In 2021, Georgia football had a historic defense full of star-studded playmakers that bullied everyone they faced. They were one of the best scoring defenses in history, and people will remember that 2021 unit as they do the 2011 Alabama squad, the old Miami defenses, and countless others.
The Dawgs will have to replace eight guys who either started or put in significant playing time and saw defensive coordinator Dan Lanning leave for the Oregon head coaching job, but it isn’t detrimental.
While Georgia will have new faces all over that defense, at the same time, the Dawgs also return eight guys grade on PFF with a 70 or higher returning, so they will have experience as well in areas that need it.
So while it sucks to see these incredibly talented players leave, the Dawgs reloaded and will have another strong defense.
Georgia football will see these five guys lead the way on defense in 2022.
Glenn Schumann and Will Muschamp will spearhead this defense as they are co-defensive coordinators, replacing Lanning, but both have already put their mark on this program.
Schumann was head coach Kirby Smart’s first hire and has been incredible developing and recruiting through six seasons. Muschamp is an experienced defensive coordinator, so the pair together will be quite powerful.
Last season, the Dawgs gave up just 10.2 points a game, 78.9 rushing, 190 passing and 268.9 total yards a game. They were dominant, and that is putting it lightly. They finished the year with 99 tackles for loss, 49 sacks, 16 interceptions, 62 pass breakups, 263 quarterback pressures, five fumble recoveries, 10 forced fumbles and five blocked kicks.
Sure the guys leaving are responsible, but those coming back are just as responsible and did as much.
There are far more than the five guys we mention in this article coming back to lead the defense, but we couldn’t include everyone.
The honorable mentions are William Poole III, Dan Jackson, Jamon Dumas-Johnson, Smael Mondon Jr., and many more. While the 2021 defense was historic, the 2022 one can also leave a mark, and these five players who Georgia is glad are back to lead in 2022.
The first guy on this list is super senior Christopher Smith, who set the tone for 2021 with his pick-six as the only touchdown of that Clemson game.
When he chose to come back for one more year, it gave the Dawgs a veteran leader in the secondary they hadn’t had in a while, so it was a big moment. Georgia lost a lot of defensive backs to the transfer portal, so to see guys like Smith, among others like Tykee Smith and William Poole III, come back to lead is enormous.
It allows the younger guys to grow without doing it on the field where mistakes can and will happen.
With his experience, Smith can help the younger guys coming into the program grow and be a guy they can depend on because head coach Kirby Smart is tough on his secondary.
Last year, Smith finished with 35 tackles, three interceptions, four pass breakups, and three quarterback hurries. He was a guy Georgia could depend on in coverage and was a head hunter when he had to be.
With another year to get better and improve his game, Smith could lead the Dawgs in picks this upcoming season and show why coming back one more year is beneficial.
His experience will be the most significant factor. Smith is already one of the team’s leaders, so having a familiar face back there will make the transition easier for those incoming freshmen.
Georgia needed him to come back, and now that he is, Smith could see his draft stock rise with a solid super senior season. He could have gone this year, but to sacrifice and return for one more year shows what kind of legacy he wants to leave.
As crazy as it may seem that Georgia football isn’t losing their sack-leader to the NFL Draft, it is true as Robert Beal Jr. also chose to come back for his super senior year.
He filled in for the departed Adam Anderson and never missed a beat. Like Christopher Smith, Beal sacrificed a potential NFL Draft selection to bring it back one more year and do something great.
Beal was incredible in those seven games that he got most of the reps, so thinking about what he could do with at least 12 games of significant playing time should make your mouth water.
He finished 2021 with 23 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, 6.5 sacks, two pass breakups, and 19 quarterback hurries. So of his 23 tackles, half of them happened behind the line of scrimmage.
That stat is why having him return in 2022 is so important. Beal finally blossomed and proved that he is an elite linebacker who can do some damage.
Beal will be the leader of the linebackers, and he waited his turn for this moment. If anyone could shock some people in 2022, it could be him.
With that confidence, he can channel it in 2022 and produce even more impressive numbers, which the Bulldogs will need. His statistics put him at No. 4 on this list because it’s only up from here for Beal. It’s the year he proves to be the next linebacker to impress.
