Georgia’s Best Defensive Rookie From the 2023 Season

The Georgia Bulldogs defense was a force to be reckoned with once again, capping up their 13-1 season.

Georgia’s 2023 season could be defined in a variety of ways, but its defense was strong despite facing some of the SEC’s most formidable offensive minds. The nation’s ninth-ranked defense bolsters a slew of talent that might compete for MVP this year. Looking at this team from outside, it would be difficult to name a defensive MVP. It would be simple to look to the rookie linebacker who came up big time in the absence of Jamon Dumas-Johnson, who is injured.

CJ Allen, who recently finished his freshman season, may be deserving of the prize. Allen had his first start against the Ole Miss Rebels, who had a very good running back in Quinshon Judkins. Allen shut them down, leading the team with nine tackles and a sack, as well as a tackle for loss.

Then, against Georgia Tech, Allen matched for the team lead in tackles with Smael Mondon, with eight total, including five solo, while Mondon had three solo. Allen finished the season fifth on the team in tackles with 41 total, joining some top Dawg company but won’t be named MVP this season. If not Allen, might it have been someone from the scary secondary that anchored this defense?

Javon Bullard, Malaki Starks, and Kamari Lassiter all have compelling arguments for why they should be named MVP this year. Bullard was third on the squad in tackles with 56, and he also intercepted two passes. He was an excellent complement to All-American safety Starks, the team’s fourth-leading tackler with 52 tackles and three interceptions. But Kamari Lassiter made one of the more compelling cases when he was covering one of the nation’s finest receivers, Luther Burden III of Missouri, who was confined to two catches for 14 yards with Lassiter covering him. Lassiter, who finished the season as the team’s sixth-leading tackler with 37 total and half a sack, isn’t the favorite to earn this MVP honor.

The STAR position is one of the more difficult positions in Kirby Smart and Glenn Schumann’s defense. Tykee Smith had his hands full this year, covering a multitude of offensive weapons while also converting in blitz packages and run defense. Smith topped the club in every defensive category except sacks, where he sits fourth with two. Smith toiled through an injury-plagued career in Athens before breaking through and displaying his old form at West Virginia.

Smith led the team in tackles with 70, and he also led the team in interceptions with four, ranking him 14th in the country. He had over five tackles in ten games, including a ten-tackle performance in Georgia’s win over Tennessee at Neyland Stadium. Tykee Smith was another unanticipated star on this year’s team. Schumann’s STAR will be the MVP when he leaves for the NFL.

This season, the Bulldogs had one of the top defenses in the NCAA, but it was a cohesive one rather than numerous big-time stars shining at the same time. Georgia will have to replace many of these components, as they seem to do every year, but they have plenty of excellent players ready to step up and take the reins.