It’s fortunate for Georgia that Chaz Chambliss feels like a ‘whole different player’ than he was a year ago because his role certainly will be.

Chambliss, who spent his first two years behind two future NFL draft picks on the depth chart, enters year three as the only upperclassman in the outside linebacker room.

Chambliss’ situation is certainly unique, as outside linebacker is Georgia’s only position with no seniors and just one junior.

That’s where Chambliss’ experience in the second half of the 2022 season comes to play.

The junior, who abruptly stepped into star linebacker Nolan Smith’s spot after Smith tore his pectoral muscle against Florida, used the first significant snaps of his career to settle into UGA’s defense.

Chambliss totaled 14 tackles and two sacks in the last eight games after Smith’s injury. He had just one tackle through the season’s first seven games.

“I feel like a whole different player from the beginning to the end,” Chambliss said. “From Oregon to Ohio State to TCU, it feels like a whole different game.”

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