Georgia Football: Time for Smart to make changes at ILB

The Georgia Football team has struggled at the inside linebacker position this season and so it’s time for Kirby Smart to make some moves and bring in a couple of young, talented freshmen.

It will be a different Georgia Football team that steps onto the field in Jacksonville. Not only will there be a different mentality running through the UGA dressing room that week, but expect some different starters as well. Last year, when Georgia was thumped by Auburn, Kirby Smart made a move and brought Ben Cleveland into the starting lineup and the OL never looked back. Just like last year, I think Smart and his coaches will be looking to do something similar after the loss to LSU. Before people get too excited, no I’m not talking about Jake Fromm and Justin Fields. No, this year, I think it’s going to be the defense where we see a change.

Georgia’s defense has a very unfortunate problem. It’s got a soft center and other teams are exploiting this. Natrez Patrick has played well this year, but the two players that are playing next to him this season are really struggling. Tae Crowder and Juwan Taylor are both older players but neither of them is putting together good seasons. I’m not trying to be mean and bash these guys. Both are DGD’s who have worked their butts off to get to this point. However, at the end of the day, both of them have serious limitations and they are causing UGA real problems on the field.

The Dawgs are struggling to defend the run. That’s not happening because of the DL which is actually holding relatively well despite being short-handed. Rather it’s the linebackers who are continually slow to read and react to plays. Not only does it take Taylor and Crowder fractionally too long to do that, but neither of them are elite athletes so they’re both really struggling to make plays on running backs. Throw in some bad tackle habits that have spread across the defense this year and you’ve got a soft center of a defense that teams are attacking.

Fortunately, Smart has options. We’ve seen Channing Tindall and Quay Walker come on towards the end of games. Tindall, in particular, has flashed and right now, I think he might be the best guy to play that position. Monty Rice does a good job when he gets on the field, but he’s much more natural playing Patrick’s position. If both Natrez and Rice were on the field at once, I seriously question the Dawgs ability to stop the pass.

I get that freshmen make mistakes. Tyson Campbell has had his struggles, but he’s starting right now because he’s the best option UGA has. He’s also getting a lot better as the weeks go on and should be in a good place when we get to November. It’s time for Smart to do the same at linebacker and bring in one of his young players who has the talent to make more of an impact than we are seeing right now. We saw how one player can make a difference when Cleveland stepped up on the OL last year. Now it’s time to see if the Dawgs have another player that can help turn around a unit that was crucial to their success in 2017.