From OnlineAthens.com
April 26th, 2016 01:13 PM
The NFL draft starting Thursday night will provide three days of live programming for the second straight year from Chicago for ESPN and the NFL Network.
Former Georgia wide receiver Malcolm Mitchell flew to that city recently to film a segment on the “Steve Harvey” show about the children’s book he wrote. It airs Wednesday on Fox 5 Atlanta at 3 p.m.
Mitchell and the rest of Georgia’s draft hopefuls may want to grab a book to read as they settle in for the draft and wait to hear their name called sometime before Saturday night.
“Time’s really been ticking,” outside linebacker Jordan Jenkins said in Mid-March at Georgia’s Pro Day “I’m definitely getting anxious and nervous.”
Outside linebacker Leonard Floyd is pegged to be selected on Thursday when the first round is held and five Georgia players in all are projected to be selected in the seven-round draft, according to a full mock draft by Dane Brugler of CBSSports.com. Chad Reuter of NFL.com has four former Bulldogs going.
Each has Jenkins in the third round. Mitchell is slotted in the fourth by Reuter and fifth by Brugler.
Running back Keith Marshall is seen going in the sixth round by Reuter and seventh by Brugler who also has offensive tackle John Theus in the sixth. In another seven-round mock, nose guard Chris Mayes and defensive end Sterling Bailey are projected to go in the fifth round by Peter Schrager of FoxSports.com
The 6-foot-3, 259-pound Jenkins’ workouts included with the Raiders, Saints and Patriots.
“He’s a really good athlete, but will he be able to finish at the pro level and get those sacks?” ESPN’s Mel Kiper said of a player who had 19 sacks at Georgia. “He’s not Justin Houston, who was a third-round steal. He’s not as explosive as Houston but I think he still goes third or fourth round. A solid-round stopper, he’ll get you some hurries, he’ll be disruptive but how many sacks he’ll get will be debatable.”
Mitchell said the lead up to the draft didn’t allow him a chance to get much sleep in with a hectic schedule that includes his “Read with Malcolm” program with youth which allows him to “share what I’m passionate about,” he said
“My life has been interesting this past couple of months,” Mitchell said. “Football is always primary, though. I spend about eight to 10 hours (a day) working on football…After that, I do other stuff I enjoy as far as the book goes.”
Mitchell had a bounceback senior season after a season-ending ACL injury in 2013.
“When he settled in, I thought he put up some good numbers,” Kiper said of leading the team with 58 catches for 865 yards and five touchdowns. “He’s a kid that ran a lot better than people thought he would at 4.45. Most probably projected him to be 4.55…He made a lot of really highlight-film catches. He’s a great athlete. I think he’s as good or better prospect than Chris Conley was so I’ll say third round.”
About five teams, he said, have looked at the possibility of Mitchell as a defensive back.
Marshall opened eyes when he ran the fastest 40 time of any players at the NFL combine when he recorded a 4.31, but knee injuries and having Todd Gurley, Nick Chubb and Sony Michel at the position contributed to decreased production as his college career wound down.
“There’s two different speeds that we look at,” Houston Texans general manager Rick Smith said at a pre-draft news conference. “We try to estimate how fast a guy plays and we want to know how fast he can run a 40. Just straight out how much speed does he have? There are guys who run 4.48 that play at 4.48 and guys that run at 4.3 they don’t play that fast.”
Other former Georgia players who could be priority free agents if they aren’t late round draft picks include inside linebacker Jake Ganus, who said he was voted special teams captain at the Senior Bowl by the Jacksonville Jaguars coaches, kicker Marshall Morgan and defensive linemen Josh Dawson and James DeLoach. Tight end Jay Rome, fullback Quayvon Hicks, offensive tackle Kolton Houston, long snapper Nathan Theus and punter Collin Barber also are pursuing pro careers.
“I can run the defense, I can be a leader in the locker room, I can do those kind of things for a team,” Ganus said. “Coaches know that. All I need is that one team to find that valuable enough to take me.”
