There is probably not as talented and as well-rounded of a position group in all of college football than the Georgia Bulldogs linebacker room - these guys are aliens.
All three of Georgia's starting linebackers are former five-star recruits, and they are leading the Georgia defense in both production and impact through one-third of the college football season. In fact, they have turned it up since starting the nine-game SEC slate against Arkansas two Saturdays ago.
Kirby Smart has always had top-tier linebackers at Georgia, going all the way back to Roquan Smith 's Butkus Award winning season in 2017. Nakobe Dean won it in 2021 and Jalon Walker won that award in 2024. They were all just one big piece of a puzzle full of talented linebackers.
Raylen Wilson , Chris Cole and Justin Williams are on track to rival the ultra-productive trio led by Dean in 2021 (a national championship defense), and are already on track to be better than a year ago where they were led by award semifinalist CJ Allen .
They have a couple of things they didn't have last year, even with Allen. Wilson is a senior who has had as many reps as you can get without starting as a true freshman. Cole and Williams are 6'3" and 230 pounds and more athletic than Allen. They are avatars at the position. They have an uncommon blend of size, speed and length. So much so that Wilson said Cole has the nickname "tarantula" because of how long his arms are.
Cole was already a possible first round pick in the upcoming NFL draft, but he may as well have ascended to public superstardom with the performance he put up against Oklahoma the other day. His long fumble recovery for a touchdown may have been his least impressive highlight. He had a sack and a handful of pressures as well.
Cole has already batted down a pass attempt along with picking up two fumble recoveries and logging a sack and-a-half this season (he led Georgia in that category a year ago).
Wilson is tied with Cole for the most tackles this season with 18. He logged 11 against the Sooners. He already has three sacks and two forced fumbles this season.
Williams is getting the most snaps he ever has and he is right behind the other two with 13 total tackles and a sack.
From a role perspective, this group is similar to the 2021 group. Dean and Quay Walker were more traditional inside linebackers and Channing Tindall played a hybrid role and rushed the passer a lot, like Cole is this year. There was only one player on the 2021 defense that had more tackles than those three. They combined for 13 sacks, two interceptions, eight pass deflections and three forced fumbles. These are numbers that the current group can certainly attain if not surpass in certain categories.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/georgia as Dawgs or Aliens? Georgia Football Players Out Of This World .
