Tag: mj sherman

Former Georgia football LB MJ Sherman officially signs with new school

Former Georgia LB MJ Sherman officially signed with Nebraska on Wednesday

Georgia Bulldogs junior linebacker Mekhail “MJ” Sherman announced mid-January that he’d be transferring to Nebraska.

On Wednesday, National Signing Day, Sherman made official. Officially signing with the Cornhuskers.

The 6-foot-2, 250-pound linebacker entered the transfer portal after winning back-to-back national championships.

Sherman is from Baltimore, Maryland and played high school football for St. John’s College. He came to Athens as a four-star recruit. Sherman was the No. 33 recruit in the class of 2020 and the No. 2 outside linebacker.

Sherman joins former Georgia tight end Arik Gilbert and offensive lineman Jacob Hood in transferring to Nebraska.

Sherman played a lot of snaps on special teams throughout his career with Georgia. He played in 39 games. Sherman recorded five total tackles and 0.5 sacks in 2022 with the Bulldogs.

Freshman linebacker Jalon Walker’s emergence as a pass rusher late in the season made it tough for Sherman to see playing time with Georgia’s defense. He should see far more playing time at Nebraska.

Kirby Smart and Georgia have signed an all-time great recruiting class at the linebacker position in the class of 2023.

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Former elite recruit, UGA LB transfers to Nebraska

Georgia Bulldogs junior linebacker MJ Sherman is transferring to Nebraska.

Georgia Bulldogs junior linebacker Mekhail “MJ” Sherman is transferring to Nebraska. The 6-foot-2, 250-pound linebacker entered the transfer portal after winning back-to-back national championships.

Sherman is from Baltimore, Maryland, and played high school football for St. John’s College. He came to Athens as a four-star recruit. Sherman was the No. 33 recruit in the class of 2020 and the No. 2 outside linebacker.

Sherman played a lot of snaps on special teams throughout his career with Georgia. He played in 39 games. Sherman recorded five total tackles and 0.5 sacks in 2022 with the Bulldogs.

Freshman linebacker Jalon Walker’s emergence as a pass rusher late in the season made it tough for Sherman to see playing time with Georgia’s defense. He should see far more playing time at Nebraska.

Kirby Smart and Georgia have signed an all-time great recruiting class at the linebacker position in the class of 2023.

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Former 5-star LB to transfer from Georgia

Georgia OLB MJ Sherman has entered the transfer portal

Georgia linebacker MJ Sherman has entered the NCAA transfer after three seasons at Georgia.

Through those three seasons, Sherman totaled 15 tackles, one tackle for loss, and a shared sack.

The former five-star recruit out of Washington D.C. was a member of Georgia’s 2020 recruiting class and played in a reserve role at the outside linebacker position. In 2022, he played a team-high 226 special teams snaps, according to DawgNation.

Georgia players in the portal so far…

TE Arik Gilbert

CB Jaheim Singletary

OLB MJ Sherman

ILB Trezmen Marshall

TE Ryland Goede

OL Jacob Hood

TE Brett Seither

Another former UGA defender with close ties to Dan Lanning pops up in transfer portal

MJ Sherman struggled to find a role with Georgia, but he is a former top-50 recruit with close ties to Dan Lanning, looking for a new home.

On Thursday afternoon, an interesting name popped up in the transfer portal when it was reported that Georgia Bulldogs’ former 5-star cornerback Jaheim Singletary was looking to leave Athens and find a new school to play for.

Another intriguing name popped up in the portal on Friday morning, with Georgia edge defender MJ Sherman announcing that he would end the portal as well.

Both of these players are worth noting for Oregon Duck fans for a couple of reasons; the both fill positions of need for the Ducks, and they both have close ties to Oregon coach Dan Lanning.

Lanning was the primary recruiter for Sherman, who is a former 5-star prospect who was rated as the No. 33 overall player in the 2020 class, and No. 2 OLB per 247Sports. Sherman struggled to find a consistent role with the Bulldogs in his three years but is obviously a talented player with a high upside looking for an opportunity to make a difference.

Likewise, Singletary was not primarily recruited by Lanning,  but he committed to Georgia with Lanning as the defensive coordinator, so it’s safe to assume that there is a solid relationship between the two.

There is not yet any news out there that the Ducks are after either one or both former Georgia players, but it will be interesting to keep an eye on the two over the coming weeks. There is a chance that they could be heading out west, if only for a visit, at the very least.

MJ Sherman’s Transfer Portal Profile

UGA football player card: LB MJ Sherman

Georgia Bulldogs linebacker Mekhail “MJ” Sherman came to Athens as a four-star recruit.