This list wouldn’t be complete without Kelee Ringo on it. The national championship hero who intercepted Bryce Young and toted it 79 yards for a pick-six score will be a massive piece of the puzzle in 2022.
After working through a shoulder injury, the redshirt freshman proved why he was the best cornerback in the 2020 recruiting class.
Very few receivers could make catches on him, and with another year under his belt, Ringo will emerge as the shut-down corner Georgia needs. He was that in 2021, but that experience helped him get better, so 2022 could be even more impressive.
While there may be a new defensive back coach heading to Athens, Ringo will be someone that new hire realizes is incredibly gifted and can really count on to make big plays.
Ringo finished the season with 34 tackles, one tackle for loss, one sack, two interceptions, eight pass breakups, and one quarterback hurry.
His pass breakups were the No.2 on the team as they tied Latavious Brini’s and one behind Lewis Cine.
Ringo is a monster cornerback, and he will learn from his mistakes. Not that he made many, but Ringo did improve more and more as the season progressed.
Georgia has its veteran safety in Christopher Smith, and it’s the best corner in Ringo returning for 2022, and to prove that the Dawgs will have one of the best secondaries in the country.
It’s time to see Ringo do it again in 2022 and even improve those numbers with him getting more experienced.
Nolan Smith is another massive name for Georgia football to see come back and will likely be the biggest leader on this defense in 2022.
When he chose to come back for one more year, it was the missing piece that Georgia needed. The Bulldogs will have a vocal leader emerging as one of the best linebackers to play the game. Smith can also put his hand in the dirt as an edge rusher so that he will be beneficial in multiple ways.
Many people figured he would leave after the 2021 season because they won the national title, and Smith did enough to earn a decent draft grade. However, Smith wasn’t ready to take on the next chapter. Instead, he wanted to keep the greatness going and attempt a repeat in 2022.
Smith was a force for Georgia last year as he finished with 56 total tackles, nine tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, one interception, one breakup, 27 quarterback hurries, one fumble recovery, three forced fumbles, and a blocked kick.
There wasn’t much he didn’t make happen in 2021, but here he made a selfless decision to return and play as a senior. The former No.1 overall recruit hasn’t quite lived up to the expectation, but this final season could elevate him to show us what happens when that potential gets reached.
Smith is so good, and it’s time for him to push aside everything and ball out for this team. He will be a vocal leader and someone to guide the younger players, so Georgia has it good with him back on the field.
This upcoming season will feature a Smith Georgia fans haven’t seen before as he will put all the pieces together.
He will prove that he is a first-round draft pick that will make a lot of NFL teams happy, but also that coming back for one more year only benefits the player in the long run.
The most important player returning for Georgia football is Jalen Carter, who has big shoes to fill but is more than capable of doing so because his ceiling is unreachable.
While the Dawgs lose Jordan Davis and Devonte Wyatt to the NFL, Carter was the guy right beside them making plays, causing havoc and proving big men can be quick too.
Carter will be a junior in 2022, and it’s his time to be a leader up front for the Dawgs. He will be the big man on the defensive front that Georgia needs to be elite.
Everyone worries about losing Davis and Wyatt, which is understandable because they were two of the best to wear the Red and Black, but Carter is better.
He has more juice, grit, mobility, quickness, and overall ability to be a monster for opposing offenses.
Carter recorded 37 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, three sacks, one pass break up, and two blocked kicks. Last year he finished with the second-most quarterback hurries on the team with 30. Only Travon Walker edged him out with 32 of his own.
He also led blocks for rushing touchdowns, including the one Davis scored on senior day against Charleston Southern.
Carter is a beast and someone opposing teams should fear. As a rising junior, he will only get better and hasn’t even gotten close to peaking.
Defensive line coach Tray Scott did a fantastic job recruiting this young man and giving Georgia the depth they need up front to be elite. Carter’s moment is in 2022, and while those 2021 numbers impressed, it’s going to be his leadership skills on top of better stats in 2022 that put him inside the top-10 of the 2023 NFL Draft.
Georgia has a defense that will need to rebuild some, but for the most part, it has five members who will help it reload and stay elite. These five men know what it takes to have a terrifying defense, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see them lead the 2022 squad to greatness.