Or should I say, happy Feature Friday — our second official installment is here.
This week, I had a simple but exciting question for the DawgNation team: Who’s your sleeper pick for the 2026 season? Essentially, name a player who may be a tad under the radar who you think will come on strong and make a big impact this year.
But let’s not stop there. If any of y’all have your own sleeper pick you’d like to share, shoot it my way at sarah.spencer@ajc.com and I may be able to include it in one of next week’s newsletters.
For now, let’s get into the DN staff’s thoughts:
Team reporter Connor Riley’s pick: “Cornerback Demello Jones. Teams aren’t going to want to throw at Ellis Robinson, thus putting a lot on the plate of the third-year cornerback. But he played significant snaps last season for Georgia and has all the athletic gifts to develop into a massive contributor in the Georgia secondary.”
Demello Jones takes part in the second day of spring practice on Thursday, March 19, 2026, in Athens. (DawgNation)
Reporter Mike Griffith: “Georgia has a lot of incoming freshman with great talent and freshman growing into second-year players, but my ‘sleeper’ pick for the Bulldogs is Josh Horton.
“Horton is a 6-foot-4, 305-pound second-year transfer from Miami who is a fourth-year player originally from Atlanta’s Langston Hughes High School.
“Originally a 3-star prospect, Horton played in 14 games for UGA last season and will factor into the defensive tackle rotation this season. Horton flashed some pass-rushing skills in the Bulldogs’ two-hour scrimmage/practice on Sunday and has the look of a player who could step up and contribute more this season.”
Georgia Tech quarterback Haynes King (right) makes a move against Georgia defensive lineman Josh Horton at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, in Atlanta. (Jason Getz/AJC)
Recruiting extraordinaire Jeff Sentell: “Ethan Barbour was the first name that came to mind, but then I remembered he started the first and last game of his true freshman season last fall despite a grueling injury. The pick here is Chase Linton. When the games count, he’ll emerge as an impact pass rusher.
“The former North Atlanta star has been a chore to block during spring ball and fall camp. That’s been a constant, but we also wanted to hype up a talent who would listen to ‘Can You Stand the Rain’ by New Edition before games in high school. The storm will come this fall off the edge for UGA. It will be wearing No. 85.”
Georgia early enrollee and edge defender Chase Linton gets in some work during an early period of Sugar Bowl prep for Notre Dame on Friday, Dec. 27, 2024, in Athens. (Jeff Sentell/DawgNation)
“DawgNation Daily” host Brandon Adams: “I always say picking a ‘sleeper’ or a breakout star for Georgia is hard to do because so many players on the roster get lots of attention. However, one name that I think fits the bill is freshman wide receiver Craig Dandridge. People in the know have mentioned him to me as someone practicing well and that could allow him to make an impact this season.”
Georgia wide receiver Craig Dandridge Jr. (left) makes a catch during the G-Day spring football game at Sanford Stadium on Saturday, April 18, 2026, in Athens. (Hyosub Shin/AJC)
Video extraordinaire Cody Chaffins: “I’ll go with Zayden Walker. I feel like he’s the latest in the succession of Jalon Walker and Chris Cole for that chess piece player. For Cole, it was his second season (2025) that he led the team in sacks. With so much attention paid to Cole this year, it’s Walker’s time. Hard to say a former 5-star is a sleeper, but his shoulder injury kept him out of G-Day and I feel like he’s been forgotten about a little bit.”
Georgia linebacker Zayden Walker flies through a drill during the first day of fall camp on Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026, in Athens. (Jeff Sentell/DawgNation)
DawgNation reporter Kaylee Mansell: “I’ll take second-year tight end Ethan Barbour. Although we know the TE room is stacked, I feel like other names such as Lawson Luckie, Elyiss Williams and Jaden Reddell have overshadowed Barbour. However, let’s not forget that Barbour was one of two freshmen to start Game 1 for the Dawgs last year.
“He will have a chip on his shoulder this season since he is coming off of injury, but his versatility and athleticism will prevail in finding a way to get on the field. On top of being a consistent pass catcher and a decent blocker, I think the Dawgs could find ways to get him involved in the run game.”
