timed electronically at a UGA camp this summer at 4.6 seconds.
Camp well. Test well. Run fast. Then watch the Georgia staff pop up and go to work. For those who think recruiting is way too complicated these days, Linton’s story debuffs that.
“That’s exactly what happened,” Linton said. “I turned around and it was like everyone was asking ‘Who was that?’ and they asked me my name and all that. I had to leave [the camp] early because I had to go to Rutgers so we didn’t get to really finish out a real conversation that day.”
When the dead period lapses and on-campus recruiting opens back up, he’ll have something to think about with Georgia.
As of now, he said he hasn’t thought about taking an unofficial or an official visit to UGA yet. But he’s starting to talk to Georgia EDGE coach Chidera Uzo-Diribe.
He’s played football growing up all his life but was never a fan of any specific college program.
Linton has a strong frame that fits what UGA is looking for in that position. It sounds like the Dawgs are in the starting blocks of their recruiting process with Linton.
“My relationship is building,” he said. “I’d be interested in seeing them again. I’m just taking it little by little right now.”
The offer from Uzo-Diribe came after his second workout with the Dawgs.
“After I got done working out he said, real casually, that ‘You have an offer from Georgia’ and I was like ‘Whoa’ but he acted like it was a real casual thing,” Linton said.
Why did he choose Rutgers?
“I felt a really strong bond over there,” he said. “The coaches. The other commitments. It felt right.”
The Scarlet Knights know a player when they see one. He shared what the staff likes the most about his game.
“My speed,” he said. “My stamina and my length.”
He only took one official visit this summer to Rutgers.
Linton said the Bulldogs are currently recruiting him to play linebacker. Except it might be the Jalon Walker type. That speedy defender who’ll also fly off the EDGE on third downs and in key passing situations.
When he made that move to Rutgers, he thought that was it.
“I did assume I was done,” he said. “It has picked up a lot more, though.”
The senior said his recruiting from other schools “has picked up a lot more” since he gained that UGA offer. He’s now hearing from a lot more schools. Not just the Dawgs.
“These things have given me a lot to think about,” he said. “I will say that much.”
Linton sounds very motivated. This recent endorsement of what he can be at the next level only augments that.
“I want to be the best there is,” he said.
Chase Linton: An impressive athletic resume to note here
When one meets Linton, he does give off some low-key Azeez Ojulari vibes. There was a uniqueness to his spirit that we also quickly noticed in the former Marietta High star and current New York Giant.
There was also a clear intelligence and confidence in him.
There’s been no verification yet if he can power clean the way Ojulari threw around the weights setting school records for the Blue Devils back in 2017. But Linton flashes a gear on his junior film that verifies that he does come from a family of athletes.
His mother is one of many college athletes in the family. She played college basketball and volleyball.
“My brother and sister were both college athletes,” his mother Keeva Linton said. “His Dad was a college athlete in track, too.”
If he could have any superpower, what would it be?
“Super speed,” he said without a second of hesitation.
“I could use it,” he said. “I could use super speed the best without getting discovered or transported to a lab or something.”
He could drop that 40-yard dash time to a low 4.3 and he’d just been seen as an athletic freak. Accepted. Revered.
Not somebody who’d be called out for having obvious superhuman ability.
That sounds like a page-turner. Like the recent issues of Deadpool and Wolverine, he’s been reading.
It also sounds like the next chapter of the Linton recruiting story might be as exciting as their latest movie team-up.
SENTELL’S INTEL
(check on the recent reads on Georgia football recruiting)
