Georgia football: 5 breakout players to watch in 2020
Georgia football breakout candidate No. 3: Nakobe Dean, LB
Not that this can’t be said of most recruiting classes under Kirby Smart but the 2019 group might actually be the head coach’s best work yet when it comes to replenishing the talent pool in Athens.
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And one of the headliners of last year’s freshman class was linebacker Nakobe Dean, a player who was a top-20 overall player by any metric and one of the two best players at the position, No. 1 or 2 depending on which scouting service you were reading.
Dean was never the starter for the Bulldogs last season but, even still, he showed why he was so highly touted coming out of the high school ranks. The linebacker finished his true freshman campaign with 25 total tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss. But with Tae Crowder now drafted into the NFL, Dean’s role is expected to increase in a major way.
The first thing working in Dean’s favor is that he pairs with an experienced veteran at Georgia, Monty Rice. Playing alongside another NFL-caliber player who has the ability to guide the youngster along should work to his benefit moving forward.
More important than playing alongside Rice, however, is the talent that Dean possesses. He looks the part of the next star linebacker in Athens, in the mold of a player who is lightning from sideline-to-sideline and can cover as well. He has easy 100-tackle potential and the possibility to be an absolute game-changer. If he steps into the role with ease, Dean could potentially start to hear himself mentioned as a first-round lock for the NFL in 2022.