Georgia redshirt freshman TE Ethan Barbour jogs to the next practice drill during the first day of fall camp on Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026, in Athens. (Jeff Sentell/DawgNation)
And last but not least, here’s my sleeper pick: freshman wide receiver Tre Shields. We’ve spoken plenty about how Georgia might seem thin at wide receiver after losing so much talent last season, including Zachariah Branch … but is it really?
Or is a lot of the talent at that position simply untested, younger or under the radar? (See what I did there?)
Shields’ high school coaches describe him as an “athletic freak,” and Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo said this about nabbing him as a last-minute addition: “We evaluated the film, myself, (assistant coach James Coley), and coach (Kirby) Smart, and decided to give him an opportunity. We’re glad he’s here. He’s a hard-working young man. He’s young. He didn’t get to go through the spring, so he’s still learning. I’m glad he’s a Bulldog.”
Who knows how everything will shake out at receiver for Georgia this season, and of course we’ll all be looking for quarterback Gunner Stockton’s game to take a step forward, too, but Shields is my sleeper pick of someone who could surprise us and make an early impact.
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Trivia time
Since 2010, Georgia has had four two-time All-Americans. Can you name one, or better yet, all four?
Schumann believes Georgia pass rush won’t be a ‘weak spot’ again
In hindsight, it shouldn’t be a surprise that Georgia’s pass rush wasn’t ready for primetime last season.
The Bulldogs were young on both the defensive line and at outside linebacker. Aside from Christen Miller, Georgia didn’t really have a lot of proven players at either spot.
Miller is now gone, but just about everyone else returns at those two positions.
At outside linebacker, Chase Linton began to emerge late last season. He took advantage of the extra practice time between the SEC championship game and Georgia’s College Football Playoff game.
While he hasn’t yet surpassed Quintavius Johnson and Gabe Harris on the depth chart, defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann made it clear Linton has a role on this defense.
“What he has is a play style that matches up with how we play but also some ability to generate normal-down pass rush in addition to what he can do on third down,” Schumann said of Linton.
The second-year outside linebacker is still looking for his first sack. That isn’t the case for Zayden Walker, who showed his disruptive potential in wins against Texas and Alabama.
He had sacks in both of those wins, while forcing a fumble in the former.
Linton had a standout spring for Georgia. For Walker, he was on the mend, recovering from offseason shoulder surgery.
Walker has been full go since the start of fall camp. One look at the talented second-year linebacker makes it easy to see why he was both a former 5-star prospect and someone who has the potential to change the way the defense plays.
“Obviously, we saw that he could help in terms of some things last year down the stretch, third-down wise, he was able to go play ‘Jack’ some,” Schumann said. “When he went to ‘Jack,’ then we moved Chris (Cole) around a little bit, because Chris was playing ‘Jack’ on third down. And then to get Zayden in the game, to get our best 11 on the field, which is what you wanna do.”
Walker and Linton will cede early down reps to veterans like Cole, Quintavius Johnson and Gabe Harris. That trio will have to have a more impactful season as well, having combined for just 7.5 sacks last season.
At Georgia, growth isn’t always a linear process. Some guys need more time to blossom into who they will ultimately become.
Schumann thought back to Travon Walker. The former No. 1 overall pick was a role player in his first two seasons, much like Linton and Walker will be this season.
“He played only on third down for his first two years,” Schumann said. “You’re talking about the No. 1 overall pick, and then he played 600 snaps the next year. He had become a complete player, right? And so I just think that there were some guys in that room that have ability.
“That’s why they’re here. Nobody gets here by accident.”
Schumann knows the defense can’t have a repeat of last season. Georgia finished with just 20 sacks on the season, last among the 12 College Football Playoff participants.
Georgia’s defense will need to do a better job of both pressuring and sacking opposing quarterbacks.
With some of the young — but not totally unproven — players Schumann has to work with, there are reasons for optimism with the defense.
It just needs to all come together on the field.
“You can’t have any weak spots,” Schumann said. “Especially in the format we’re in now, where you’ve got to win postseason games back to back to back. You better be well-rounded and complete and not have any weaknesses.”
