With Chaz Chambliss moving on to the NFL and Damon Wilson transferring to Missouri, there will be some openings at outside linebacker for Georgia this spring.
Rising junior Gabe Harris and rising sophomore Quintavius Johnson will be two players to watch.
Harris has already played a key role on Georgia’s defense, also repping at defensive end.
However, with Chambliss gone and the team lacking experience, Harris is set to play an even more integral role.
Harris flashed when he was on the field.
In 14 games, the 6-foot-4, 260-pounder recorded 14 tackles, including a pair of sacks and two forced fumbles, just the kind of disruptive plays outside linebackers coach Chidera Uzo-Diribe likes to see.
“He’s a physical, violent football player. He’s getting better every day that he plays the game,” Uzo-Diribe said. “He’s continuing to get more trust from us, man. He's a guy that's going to be a hellraiser and a big contributor for us going forward.”
Uzo-Diribe said he still plans to take advantage of Harris’ versatility as much as possible.
“You know, always got to continue … just in terms of being able to do a bunch of different things,” Uzo-Diribe said. “We ask Gabe to do a lot. You know, he plays a bunch of different positions for us … defensive end, Jack, Rabbit. The more that he does, he's only going to continue to create more opportunities for us.”
At 6-4 and 255 pounds, Johnson brings an interesting perspective to the outside linebacker position.
The Atlanta native played quarterback at Mays High, among other positions for his former high school team.
“It’s not like he was a wildcat quarterback. He was back there freaking throwing the ball, running all over the place,” Uzo-Diribe said. “It was unreal. I joke around with him. I’m like, ‘Man, he was the only guy that they had out there.’”
Uzo-Diribe says the fact that Johnson had to read defenses as an offensive player has paid dividends.
“Playing quarterback is probably what helps him on defense in terms of understanding defensive concepts. Shoot, he was playing f****** quarterback, so he has to freaking see what coverage is it? What front is it? What are these things? He's able to kind of process that as an outside linebacker.”
Chambliss spoke highly of Johnson when asked about him earlier this year.
“He’s got great size, great speed and he has power,” Chambliss said. “We’ve just got to home in on finding his strengths and playing to them right now.”
A former four-star prospect, Johnson played in 12 of Georgia’s 14 games, while also appearing regularly as a member of the special teams.
“Q has been awesome, man. You know, hard worker. He’s another Georgia guy like Gabe, so you know, there's a pride about playing for this place. He’s a physical smart football player,” said Uzo-Diribe, who said Johnson seems to be picking up the defense well for a young player.
“I’ve seen him almost in the same light as (Harris) because we ask these guys to play a bunch of different positions. So, from a playbook standpoint, you know, it can be a lot from him,” Uzo-Diribe said. “But he's done a good job of picking up whatever it is that's been asked from him. It’s also it's been awesome to just kind of see his growth and development within the last year.”
