In Part 3 of our series taking a closer look at Georgia's early enrollees, let's get to know middle linebacker Nakobe Dean.
If Dean wasn't the most-wanted recruit for Georgia, he certainly was near the top of the list.
The Mississippi native checks all the boxes for what the Bulldogs are looking for in an inside linebacker. When he announced on ESPN that he was indeed signing with Georgia, Kirby Smart and the rest of the football staff no doubt felt a huge sigh of relief.
What is Georgia getting in Dean?
Dean should have been a five-star.
Don't let his "lack of height" fool you. The Mississippi native is listed at 6-foot, which is only an inch shorter than Roquan Smith, another former Bulldogs who was thought to be too small to handle the rigors of the SEC.
While we're not putting Dean in Smith's class quite yet—he'll have to earn those comparisons by his performance on the field—he does possess many of the same physical traits and instincts that made the Chicago Bear rookie a star.
Rivals analyst Chad Simmons on Dean: "Dean is the total package. Not only is he an elite linebacker, but he's an elite student in the classroom. He's a player others want to play alongside. He will make others around him better. There are not many who handled the attention the way Dean did. He never let it get to him, he never got caught up in the hype, and he just stayed humble. As a player, the only real question is his size and length. He's a little shorter than most would like when talking five-star prospects, but he checks every other box. He's a very physical football player. He's explosive, he can play in space, he can blitz, and he can play sideline to sideline. Dean's a player who will make an impact as soon as he steps foot on campus."
What to expect
Replenishing the talent base at middle linebacker was one of Smart's top priorities, and Nakobe Dean was an exclamation point on that goal.
Along with fellow freshmen Trezman Marshall and Rian Davis, Dean gives Smart what may be one of the more talented trios of inside linebackers to sign with Georgia in recent years.
Although veterans Monty Rice and Tae Crowder figure to be the starters, Dean seems too talented to be left off the field. One has to think he'll be making an impact sooner rather than later.
Playing time prediction
Being an early enrollee certainly helps the cause of Dean, who will face his share of competition for playing time.
Along with incumbents Rice and Crowder, Quay Walker and Channing Tindall came on strong toward the end of last year. Jaden Hunter and Nate McBride will provide experience from the standpoint of it being their third year in the program.
Nevertheless, Dean is one of those can't-miss prospects. With a spring under his belt, don't be surprised if he makes a sizable jump up the depth chart and, at the very least, is earning second-team reps in time for the opener at Vanderbilt.