...READ MORE HERE...
April 26th, 2016 01:13 PM
The NFL draft starting Thursday night will provide three days of live programming for the second straight year from Chicago for ESPN and the NFL Network.
Former Georgia wide receiver Malcolm Mitchell flew to that city recently to film a segment on the “Steve Harvey” show about the children’s book he wrote. It airs Wednesday on Fox 5 Atlanta at 3 p.m.
Mitchell and the rest of Georgia’s draft hopefuls may want to grab a book to read as they settle in for the draft and wait to hear their name called sometime before Saturday night.
“Time’s really been ticking,” outside linebacker Jordan Jenkins said in Mid-March at Georgia’s Pro Day “I’m definitely getting anxious and nervous.”
Outside linebacker Leonard Floyd is pegged to be selected on Thursday when the first round is held and five Georgia players in all are projected to be selected in the seven-round draft, according to a full mock draft by Dane Brugler of CBSSports.com. Chad Reuter of NFL.com has four former Bulldogs going.
Each has Jenkins in the third round. Mitchell is slotted in the fourth by Reuter and fifth by Brugler.
Running back Keith Marshall is seen going in the sixth round by Reuter and seventh by Brugler who also has offensive tackle John Theus in the sixth. In another seven-round mock, nose guard Chris Mayes and defensive end Sterling Bailey are projected to go in the fifth round by Peter Schrager of FoxSports.com
The 6-foot-3, 259-pound Jenkins’ workouts included with the Raiders, Saints and Patriots.
“He’s a really good athlete, but will he be able to finish at the pro level and get those sacks?” ESPN’s Mel Kiper said of a player who had 19 sacks at Georgia. “He’s not Justin Houston, who was a third-round steal. He’s not as explosive as Houston but I think he still goes third or fourth round. A solid-round stopper, he’ll get you some hurries, he’ll be disruptive but how many sacks he’ll get will be debatable.”
Mitchell said the lead up to the draft didn’t allow him a chance to get much sleep in with a hectic schedule that includes his “Read with Malcolm” program with youth which allows him to “share what I’m passionate about,” he said
“My life has been interesting this past couple of months,” Mitchell said. “Football is always primary, though. I spend about eight to 10 hours (a day) working on football…After that, I do other stuff I enjoy as far as the book goes.”
Mitchell had a bounceback senior season after a season-ending ACL injury in 2013.
“When he settled in, I thought he put up some good numbers,” Kiper said of leading the team with 58 catches for 865 yards and five touchdowns. “He’s a kid that ran a lot better than people thought he would at 4.45. Most probably projected him to be 4.55…He made a lot of really highlight-film catches. He’s a great athlete. I think he’s as good or better prospect than Chris Conley was so I’ll say third round.”
About five teams, he said, have looked at the possibility of Mitchell as a defensive back.
Marshall opened eyes when he ran the fastest 40 time of any players at the NFL combine when he recorded a 4.31, but knee injuries and having Todd Gurley, Nick Chubb and Sony Michel at the position contributed to decreased production as his college career wound down.
“There’s two different speeds that we look at,” Houston Texans general manager Rick Smith said at a pre-draft news conference. “We try to estimate how fast a guy plays and we want to know how fast he can run a 40. Just straight out how much speed does he have? There are guys who run 4.48 that play at 4.48 and guys that run at 4.3 they don’t play that fast.”
Other former Georgia players who could be priority free agents if they aren’t late round draft picks include inside linebacker Jake Ganus, who said he was voted special teams captain at the Senior Bowl by the Jacksonville Jaguars coaches, kicker Marshall Morgan and defensive linemen Josh Dawson and James DeLoach. Tight end Jay Rome, fullback Quayvon Hicks, offensive tackle Kolton Houston, long snapper Nathan Theus and punter Collin Barber also are pursuing pro careers.
“I can run the defense, I can be a leader in the locker room, I can do those kind of things for a team,” Ganus said. “Coaches know that. All I need is that one team to find that valuable enough to take me.”
...READ MORE HERE...