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MJ Sherman, Linebacker (No. 8):

Class: Freshman

Height: 6-2

Weight: 235 pounds

Hometown: Baltimore, Maryland

High School: St. John’s College

Georgia Bulldogs linebacker Mekhail “MJ” Sherman came to Athens as a four-star recruit. Sherman plays primarily outside linebacker, but is quite a versatile player. With his excellent size (six-foot-two and 235 pounds) and speed (4.5 forty yard dash) Sherman can play both inside and outside linebacker.

Sherman will be yet another versatile piece in Georgia’s stacked linebacker core. The Dawgs have Jermaine Johnson, Azeez Ojulari, Adam Anderson, Nolan Smith, Robert Beal, and more returning at outside linebacker.

Sherman tore his ACL during his junior season, but bounced back his senior year and had one of the best high school seasons of any outside linebacker in the country. He’s certainly got the talent to play as a true freshman.

Sherman has been training hard this offseason. He’s got NFL level talent.

Take a peak at Georgia’s impressive linebacker group:

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Watch: Georgia is LBU

Georgia football former players and current coaches release ‘LBU’ hype video in an effort to recruit the top LBs in the country to UGA.

A number of former Georgia players and current coaches have released an ‘LBU’ hype video in an effort to recruit the top linebacker prospects in the nation to Athens.

The video features former Dawg linebackers such as Roquan Smith, Natrez Patrick and Tae Crowder, who have now made it to the NFL, crediting UGA and its coaches for preparing them for the next level.

WATCH:

Glenn Schumann, the Georgia inside linebackers coach and co-defensive coordinator, gets high praise throughout the video.

“Being coached by the best linebacker coach in the country, coach Schumann, everything we did at Georgia I do now in the league,” said Smith.

Smith was the recipient of the 2017 Butkus Award, awarded annually to the most outstanding linebacker in college football.  Smith is the only Georgia player to receive this high honor.  That year, Smith also won the title of SEC Defensive Player of the Year, First-team All-SEC as well as the SEC Championship Game MVP.

“The linebackers should be the tone-setters for the defense, I want my energy to be contagious to other people on the field and I want my players’ energy to be contagious.” said Schumann in the hype video.

Current Georgia linebackers Nakobe Dean, Monty Rice and Quay Walker are also featured in the video.  These three are all expected to play pivotal roles in Georgia’s defense in 2020, a defense that finished No. 1 overall in team defense in 2019 and allowed only two rushing touchdowns all season.

In Georgia’s 2020 No.1 overall recruiting class, the sole linebacker committed is 4-star Washington, D.C. native MJ Sherman, listed as the No. 2 outside linebacker recruit in the country by 247Sports.

For the 2021 class, Georgia currently has the No. 10 inside linebacker committed in 4-star Baltimore, MD native Jamon Dumas-Johnson.

The Dawgs hope to land 2021 5-star Dallas, GA native Smael Mondon, who is listed at 6-foot-3, 220 lbs and the No. 2 outside linebacker in the country.  247Sports experts have all given their Crystal Ball predictions for Mondon in favor of Georgia.

With the departure of Rice and his fellow rising senior Nate McBride coming following this season, the emphasis on locking down the next wave of linebackers is huge for the Georgia coaching staff.

This video shows why players want to come to Georgia, and that is ultimately to be NFL ready by the end of their college careers.  Showcasing the likes of NFL stars Roquan Smith and Natrez Patrick, as well as Tae Crowder’s transformation from a 2-star wide receiver to an NFL linebacker, is the perfect plan to recruit the top linebackers in the country to Georgia.

What Mekhail Sherman brings to Georgia football

Georgia’s signing day began with securing its highest ranked commit, five-star outside linebacker Mekhail Sherman out of Washington, D.C.

Georgia’s signing day began with securing its highest ranked commit, five-star outside linebacker Mekhail Sherman out of Washington, D.C.

At six-foot-three and 235 pounds, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that Sherman bulks up to 245 or even 250 with help from Georgia’s nutritionists and strength and conditioning staff. This would allow him to play more of a role in setting the edge and occasionally playing weak-side defensive end.

At his current size, Sherman is versatile enough to play middle linebacker or even at STAR, the hybrid linebacker-defensive back position; he covers tight ends and running backs well, can drop into zone coverage and possesses the excellent footwork and 4.53 speed necessary to allow him to change directions swiftly.

Having previously played running back in high school, he diagnoses run plays exceptionally quickly and, once he sees where the ball is, disengages with blockers and accelerates toward the ball carrier.

He’s a sideline-to-sideline runner at great speed much like Roquan Smith but with size more comparable to Lorenzo Carter, Leonard Floyd, or Davin Bellamy (with the edge rush ability to match). Changing direction and honing in on tailbacks at his size is difficult to fathom.

In other words, he’s a jack-of-all trades and master of a few of them.

This presents the question: where will he line up within the Dawgs’ defensive front? The answer is: likely a little bit of everywhere.