Georgia Football: DL Jonathan Ledbetter blows second chance

Georgia football head coach Kirby Smart doesn’t have a game under his belt in Athens, but he is already faced with a difficult decision: Should he keep Jonathan Ledbetter on his squad after his second arrest in five months?

Ledbetter, who came to the Bulldogs as a four-star defensive line recruit in 2015, was arrested early Sunday morning for suspicion of driving under the influence and underage possession of alcohol. It’s his second arrest this year, and both have been alcohol-related.

In March, Ledbetter was booked for possession of a fake ID and underage possession of alcohol. Smart announced Ledbetter would be suspended for the team’s opener, only for the misdemeanor charges to later be dropped after the prosecutor determined the arresting officers gathered information on Ledbetter’s age illegally.

After that, Smart would not say whether Ledbetter’s suspension would be rescinded, but it seemed for the most part that Ledbetter, who played in seven games in 2015, would move past the incident and continue to play for the Bulldogs.

Sunday’s arrest changes all that. Since Smart has taken over the program, Georgia players have been arrested eight times, with Chad Clay and Chauncey Rivers each getting charged twice. Both have since been dismissed from the program.

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Going off that standard, it would seem that Ledbetter’s time at Georgia is coming to a close. But the circumstances involving each player have been significantly different. Clay was arrested for theft and possession of a weapon in a school zone (it was a BB gun, but still), while Rivers was charged with possession of marijuana both times, in addition to an older arrest for the same thing.

No one is arguing that driving under the influence isn’t a spectacularly stupid and dangerous thing to do, and Ledbetter should at least be suspended multiple games for his offenses. But I wouldn’t be surprised if Smart decides to limit the punishment to just that and let Ledbetter stay with the program.

For one, Smart can decide to discount Ledbetter’s first arrest because the charges were dropped. That’s a pretty technical argument and probably not the way Smart would try to sell his decision if he stays, but some Georgia fans are already pointing to it as an excuse.

Beyond that, some will argue, and Smart might decide, that Ledbetter’s arrests, while certainly the result of foolish decisions and immaturity, do not approach the severity of Clay’s or River’s. That’s a tough judgement call to make and might smack of too much leniency to some, but the fact of the matter is that Ledbetter’s drinking is hardly a unique phenomenon among college sophomores.

Because of that, Smart may decide to make this situation more educational than punitive. Perhaps instead of dismissing Ledbetter, he’ll require community service or rehab of some sort.

Ledbetter is a talented player who was in competition to start for the Bulldogs through spring practice. Georgia lost its top two tacklers along the defensive line from last season. Losing Ledbetter as well would be a significant blow for Smart and the Georgia defense.

But Smart has already shown with the previous two dismissals he’s willing to let good football players go if the circumstances call for it.

From an outsider’s perspective, it’s easy to say Smart should dump Ledbetter. The optics of keeping him would certainly be a headache, and as a new coach trying to establish himself, Smart will probably want to send a message about what is and isn’t tolerated under his leadership.

But without knowing the specifics of Ledbetter’s situation, none of us can say with any certainty what the best decision for the young man is. It’s easy to forget that sometimes.

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What’s far more troubling than this one specific instance, however, is the high rate of arrests within the program. Smart needs to take control of his program, plain and simple. How exactly he does that is up to him.