Chris Cole is coming on strong in his freshman season.

The freshman linebacker from Virginia has been seeing more and more action in recent weeks. That's partially due to the injury to senior Smael Mondon, but it can also be attributed to Cole's own improvement.

In fact, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said Cole has made one of the biggest jumps of any Bulldog since he arrived on campus in January.

"From the time he arrived to now, he has improved immensely," Smart said. "Chris has put himself in a position because he has really elite speed and flexibility to be able to cover and he's got great length."

Cole has seen most of his action in Georgia's third-down defensive package.

In the win against No. 1 Texas, Cole played 21 defensive snaps, 26 percent of the total snaps played by the defense. Each of those plays was a pass by the Longhorns.

Offensive lineman Dylan Fairchild noticed Cole's coverage skillset on Tuesday as he watched Cole cover running backs in one-on-ones at practice.

"He's just a great athlete," Fairchild said. "Like, I think he's super fast and he tries really hard in practice. I mean, it's hard for me to watch a lot of the time. But from what I have seen from him, he works super hard. He's very disciplined."

Corner Daylen Everette, a fellow Virginian who is close to Cole, added that you can see how Cole gets better by how he attacks practice every day.

But plenty of freshmen arrive in college with talent to burn. It's the mental side of the game that separates freshmen contributors from those who still need a little bit of seasoning.

Cole falls into the former category. His mental game will continue to serve him well as he plays his role for the Bulldogs during the regular season's stretch run.

"He doesn't really seem like a young guy when he walks around the building and when he does things," Fairchild said. "He's kind of, he's more disciplined than the average freshman, is what I would say. He does attack everything.”