Georgia Football Awards for the 2017 team

Defensive Captain of the Year

Lorenzo Carter: Senior Outside Linebacker

There were lots of leaders on this Georgia defense. what made it so good was that it had so many seniors who all offered great experience and leadership. Dominick Sanders and Aaron Davis on the back end made that unit better than expected. Davin Bellamy came back for his 5th year and he made a difference. Nobody seems to think about John Atkins clogging up the middle, but UGA’s nose tackle set a great example day in and day out.

But Carter stood out more than the rest. Blessed with as much physical talent as any player on the whole team, he became something special this season. A guy like him, with his ability, could have just wanted to rush the passer, to get his stats up and look good for the NFL. But Carter didn’t do that in his final year.

Instead, he did pretty much everything. He became one of the best tackling linebackers in the SEC and stuffed the run. When this team needed to rush the passer or make a play, there was Carter, getting a fumble or recovering it. The guy dropped back in coverage and played the freaking STAR position in some sets. That’s a nickel cornerback people!!

And then there’s the blocked kick. Whatever hurt fans felt after the national championship game, none of that compares to the elation of the Rose Bowl. That block was the greatest moment of the season for me. I’ve never lost it like that and once again, I had Carter to thank.

Lorenzo leaves UGA having set the blueprint for what an unselfish leader can do on this defense and this team. It’ll be a heck of a task to replace him, but based on his final year, we know one thing. Carter will be cheering for those new Dawgs and hoping they get to that mountaintop he never quite reached. It’s one of the reasons why we’ll miss him so damn much.