The NFL draft begins tonight. And while it isn’t going to be as stacked with Georgia football players as it usually is, there are a few Dawgs who are looking to fulfill their dreams of becoming a professional football player.
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Unfortunately it’s not looking like many Georgia football are going to be drafted. Fortunately, the main reason for this is the number of players who could have entered the draft, but chose to return to play for the Dawgs instead.
Safety Dominick Sanders, linebackers Lorenzo Carter and Devin Bellamy, and star running backs Nick Chubb and Sony Michel all passed up big paydays to return to Athens. Every one of those guys would have been drafted and potentially had big NFL careers.
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So let’s look at the few Dawgs players who will perhaps get a shot starting this weekend to make money on Sundays and turn football into a great paying job. This list will be much longer in 2018, but here’s my ridiculously short Bulldog NFL mock draft.
Isaiah McKenzie
Round 6, pick 197. Yep. That’s it. The junior wide receiver is the only UGA player I feel confident will even be drafted this year . While it will probably be on Day 3 of the draft, someone will definitely take a chance on McKenzie.
His 4.4 40-speed and dynamic play making ability both as a kick returner and a wide receiver make him a very interesting late round pick. At 5’7″ and 173 pounds, he isn’t amazing NFL scouts with his size, but he did lead the Dawgs in receiving yards in 2016 with 44 catches for 633 yards.
Then he was the most consistent kick returner in the SEC. His versatility and speed will get him an NFL contract.
Next: Predicting Georgia's 2017 depth chart after G-Day
Other Bulldogs
Greg Pyke, Brandon Kublanow, Tim Kimbrough, Grayson Lambert and Tyler Catalina are 5 others who are taking their shots at making the league. The only one I see having a legitimate shot of being taken in the draft is offensive lineman Greg Pyke. And if so, he will be a seventh rounder.
But it also wouldn’t surprise me if none of these names are called during the seven rounds of the draft. They’re all more likely looking at trying to get signed as undrafted free agents.