Based on playing time in Georgia’s most recent game against Alabama, the departure of Marvin Jones Jr. is the most impactful so far. He played the most snaps of any outside linebacker for the Bulldogs in the 27-24 loss to Alabama.
Jones becomes the third outside linebacker to transfer out of the Georgia program, joining Darris Smith and CJ Madden. Besides all being now-former Bulldogs, those three players all signed as a part of the 2022 signing class.
Georgia will have Chaz Chambliss back as a senior next season. Behind him though, Georgia will be turning to a young trio of pass rushers all signed by Chidera Uzo-Diribe in the 2023 recruiting cycle.
Uzo-Diribe was officially hired by Georgia in February of 2022, replacing Dan Lanning. Prior to becoming the head coach at Oregon, Lanning had been Georgia’s outside linebacker coach and defensive coordinator. Lanning played a key role in recruiting Madden, Smith and Jones Jr.
Through two seasons though, none of those players had proven to make much of an impact. Over two seasons, the trio combined for just 2.0 sacks both of which came from Jones. Smith played in the first five games of the season before being away from the team for the final two months of the season. Madden played in just seven games in 2023 after redshirting as a freshman.
Jones played in 12 games this season, but he was unable to unseat Chambliss at the top of the outside linebacker position. Despite coming in with a 5-star ranking — Jones was the No. 20 overall player in the 2022 class — injuries limited Jones throughout his career. He came into Georgia with a labrum injury that required surgery after his freshman season.
That surgery forced Jones to miss much of the offseason, a critical time for him to add strength and improve. Jones returned in time for fall camp, but it’s not a coincidence that Jones began to see an uptick in snaps in the latter stages of the season.
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