ATHENS — Smael Mondon wanted to slow things down. The junior linebacker recognized that CJ Allen played well in his first start, finishing with 9 tackles and a sack in the win over Ole Miss.
For the performance, he earned SEC Freshman of the Week. And a comparison to Georgia great Nakobe Dean from defensive lineman Zion Logue.
“I mean, I don’t really want to compare nobody to nobody because then it kind of leaves real high expectations,” Mondon said. “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.”
Allen aced his first test playing alongside Mondon, with Georgia also getting contributions from fellow freshman Raylen Wilson.
The Georgia linebacker room knows it’ll need another strong showing on Saturday when the Bulldogs visit Tennessee.
The Bulldogs are expected to be without junior Jamon Dumas-Johno once again, as he continues to recover from a forearm injury he suffered in the win over Missouri. That’ll make things tough for Georgia as Tennessee has the No. 2 ranked rushing offense in the SEC.
“In the linebacker room, no matter who’s out there, it’s never going to be just one person calling the defense,” Mondon said. “Whenver Pop (Dumas-Johnson) was out there, it was me and Pop taking care of the halves of the field. When me and CJ are in there or whenever it’s me and Raylen in there, it’s like I take care of this half, he takes care of that half. It’s never going to be one person just calling the whole defense.”
While Allen did an excellent job filling for Dumas-Johnson, replicating the junior’s leadership ability won’t come as easily. Dumas-Johnson was the voice of the Georgia defense. He consistently brought energy, and noise, to Georgia’s defense.Allen aced his first test playing alongside Mondon, with Georgia also getting contributions from fellow freshman Raylen Wilson.
The Georgia linebacker room knows it’ll need another strong showing on Saturday when the Bulldogs visit Tennessee.
The Bulldogs are expected to be without junior Jamon Dumas-Johno once again, as he continues to recover from a forearm injury he suffered in the win over Missouri. That’ll make things tough for Georgia as Tennessee has the No. 2 ranked rushing offense in the SEC.
“In the linebacker room, no matter who’s out there, it’s never going to be just one person calling the defense,” Mondon said. “Whenver Pop (Dumas-Johnson) was out there, it was me and Pop taking care of the halves of the field. When me and CJ are in there or whenever it’s me and Raylen in there, it’s like I take care of this half, he takes care of that half. It’s never going to be one person just calling the whole defense.”
While Allen did an excellent job filling for Dumas-Johnson, replicating the junior’s leadership ability won’t come as easily. Dumas-Johnson was the voice of the Georgia defense. He consistently brought energy, and noise, to Georgia’s defense.
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