From OnlineAthens.com
April 25th, 2016 11:41 AM
From Offensive Rookie of the Year Todd Gurley to All-Pro Geno Atkins to five-time Pro Bowler A.J. Green, the NFL talent from Georgia's football program runs deep and goes far beyond those headliners.
Sending guys to the NFL was never the issue during Mark Richt’s 15 seasons. No, Georgia made a coaching change because despite producing all those next level players, the Bulldogs never won a national title and last won an SEC championship in 2005.
In fact in the 10 drafts since then, Georgia ranked fifth in players selected with 54, trailing only Southern California, LSU, Alabama and Florida State, according to data compiled by LSU.
Outside linebacker Leonard Floyd is poised on Thursday to become the 13th first-round draft pick drafted from Georgia who played under Richt.
This year’s group of former Bulldogs will add to the 79 already drafted who played for Richt from 2001 to 2015.
Now the head coach at Miami, Richt said last week he will keep tabs during the three-day draft of players he recruited that played for him.
“Yeah, I'll be interested in what happens with the former players at Georgia I coached and the current Miami men that will be getting drafted or getting free agent opportunities,” he said. “I don't know if I'll be glued to the TV, but it will be on and I might be going about doing this, that or the other and checking in on it every so often. But I do keep a pretty good eye on what's going on.”
Kirby Smart, who replaced Richt at Georgia, comes from a program that is set to have a player drafted in the first round for the eighth straight season. That would rank as the third longest streak dating back to the start of the common draft in 1967.
Alabama is promoting in the lead up to the draft that 17 of its players have gone in the first round under coach Nick Saban dating back to the 2009 draft.
Georgia had six first-rounders selected since 2006. Four of those have been offensive players.
“Over the years Georgia was known for elite athletes and at pretty much every position,” said NFL Nework draft analyst Mike Mayock, who has attended some UGA Pro Days in Athens. “You look at their team this year, and you see a Leonard Floyd, you see a (Jordan) Jenkins, they always have guys that just are highly, highly athletic.”
The positions out of the early rounds (one through three) that produced the most NFL draft picks from Georgia that Richt coached are linebacker with eight, followed by defensive linemen with seven and defensive backs with five.
Defensive line and defensive back tied for most draftees in all with 16 each. Offensive line was the position with the most draftees on offense with nine but second-rounder Cordy Glenn in 2012 is the only Georgia offensive lineman to go in the first three rounds since George Foster and Jon Stinchcomb went in rounds 1 and 2 in 2003.
Nine from Alabama who played on defense under Smart as coordinator were first-round picks. Another three--linebacker Reggie Ragland and defensive tackles A’Shawn Robinson and Jarran Reed--are projected to go in the first round Thursday.
“I think what you’re going to see with Kirby Smart, I would imagine it's a little bit more of the Saban influence where more than any other school in the country they're physically intense, physically tough, premium is spent on competing at practice every day,” Mayock said. “And I think you're going to see a little more of that at Georgia. Regardless, the talent is always outstanding there, and I don't think that's going to change.”
...READ MORE HERE...
April 25th, 2016 11:41 AM
From Offensive Rookie of the Year Todd Gurley to All-Pro Geno Atkins to five-time Pro Bowler A.J. Green, the NFL talent from Georgia's football program runs deep and goes far beyond those headliners.
Sending guys to the NFL was never the issue during Mark Richt’s 15 seasons. No, Georgia made a coaching change because despite producing all those next level players, the Bulldogs never won a national title and last won an SEC championship in 2005.
In fact in the 10 drafts since then, Georgia ranked fifth in players selected with 54, trailing only Southern California, LSU, Alabama and Florida State, according to data compiled by LSU.
Outside linebacker Leonard Floyd is poised on Thursday to become the 13th first-round draft pick drafted from Georgia who played under Richt.
This year’s group of former Bulldogs will add to the 79 already drafted who played for Richt from 2001 to 2015.
Now the head coach at Miami, Richt said last week he will keep tabs during the three-day draft of players he recruited that played for him.
“Yeah, I'll be interested in what happens with the former players at Georgia I coached and the current Miami men that will be getting drafted or getting free agent opportunities,” he said. “I don't know if I'll be glued to the TV, but it will be on and I might be going about doing this, that or the other and checking in on it every so often. But I do keep a pretty good eye on what's going on.”
Kirby Smart, who replaced Richt at Georgia, comes from a program that is set to have a player drafted in the first round for the eighth straight season. That would rank as the third longest streak dating back to the start of the common draft in 1967.
Alabama is promoting in the lead up to the draft that 17 of its players have gone in the first round under coach Nick Saban dating back to the 2009 draft.
Georgia had six first-rounders selected since 2006. Four of those have been offensive players.
“Over the years Georgia was known for elite athletes and at pretty much every position,” said NFL Nework draft analyst Mike Mayock, who has attended some UGA Pro Days in Athens. “You look at their team this year, and you see a Leonard Floyd, you see a (Jordan) Jenkins, they always have guys that just are highly, highly athletic.”
The positions out of the early rounds (one through three) that produced the most NFL draft picks from Georgia that Richt coached are linebacker with eight, followed by defensive linemen with seven and defensive backs with five.
Defensive line and defensive back tied for most draftees in all with 16 each. Offensive line was the position with the most draftees on offense with nine but second-rounder Cordy Glenn in 2012 is the only Georgia offensive lineman to go in the first three rounds since George Foster and Jon Stinchcomb went in rounds 1 and 2 in 2003.
Nine from Alabama who played on defense under Smart as coordinator were first-round picks. Another three--linebacker Reggie Ragland and defensive tackles A’Shawn Robinson and Jarran Reed--are projected to go in the first round Thursday.
“I think what you’re going to see with Kirby Smart, I would imagine it's a little bit more of the Saban influence where more than any other school in the country they're physically intense, physically tough, premium is spent on competing at practice every day,” Mayock said. “And I think you're going to see a little more of that at Georgia. Regardless, the talent is always outstanding there, and I don't think that's going to change.”
...READ MORE HERE...
