Dewberry "has the talent it takes"

ATHENS – Former Peach County star Darius Dewberry had to wait a while to finally arrive in Athens, and it looks like his payoff will be immediate playing time.

“I would think we’ll see some of Dewberry, probably early on in special teams, and maybe on some field snaps,” Coach Mark Richt said Wednesday. “There’s no question he’s got the talent it takes. It’s just a matter of how long is it going to take for him to understand the game well enough for our coaches to feel comfortable with him getting playing time.”

Dewberry was considered the fifth-best linebacker in the country by Scout.com when he came out of Fort Valley in 2004, but he spent the 2005 season at Hargrave Military Academy after failing to qualify academically.

“It’s boring up there, but it’s worth it when you get here,” he said. “I’ve been looking forward to this for, I don’t know, probably three years.”

The move of Brandon Miller to weakside linebacker has given Dewberry more repetitions behind Danny Verdun Wheeler at strongside linebacker. That greatly increases his chances of being a factor this year, Richt said.

“Dew has shown a great work ethic right now,” linebackers coach John Jancek said. “He’s picking up things very well for a freshman. Everything is very positive with him right now at this point.”