What Georgia will look like in 2021, Part 4: Middle linebacker

There are two areas Georgia fans have been able to count on since Kirby Smart took over as the Bulldogs’ head football coach in 2016. It's clear the Bulldogs will always have quality running backs and linebackers.

Whether you're talking inside or outside, Georgia’s linebackers have always been a team strength. The coming season follows that pattern nicely.

For the purposes of today’s edition of our pre-spring positional series, we'll focus on the inside linebackers. Despite the graduation of three-year starter Monty Rice, Georgia looks to be in particularly good shape when it comes to this crucial sector of the defense.

Before we dive in on what Georgia has coming back at middle linebacker, allow me to offer some respect to Rice, who started at Mike linebacker for the Bulldogs the better part of three seasons.

The former three-star may not have been the flashiest, but his hard-nosed work ethic and love for playing defense endeared him to teammates and coaches alike. He'll be missed. He played hurt a lot and fought for his team.

Fortunately, the Bulldogs have rising junior Nakobe Dean.

As a sophomore, Dean was Georgia’s leading tackler in 2020, totaling 71 stops in the Bulldogs’ 10 games, with 13 quarterback pressures. The mechanical engineering major played in 76 percent of the team’s total defensive snaps. He could be even more active this fall.

Dean was a semifinalist for the 2020 Butkus Award. There’s every reason to believe he will be up for it again with a strong season in 2021.

He will have plenty of help in the form of senior Channing Tindall, who could also slide over and play the Money spot when Quay Walker is in the game.

More on Walker shortly. Tindall appeared to be a forgotten man as a sophomore after playing just briefly, contributing nine tackles.

However, last year, the native of Columbia, S.C. seemed to re-emerge. Coming into the spring, he appears to be the solid No. 2 at Mike behind the aforementioned Dean.

Meanwhile, rising junior Trezman Marshall was once again dogged by injuries and only played in three games on special teams. He's supposed to be healthy, and he'll need to be, with early enrollee Smael Mondon expected also to rep on the inside.

What used to be called the Will linebacker position is now the Money in Georgia’s defensive scheme, and Walker is expected to play a key role there.

At 6-foot-4 and 240 pounds, Quay Walker brings the kind of size that Smart loves to have at inside linebacker. Last year he finished as the fourth-leading tackler, with 43 stops. He also had three quarterback pressures and a fourth-quarter sack against Cincinnati in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. This is going to be a huge year for Walker.

Keep an eye also on Rian Davis, entering his third year with the Bulldogs, albeit a career that has been haunted by various injuries.

Word is that Davis is finally in excellent shape and ready to play a key role in the rotation, with incoming freshman Jamon Dumas-Johnson also slated for work at the position when he arrives on campus in late May.