Georgia OLB Confirms Return For 2024 Season After A Turbulent Month…
During Georgia’s media availability ahead of the Bulldogs’ game against No. 5 Florida State in the Orange Bowl on Wednesday, JACK linebacker Chaz Chambliss announced he will return for his senior season in 2024. This news came after a turbulent month in which Georgia lost twenty players to the transfer portal.
When asked what areas he thought he had room for improvement, Chambliss mentioned meeting with OLB coach Chidera Uzo-Diribe and thoroughly examining what he needed to do to not only become a better player on an individual basis but also where he needed to improve to benefit the team as a whole.
After Nolan Smith’s season-ending injury during Georgia’s 2022 game against Florida, Chambliss was first given a significant role in Georgia’s defense at JACK. The Carrollton, Georgia native took some time to adjust to that role, as was to be expected, but as the 2022 season went on, his play steadily improved and his confidence increased.In the 2022 SEC Championship Game, he recorded a sack against LSU. In the 2022 College Football Playoff, he recorded four total tackles. During the 2022 season, Chambliss recorded a total of 12 tackles and 2 sacks. Despite not recording a sack in 2023, the junior played almost exclusively on standard downs, where his role involved setting the edge and freeing up other players to make plays on ball carriers. He finished the season with 20 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, and 1 interception.
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Wednesday ‘Dawg Bites Is Monitoring The Arrivals Gate…
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The difference between the number of Georgia Bulldogs who chose not to participate in the Orange Bowl and the number of Florida State Seminoles may be the biggest story surrounding the game thus far. I’m in for Saturday’s game, according to Javon Bullard.
That is significant news. Although Bullard must undoubtedly make a significant decision regarding the NFL, his participation in this game should allow the Bulldog secondary to play at nearly full strength.
Brock Bowers however, appears to be sitting, as does Amarius Mims. Neither was seen with the team when it arrived in Miami yesterday.
While that’s also largish news, it’s probably not surprising. Both Bowers and Mims have received first round grades from NFL Draft watchers and both struggled with high ankle sprains requiring tightrope surgery this season. There’s some sound wisdom to not risking a recurrence heading into the scouting combine and Georgia’s pro day. Additionally, both of those young men have given a great deal to the cause of Georgia Bulldog football.
The Players Lounge friend Graham Coffey speculates that the reason edge rusher Damon Wilson was not seen with the team may have been due to a recent knee surgery.
In addition to missing several starters, Florida State will be starting true freshman Brock Glenn against the Bulldogs in place of quarterback Tate Rodemaker, as we found out over the Christmas break.
Coach Mike Norvell has already hosted a few transfer portal quarterbacks this cycle, so it makes some sense that Rodemaker is entering the transfer portal. It’s evident that he has doubts about Rodemaker leading the Seminoles in 2024. Even though Rodemaker might have still been the winner, I don’t blame him for feeling uneasy about Norvell’s lack of faith and acting like Darth Vader.
Elsewhere in transfer portal news the Bulldogs lost their 19th and 20th players to the portal in cornerback Daniel Harris and receiver DeNylon Morrissette.
Morrisette came to Athens as a four star recruit and showed flashes in clean up duty in 2022. But he dealt with some nagging injuries and couldn’t quite crack the regular rotation in 2023, playing in only three games and making no catches before ultimately redshirting.
Harris came to Georgia as a member of the 2023 class and played in five games as a true freshman, recording no tackles or pass defense stats. The Bulldogs are of course bringing in a new position coach in Donte Williams and signed four more highly-touted defensive back recruits in the 2024 class. So Harris’s decision to seek a fresh start makes some sense as well.
Twenty is the most transfer portal entries the Red and Black have ever had for those who score at home. That doesn’t indicate to me that Athens’ player retention policies are flawed in any way. It’s more representative of how well players grasp the opportunities that exist in the NIL universe. Georgia, on the other hand, looks to be continuing its increased activity in acquiring players via the portal.
We’ll be back soon with more coverage from bowl week. Till then…