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Georgia’s Outside Linebacker Room Has SEC Top-Tier Pieces, But the Sack Math Has to Improve
By Greg Poole
Georgia’s outside linebacker room enters 2026 with size, experience and options. The Bulldogs have two returning starters, a high-end SEC transfer, a former blue-chip developmental piece ready for more snaps, and a true freshman from just down the road. The question is whether that group can produce enough disruption to live up to its talent.
That is the good news.
The catch is just as clear: Georgia needs more disruption from this group – not more almost-there rushes. Not more “he affected the quarterback” film-room compliments. More sacks. More forced, hurried throws. More offensive tackles are getting walked backward into the quarterback’s lap.
The top of the room starts with Gabe Harris Jr. and Quintavius Johnson, and there is no need to dance around it. Those two should be Georgia’s safest outside linebacker answers entering the season because they already handled real snaps, real starts and real SEC problems last year.
Harris brings the grown-man frame at 6-foot-4 and 260 pounds. He started 13 games in 2025, finished with 26 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss and a sack, and gave Georgia a dependable edge-setter who could hold up against the run. That matters in this defense. Georgia’s outside linebackers are not just told to pin their ears back and chase quarterbacks like caffeinated greyhounds. They have to squeeze blocks, keep contain, spill runs back inside, drop occasionally and avoid turning one bad angle into a 38-yard problem. Harris has shown he can live in that world.
The next step is finishing more rushes. Harris got into the backfield enough to matter, but Georgia needs his senior season to include more pass-rush payoff. A player with his size and experience should be able to convert more pressures into sacks, especially when Georgia’s interior line can occupy protection attention. He does not have to become a reincarnated Jarvis Jones. That is a mean thing to ask of anybody. But he does need to become a more consistent closer off the edge.
Johnson may be the most interesting piece in the group because his 2025 production went beyond just sack totals. He started all 14 games, made 35 tackles, added six tackles for loss, two sacks, a forced fumble, three quarterback hits and three pass breakups. That last number is not throwaway trivia. It tells you Georgia trusts him to do more than rush. Johnson can get his hands into passing lanes, handle space better than some heavier edge defenders, and stay involved when the ball comes out quickly.
That versatility helps Georgia against modern SEC offenses that do not always let edge rushers tee off. Plenty of teams are living on screens, RPOs, quick-game throws and moving pockets. Johnson’s value is that he can still affect a snap even when the quarterback is not standing there waiting to be sacked. The question is whether he can add a little more violence to the pass-rush side of his game. Six tackles for loss and two sacks are solid. Georgia needs him to flirt with something better than solid.
The new wild card is Amaris Williams, the Auburn transfer who gives Georgia another SEC-sized body at 6-foot-3 and 255 pounds. He played 11 games for Auburn as a sophomore and posted 16 tackles, six tackles for loss and two sacks. That is not a finished-product stat line, but it is enough to make him more than a roster flyer. He has already played in this league. He has already been through the speed, the offensive tackles, the noise and the weekly nonsense that comes with trying to survive Saturdays in the SEC.
Williams could give Georgia what it badly needs: a rotational edge who does not make the defense feel like it changed channels when the starters come off the field. If he adapts quickly to Georgia’s run-fit demands, he can be more than a backup. The Bulldogs need three playable outside linebackers before they can feel good. They would love four. Williams gives them a real shot to get there.
Darren Ikinnagbon is the development player Georgia fans should keep circled. At 6-foot-5 and 255 pounds, he looks the part before he even gets off the bus, which is nice because football remains stubbornly rude to undersized edge players. Ikinnagbon appeared in five games last season as a reserve and made his debut against Marshall. That is not a heavy résumé yet, but Georgia did not sign him to be a short-term decoration. He came in as a highly rated defensive line/edge prospect, and 2026 is the season when the staff should have a clearer idea of how close he is to making the weekly rotation.
The thing to watch with Ikinnagbon is not whether he can look impressive in warmups. He can. The question is whether he can play with clean hands, maintain leverage against SEC tackles and avoid getting washed past the quarterback on speed rushes. Young edge defenders often want to win the race around the corner. In Georgia’s defense, sometimes the job is to win the six-inch fight with the tackle’s outside hand and keep the quarterback trapped. Not glamorous. Necessary.
Chase Linton is another redshirt freshman worth watching because he did get a small taste of meaningful football late last season. He appeared in four games, including the SEC Championship Game and the playoff matchup against Ole Miss, and made a tackle against Alabama. That is not a huge sample, but it shows Georgia was willing to put him on the field even when it was not exactly spring picnic weather. At 6-foot-4 and 230 pounds, Linton still has room to fill out, but he brings a pass-rush background and enough athletic profile to push for situational work.
Duncan Carpenter rounds out the listed OLB room as a redshirt freshman with a different path. He is not carrying the same recruiting shine as some of the others, but Georgia has found useful players before in the less-hyped corners of the roster. If Carpenter becomes a special teams piece and keeps developing physically, that is not nothing. On a roster like Georgia’s, surviving the practice grind at outside linebacker is already a decent indication that a player has more bite than bark to him.
Then there is Khamari Brooks, the true freshman and the local name in the room. Brooks comes from North Oconee, and his junior season was the kind of stat sheet that makes defensive coaches start smiling before they try to pretend they are not excited. He posted 131 tackles, 17 tackles for loss, 13 sacks, two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, an interception and two defensive touchdowns while also playing tight end. Subtle, right? Just a normal Friday night of ruining another school’s homecoming.
Brooks is listed at 6-foot-3 and 245 pounds, which is why the “can he physically handle college football?” question is not as loud as it is for some freshmen. His bigger adjustment will be the assignment detail. At North Oconee, he could overwhelm people. In Georgia, he has to learn how to fit into a defense where one wrong step can open a cutback lane or leave the flat uncovered. The good news is his background as a two-way player should help him understand leverage, spacing and how offenses try to manipulate defenders. The bad news for him is that Georgia’s outside linebacker room has enough older bodies that nothing has to be handed over early.
That may be the best setup for Brooks. Let him compete. Let him chase a special teams role. Let him get comfortable with the practice speed. If he forces his way into defensive snaps, terrific. If he spends most of 2026 learning behind Harris, Johnson, Williams and Ikinnagbon, that is not a problem. That is roster building, not a five-alarm fire.
So, where does Georgia’s outside linebacker group sit in the SEC? The honest answer: near the top, but not automatically at the top.
I would place Georgia somewhere north of the No. 5 range among SEC edge/outside linebacker rooms entering 2026, depending on how much weight is placed on proven sack production. Texas, Alabama and LSU all have the kind of front-seven talent that makes this conversation crowded. Welcome to the SEC, where “pretty good” gets you fourth.
The reason Georgia is not a slam-dunk No. 1 is simple: the Bulldogs need a higher sack ceiling from the position. Johnson and Harris were productive players last season, but Georgia needs one of them — or Williams — to become the edge rusher opposing coordinators have to circle on the call sheet. The Bulldogs have had defenses in the past where pressure arrived from all sides. That can still work. But in the biggest games, somebody off the edge has to win a one-on-one without requiring a blitz, a stunt, a weather event or divine intervention.
The outlook is still strong. Georgia has bodies that fit the defense, returners who have already played winning football, and a freshman who gives the room promise beyond the current rotation. Larry Knight also inherits a group with enough raw material to make his first season in Athens interesting right away. His job is not to invent players from scratch. His job is to sharpen what is already there and turn more pressures into drive-killing plays.
That is the difference between a good outside linebacker room and a championship-level one: Georgia has the first, but the 2026 season will tell us whether the Bulldogs have the second.
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