One thing immediately jumps out to Georgia head coach Kirby Smart when he thinks of Georgia's inside linebacker room.

"Young. That's the first impression," Smart said.

When he looks at what's on the field, that makes sense.

Veteran Smael Mondon is out for the spring after undergoing foot surgery. With Jamon Dumas-Johnson having transferred to Kentucky, there's no abundance of returning experience on the field this spring.

The two leading the charge are sophomores CJ Allen and Raylen Wilson. With injuries at the position last year, those two players, especially Allen, saw a good amount of playing time.

"Raylen and CJ [farther] ahead in terms of playing time than a second-spring player—because this is their second spring—would normally be," Smart said. "In a perfect world, we would like these guys to be coming into playing time. That's not the case. They got thrust into it and had to learn kind of trial by fire."

Those two are looking much more comfortable this spring according to fellow linebacker Jalon Walker.

"They’re established in this program," Walker said. "They know the ropes of everything that’s going on. They’re not the young guys anymore. They’re leading by example for the young guys in our room, and they’re leading the inside backer room as well. Just keeping everybody in tip-top shape, knowing what they need to do and still learning to this day, getting better as players."

The third member of Allen and Wilson's class is Troy Bowles. Unlike Allen and Wilson, Bowles didn't enroll early last year. But Smart said he has been doing a good job of picking things up and showing his athleticism this spring.

Walker is older than each of those three, having signed with Georgia in the Class of 2022. His first two years in Athens have seen him take on a hybrid role between inside and outside linebacker.

After being sidelined last spring, Walker said he is enjoying this spring and "taking it nice and easy."

"Me being athletic enough to play the inside backer position and have the outside backer frame is rare," Walker said. "People have done it in the past. I’ve seen them do it, especially here. We entrusted them to build my skill set, to build me as a player. I put my full trust in them."

Joining Walker in his third year in the program is walk-on Terrell Foster, who has worked his way into a depth role at inside linebacker.

Three true freshmen are joining the inside linebacker room this spring. Kristopher Jones is out with injury, but Justin Williams and Chris Cole are getting their indoctrination into Georgia practices.

"I feel like I say the same thing every year with every freshman that comes in. It's just like, athletes," Mondon said. "You see them, and that's kind of the first thing that really jumps out to me personally, just, like, how athletic they are. But I feel like they're athletic, smart, hard-working. I feel like Coach Schumann like, has a mold of the type of guy he brings in here or the types of guys he brings in, so I feel like they fit right into that.”

Mondon will be watching from the side for the next few weeks. But he hopes that his teaching skills will help the group be ready to go when the season kicks off on Aug. 31 against Clemson.

"I think one of the biggest things is, like, trying to pour into the younger guys, trying to help them get right," Mondon said. "You know, we've got Justin and the two Chrises—Chris Cole and Kris Jones. And then with CJ and Raylen too, they're going to be stepping up. So just trying to, really, everybody in the room, trying to help them and guide them.”