ATHENS, Ga. — Smael Mondon didn’t know much about Jamon Dumas-Johnson, his new Georgia teammate and fellow inside linebacker. They grew up four states away from each other, had never met before arriving on campus. Mondon was a five-star recruit. Dumas-Johnson was outside the top 100.
But once summer practice began, it was evident Dumas-Johnson was better than his rankings. The moment that stood out to Mondon was one of their first seven-on-seven drills when Dumas-Johnson made an interception.
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“When I saw him catch a pick as a freshman, I said, ‘This is good.’ And from then on I just kept seeing flashes of him,” Mondon said. “He’s been flashing since. And now he’s the player he is now.”
That being a potential All-American, just like another member of Georgia’s 2021 class who was ranked outside the top 100: Brock Bowers, the tight end who became a breakout star almost as soon as his freshman season began. Those are just two examples. Want another reason Georgia is right back in the mix for the national championship despite losing a record 15 NFL Draft picks? It’s because of the relatively unheralded members of the 2021 class, and why they were overlooked has a lot to do with what was happening during their senior years of high school: COVID-19 and its impact on recruiting.
There were no official visits. Recruiting camps were severely cut back. And many players, including Dumas-Johnson and Bowers, didn’t have a high school season.
“I would venture to say — I don’t know this for fact, this is just my opinion — that everything would be off for that year,” Kirby Smart said. “Because there was no true evaluation. What are you evaluating it on, what are you basing that on?”
Georgia finished with the nation’s third-ranked class that year. But the three highest-ranked players in that class — tackle Amarius Mims, quarterback Brock Vandagriff and inside linebacker Xavian Sorey — aren’t starting yet, and neither are seven of the top eight.
Mondon is the exception. Everyone wanted the 35th-ranked player coming out of Paulding County High School in Dallas, Ga. Georgia won the battle along with fellow five-star Sorey, who is getting playing time off the bench (85 snaps, three tackles in 10 games). Mondon is third on the team in tackles despite missing two games with an ankle injury. He gets overshadowed by Dumas-Johnson, but Mondon makes plays in his own right.
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But it’s the players Georgia found below the top 100 who are excelling and providing the core of this team.
Brock Bowers
National rank: 105
It’s a well-told story that Bowers filmed himself running up hills around his hometown of Napa, California, and sent that to Georgia coaches to let them know what he was doing. Perhaps with a full high school season, Bowers would have arrived at Georgia with more hype. Still, he was the nation’s third-ranked tight end, so it’s not like there was no hype.
(The top-ranked tight end that year was Clemson’s Jake Briningstool, who has 17 catches and four touchdowns this season, and Nebraska’s Thomas Fidone, who is missing this season with a knee injury.)
Jamon Dumas-Johnson
Rank: 198
Dumas-Johnson was only the third-ranked inside linebacker in Georgia’s own class. But it was apparent once he arrived he was better than that, and once he got a starting job this season, he has lived up to it: Pops, as he’s known around the team, is second on the team in tackles, tackles for loss and sacks, and just generally locks down the middle of the field.
“He started showing up, making plays when he first got here,” Smart said. “I don’t know if you consider him highly touted. I don’t really know, I just know we really liked him. We liked his demeanor, liked where he’s from, liked his program, toughness that he played in, and we liked the way he was on Zooms and talking to him. He got here, and he’s a little heavy because he had not played, and he started making plays. We’re like, ‘Man, this guy’s a good player.’ Of course, we had good players in front of him. He’s blossomed really well this year.”
Javon Bullard
Rank: 634
Bullard earned the starting nickelback job this spring and has been a revelation: He has given up just 69 receiving yards, the fewest among any Georgia defensive back who has been targeted at least 20 times. There have been 27 passes thrown in his direction, 16 of them completed, for a mere 4.3 yards per completion. Bullard also had the two-sack game against Tennessee off nickel blitzes.
