CJ Allen's debut as a starter at linebacker on the Georgia football defense came in a top 10 matchup last season against Ole Miss, and he stuck in the lineup for the final four games, too.

Raylen Wilson joined him for the Orange Bowl matchup with Florida State, putting two true freshmen on the field as starters at inside linebacker.

Seven and a half months later, the pair have gone through offseason workouts, their second spring practices after being mid-year enrollees in 2023 and, now, two weeks of preseason practices.

“They’re starting to recognize things more on the offense,” tight end Oscar Delp said. “They’re playing fast and making plays. They’re not scared to stick their face in there. They’re going to be two really good guys to help us this year.”

Smael Mondon, the senior with 155 career tackles who had 3 sacks last season, will of course be a big factor at the position. He’s the Georgia player on the preseason Butkus Award list for nation’s top linebacker. So is Jamon Dumas-Johnson, who transferred after last season to Kentucky where there’s a clearer path for playing time.

After all, Georgia has a future NFL talent in Jalon Walker who plays both inside and outside linebacker and is ranked as the No. 4 linebacker by The Athletic's draft analyst Dane Brugler.

Waiting in the wings are freshman five-stars Justin Williams and Chris Cole, ranked as the Nos. 1 and 3 linebackers nationally in 2024 by the 247Sports Composite. Sophomore Troy Bowles also returns.

Georgia coach Kirby Smart sees Allen and Wilson looking more comfortable as the season approaches.

Wilson’s playing time increased late in the season after Mondon missed time with a foot injury.

“They've been thrusted into the limelight, had to play earlier, probably before they were ready to be honest,” Smart said. “You grow up when you have to do that. The amount of time, I think you forget sometimes what year they are. It happens to me all the time. I think Raylen and CJ are like experienced vets on our team because they're in the upper echelon of play time and upper echelon in terms of years here because the majority of our team is young. ... You've got to grow up fast with the way this thing is now because young players have to be ready to play."

Allen easily doubled the number of snaps he had played in any SEC game when he started against Ole Miss for Dumas-Johnson, who was out with a broken forearm. He was in coverage on a 33-yard completion but also rang up his first sack coming up the middle and led the team with nine tackles.

Allen, a 6-foot-1, 235-pound Barnesville native, was named a freshman All-American after finishing with 41 tackles on the season, fifth most of the team.

Wilson was named to the SEC All-Freshman team after a season in which he had 15 tackles with a sack against Kentucky.

“They’ve grown tremendously throughout the spring and I can’t wait to watch them throughout the season," Jalon Wilson said. "I feel like we took a great stride in the inside linebacker room of focusing and honing in on our details.”

Defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann said the two took over “heightened leadership roles” in Orange Bowl practices and this spring.

“They've only grown from that,” he said. “I think you’ve seen an increased confidence in them, and those guys are really mature beyond their years in terms of how they prepare, so they've been growing every day. I'm excited about how they're going to play this year.”

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: UGA football sees big things in Year 2 for CJ Allen, Raylen Wilson