UGA Football Pass-Rusher Earns Praise From Georgia Bulldog Coach Kirby Smart

Real Georgia Fans Don’t Miss the Dawg Post Newsletter - Sign up now!

ATHENS - The Georgia Bulldogs were missing something critical on defense last season.

It’s no secret. It was the pass-rush.

For a defense that consistently attacks the quarterback year after year, the Bulldogs took a significant step backwards last year in terms of their ability to get sacks.

Kirby Smart’s defense got the quarterback on the ground just 20 times all season in 2025. It’s not acceptable and it’s something that has to change in a big way next fall.

Thankfully there are several players eager to show they can get after the passer. Not only do they have veterans Gabe Harris and Quintavius Johnson returning, but they added EDGE defender Amaris Williams from Auburn and have multiple second-year players who are hungry to see the field and make an impact in 2026.

One of them is Chase Linton. A long, athletic pass-rusher that the Bulldogs flipped from Rutgers in the 2025 recruiting class, sources say Linton has steadily improved through his first 12+ months in the program. This is Linton’s second spring as a Bulldog and he earned some praise last week from Kirby Smart after impressing in practice.

DON’T FORGET YOUR FANDUEL BETS!!

According to FanDuel, the Los Angeles Rams have +390 odds of winning the NFC Championship next year.

"We recruited Chase because of some redeeming qualities”, Smart told reporters. “Character, effort, intelligence. He's exemplified those things, and probably been tougher than I expected in terms of the guy likes contact. He likes hard work. He's been a high motor player for us. He runs to the ball really hard, he plays a twitch, and he plays bigger than he is. I've been very pleased with Chase's progress, and we need him to get better to give us some of the pass rush we need."

You can’t teach length, and it’s hard to teach effort. Those are two qualities that Linton has easily. At 6-foot-3 225-pounds, Linton plays hard and showed natural pass-rushing ability in high school. Now, it’s about developing his technique, adding more muscle, and improving day by day.

The Bulldogs desperately need players to step up and help the pass-rush this year and it seems clear Linton will be a guy who will get his opportunities this fall.