5-star Nakobe Dean Signs with Georgia: What it Means

LAKE NORN - Kirby Smart lands another five-star on Signing Day.

That seems to be a trend ever since Smart took over as the head man in Athens.

The top-ranked inside linebacker in the county, Lake Horn (MS) star Nakobe Dean, signed with Georgia over Alabama, Ole Miss, LSU among others at his school on Wednesday afternoon. 

So what is Georgia getting in their new five-star linebacker?

Speed and insticnts. At 6-foot-0 220-pounds, Dean is the ideal linebacker who can cover a lot of ground from his inside linebacker spot.

Dean has elite speed for his position and can go sideline to sideline as well as anyone in the country. He isn’t the biggest guy out there, but he tracks the football well and can deliver a hit when he gets there. He likes to roam around and fly to the football after disecting plays early on, a disaster for any offense trying to develop a rushing attack on the perimeter.

Like former Bulldog great Roquan Smith, Dean has elite instincts and takes proper angles in lrder to get to the ball carrier. He can get into the backfield in a hurry and has shown he’s a sure tackle in the open space. 

One of the better athletes on his Lake Horn team, Dean played some offense to for the state champions, showing his athleticism and toughness with the ball in his hands. Dean is a true playmaker who always seems to come up with a big play. 

Dean was awarded the top linebacker award back in March of 2018 during the Atlanta Opening Regional, and was intive to the Opening Finals later that Summer in Oregon. There, Dean showed the ability to cover in space and did a nice job of tracking down the back out of the backfield. Dean is rarely out of position, and while he’s known as a tackling machine, he displayed good cover skills with speed to keep up with speedy, shifter players on offense.

This signing is big for a number of reasons. Dean will be able to come in and contrivute immidiately in 2019, and has a chance to be a multi-year starter at the position. It’s a little to early to throw the Roquan Smith label on him, but Dean certainly has a chance to make that type of impact at the same position.