Contact-loving Rice exciting to coach Smart
ATHENS, Ga. — After racking up 14 tackles during Georgia’s G-Day spring game Saturday afternoon, sophomore inside linebacker Monty Rice wanted to make one thing crystal clear.
He is not the next Roquan Smith. “I’m not looking at this as far as having to step into anybody’s shoes,” he said. “I’m Monty Rice, and I just want to help this team win and help this defense to play at a high level. We don’t want people to think that we had a lot of seniors leave and that we don’t have a good defense anymore.
“We have good players all over the field, and in the linebacker room we have seven good players. All of them can play at a high level.”
Rice had nine more tackles than any other Bulldogs defender before the announced gathering of 82,814, though some perspective is needed. The 6-foot-1, 235-pounder from Madison, Ala., played for the second-team defense and feasted on the second-team offense, including a 7-yard, down-by-contact sack of Justin Fields.
The first-team inside linebackers Saturday were senior Juwan Taylor and junior Tae Crowder, with senior Natrez Patrick working alongside Rice. Patrick is the program’s most experienced inside linebacker, having played 30 career games with 18 career starts, but he is working his way back from two marijuana-related suspensions last season.
Rice is the promising youngster of the bunch, and he drew praise from Bulldogs third-year coach Kirby Smart early Saturday evening.
“I thought Monty showed up and played well sideline to sideline,” Smart said. “He pulled his hamstring late in the game, but he’s a great kid. He’s one of those who when the lights come on and he gets the chance to play in front of somebody, he flashes more.
“He just loves the game. He loves contact, so he likes to hit.”
Smart could have been describing Smith with those comments, with Smith having tallied a whopping 137 tackles, 14 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks for last season’s Southeastern Conference champions. Smith also had two fumble recoveries in last December’s SEC title-game win over Auburn and became the first Butkus Award recipient in Georgia history.
Smith, who is bypassing his senior season and is a projected top-10 pick OVERSET FOLLOWS:in Thursday night’s opening round of the NFL draft, left plenty of highlights for Rice to study.
“I learned a lot from Roquan by just being out there and watching him play,” Rice said. “He’s a phenomenal athlete. I don’t know if you remember this play in the Rose Bowl, but he got pushed down and he maintained his balance and still made the tackle. He’s just a freak athlete, and I’m glad I got a year with him.
“When I first got here, we would have pre-practice walkthroughs to go over our plays every day, and he was always telling me what to do and what call to make. He was a very helpful guy.”
Rice enrolled early last year and wound up playing in 14 of Georgia’s 15 games, collecting 22 tackles and two tackles for loss. He even made a start as a freshman, getting the nod in the 53-28 triumph over Missouri.
Becoming “sharper” in the playbook and communicating better with the defensive backs are just two of the several goals Rice listed after his G-Day showing. He knows there is still much to accomplish, which will be evident once Thursday night’s draft coverage starts.
Rice said Georgia’s linebackers will be together whenever Smith gets selected.
“We’re all happy for him that he has this opportunity to play at the next level,” he said. “Getting to be able to play on Sundays is pretty cool.”
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.