Second-year surge: Georgia EDGE C.J. Madden

The summer is here and Kirby Smart’s eighth Georgia football team is putting in a lot of work behind closed doors. The entire 2023 class has arrived on campus and the Bulldogs are marching toward history.

A third consecutive National Championship, in the modern era, is unprecedented. But so was a back-to-back titles in the playoff era. In order for Georgia to stay on top of the mountain, it’ll have to rely on some players heading into their second season.

With that in mind, DawgsHQ is rolling out a series where we look at every scholarship player who is entering year two. Next up is an EDGE defender who was banged up last year but could be in line for serious minutes in year two.

EDGE C.J. Madden

Size: 6-foot-4 230 pounds

On3 Industry Ranking: No. 370 overall, No. 37 in EDGE, and No. 33 in Georgia

2022 Stats: Played in just one game vs. Samford and ended up having shoulder surgery that ended his 2023 season

Madden’s strengths and weaknesses…

He’s listed at 230 but we saw him this spring and he’s bigger than that. Madden is a big body at the EDGE position and fits the mold of the old-school weak-side defensive end. In fact, he might have been considered a strong-side guy in the previous way of categorizing edge players.

One of the first things we heard about Madden when he enrolled is that he’s willing to stick his face into the fan. He likes contact and takes on blocks well. Odds are that he’s going to end up playing more of a defensive end role down the road but he was moved to outside linebacker this spring because of a lack of experience there.

If he wants to play a high number of snaps, Madden is going to have to develop as a pass rusher. He can penetrate with quickness and power but he’s not great at beating blocks quickly. That’s something he’ll need to improve upon.

The Buzz…

All of the chatter on Madden this spring was fairly positive. You don’t hear anyone talking about how he’s falling behind or won’t help out. But you also don’t hear anyone talking about him making massive strides. Maybe that’s because he’s a tad out of position with the outside ‘backers because he really is put together like a guy who can play the five-technique (outside eye of the tackle) or 4i (inside shoulder of the tackle).

In 2023…

He’s going to have to fight for playing time. Chaz Chambliss is a similar player. Both are physical run defenders. Marvin Jones Jr. has the potential to pass both of those guys up but he’s going to have to play fast and put January shoulder surgery behind him quickly. The Bulldogs will probably use a by-committee approach early in the year and those who improve the most will play more as the season goes on.

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