Xavian Sorey came to Georgia as a five-star linebacker out of IMG Academy in the class of 2021.
Sorey played his first three seasons of high school football in the small town of Graceville, Florida. He transferred to IMG Academy for his senior season before enrolling at Georgia in January of 2021.
During his first two seasons at Georgia, Sorey’s recorded five tackles and an interception. But he’s been on a depth chart that included a number of NFL draft picks at the linebacker position. Plus there’s Smael Mondon and Jamon Dumas-Johnson, so the opportunity has not truly presented itself for Sorey.
Now, Kirby Smart said Sorey has been playing some with the first team and discussed the linebacker’s progress entering Sorey’s redshirt sophomore season.
“He’s shown some exceptional acceleration in flashes. Consistency is the biggest thing with him,” Smart said.
“There might be a mental lapse every now and then, and he’ll be the first to admit it that when he gets it right he can be really good. He has tools that some guys on our team don’t have. We’ve tried to utilize those and we’ll continue to, but he’s developing and he’s rolling in with those guys and playing well.”
Smart discussed Sorey’s inexperience at the inside linebacker position, noting he never played it until coming to UGA.
“Everyone else that you recruit at that position, they played that position in high school. Smael (Mondon) played, Pop (Jamon Dumas-Johnson) played.” Smart said. “This kid played at a really small school until he went to IMG, and then at IMG he had a foot injury and lined up at the end of the line and he had never stepped back and keyed. I got enough football awareness and football experience that kids that do that, it takes them a little while.”
Smart compared Sorey’s development to former Georgia linebacker Channing Tindall.
“Channing [Tindall] went through that a little bit where you don’t play at the second level a lot and you’ve got to key and diagnose.”
His career worked out pretty well for Tindall. In his final season at Georgia, Tindall recorded 67 tackles and 5.5 sacks en route to helping Georgia win a national title. He was a third-round pick by the Dolphins.
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