Georgia flexes SEC's most athletic set of rush linebackers in 2015
This isn’t going to end well for opposing offenses in the SEC East.
Georgia’s outside linebacker trio of Jordan Jenkins, Leonard Floyd and Lorenzo Carter will form one of college football’s most potent attacks off the edge in 2015 when it comes to getting after the quarterback.
Blessed with ample length, athleticism and speed at the position, defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt and linebackers coach Kevin Sherrer will bring out the sketch pad during spring practice to determine creative ways in getting all three on the field at the same time in the Bulldogs’ 3-4 base.
RELATED: SEC East linebackers primed for sack superiority in 2015
Brief scheme experiments and position switches worked well in spots last season and all three players, barring injury, should see a production increase this fall whether all three stay on the outside or one moves to end.
Jenkins will get the nod at jack linebacker and he’ll be out there almost every snap as two-year starter who is now the defense’s on-field leader following the departures of fellow veterans Amarlo Herrera and Ramik Wilson. Georgia’s most improved player last fall, Jenkins finished second on team in both tackles for loss (9.5) and sacks (5).
Floyd enters spring practice as the starter at sam, though Carter received quality reps last season during the sophomore’s short absence from a shoulder injury. In 11 starts, Floyd managed a team-best six sacks and used his 6-foot-4, 235-pound frame to terrorize opposing offenses, running past — not through — opposing blockers.
Georgia’s projected spring depth chart at linebacker
- Sam: Leonard Floyd (second-team: Lorenzo Carter)
- Jack: Jordan Jenkins (second-team: Davin Bellamy)
- Mike: Reggie Carter (second-team: Detric Bing-Dukes)
- Will: Tim Kimbrough (second-team: Chuks Amaechi)
Floyd has arguably the biggest upside of any rising junior on defense in the SEC and could be an early-round pick in 2016 with a stellar campaign. Pruitt’s creativity comes in with regards to Carter, a former highly-recruited five-star who can produce off the edge as a rush linebacker or with his hand in the dirt at the line of scrimmage.
Carter made an instant impact as a must-watch true freshman with a breakout game at Kentucky during the 2014 campaign, contributing 3.5 tackles behind the line of scrimmage and 2.5 sacks. The Norcross, Ga. product gallops effortlessly in pursuit with the body of a basketball player at 6-foot-6, 240 pounds, much like unproven redshirt-sophomore Davin Bellamy, another player to keep an eye on at outside linebacker this spring.
Bellamy overcame a two-game suspension last season to post 17 tackles in limited action with a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.