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“His high school tape displayed toughness,” Smart said. “He was one of the COVID kids that was during the time where you didn’t get to bring them on campus. He sent tape in of his workouts very similar to the way other players did. We liked his workouts. We thought, ‘Man, this guy is dedicated to working out in a time when the rest of the country stopped doing anything.’ We liked the kid. He has the core values we like of physical toughness. We loved the way he practices every day.”
Rank: 239
Lassiter could be a poster child for Georgia surpassing Alabama in the evaluation department: Lassiter played high school football in Tuscaloosa, but Georgia wanted him more and got him. Lassiter has started every game at cornerback opposite Kelee Ringo. And despite being in his first year as a starter, Lassiter has given up fewer receiving yards than his star teammate. Opponents are 22-for-38 for 266 yards against Lassiter and 25-for-40 for 350 yards against Ringo.
“He’s a tough kid. Really physical, really prideful,” Smart said. “I’ve known him since he was a ninth- or 10th-grader, and he loves football. I think he’s improved a lot.”
Rank: 387
Nolan Smith’s season-ending injury moved everyone on the depth chart up a spot, and while sixth-year senior Robert Beal getting the bigger role wasn’t a surprise, it may have surprised some fans to see Chambliss getting more snaps than the more experienced MJ Sherman or the more high-hyped Marvin Jones Jr., a true freshman. But the coaches like the way Chambliss plays the run and his potential to get burst off the edge, as he showed with a sack against Florida.
“Consistency, toughness, everything a football coach wants,” Smart said when asked what he likes about Chambliss. “He does whatever is asked. He’s the last guy off the field every day, he stays out there for extra work. … He’s one of the hardest workers I’ve ever been around. He and Brock spent their freshman year staying out there after practice doing one-on-ones every day. He’s just a tough competitor that you want in your program.”
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Rank: 150
It’s hard to get noticed on a Georgia defensive line that also has Jalen Carter, but Ingram-Dawkins has been a solid member of the rotation. He hasn’t started yet but has 141 snaps in nine games, notching 1.5 tackles for loss and three quarterback pressures.
AD Mitchell
Rank: 383
Well, he hasn’t contributed since the opener, thanks to a high ankle sprain suffered during the first series of Week 2. But once Mitchell gets back on the field, and it could be as soon as Saturday, he could be on track to help this team in the postseason. And as the guy who caught the go-ahead touchdown pass in the national championship, there’s precedent for him having that kind of impact.
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Rank: 659
Meeks hasn’t had a huge impact yet — six catches for 65 yards this season — but it’s worth singling him out because he was considered the lowest-ranked member of the 2021 class, so the fact that he’s even getting snaps is another testament to Georgia’s efforts in that class. Meeks, who was only the 102nd-ranked receiver in the nation that year, has been on special teams and was the one called for roughing the punter at Mississippi State, when at most he grazed the punter.
Important note: Plenty of others in this class could still make a big impact. Mims has played significant snaps off the bench. David Daniel-Sisavanh has been the first safety off the bench the past few games. Sorey, Vandagriff, tackle Micah Morris and cornerback Nyland Green all could play roles in the future. It’s still very early.
But the fact it’s so early and there are so many players ranked below them contributing is remarkable. Of course, Smart would point out Georgia has also found players better than their rankings in non-COVID years. Jordan Davis springs to mind, and he’s not alone.
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“The people that evaluate it in the first place, I don’t think of them as experts at it, per se. I don’t want to take their opinion over my own,” Smart said. “I think that’s something that we do well as a staff is evaluate. So regardless of which year or which rating or what people said, we go back and do a review of how those classes performed, how each guy did, how each guy did after three years. Because you can’t get a real evaluation (before that). So those guys really haven’t had enough time to be evaluated. But it’s hard to say they outperformed their rating because I don’t know their rating, I don’t care about their rating, I care about our evaluation. I think our evaluation’s the most important.”
(Top photo of Brock Bowers: Jonathan Bachman / Getty Images)
