The 2017 Georgia Football team is going to be sending plenty of its stars to the NFL and one of them is LB Lorenzo Carter.
What a difference a year makes! In 2017, Georgia went into the NFL draft with only one prospect who had a shot at being drafted. Just a year later, there’s a chance that UGA could end up seeing a record number of players drafted in a single year. I wouldn’t put it past the Dawgs to go in to double digits this class if a few things break their way.
All of this means that there is plenty for Dawg fans to get excited about. A lot of their former favorites are about to start their new careers. So to celebrate, we’re going to do a breakdown of each player who could end up getting drafted.
Much like the real draft, we’re going to be starting at the top of the class and working our way down. Today, we’re looking at the second best linebacker on UGA’s team last year, Lorenzo Carter.
How good was he in Athens?
Carter had a bit of an up and down career at Georgia, but it ended with a bang. He came into the program as one of the top-ranked players in the country. As a 5-star player, Carter was one of the highest ranked prospects Mark Richt ever signed.
His freshman season was loaded with promise and he had 4.5 sacks. He showed real flashes of the potential we would later see and a lot of people expected him to become a top pass rusher. The following year, Carter slumped. He managed only 19 tackles on the season, none of which were for a loss. When Kirby Smart arrived, there were a lot of questions about whether Carter could be the player that came in with all the hype.
His Junior season was better. He had 5 sacks and 2 forced fumbles in a bounce-back year. While that was certainly better than his sophomore year, Carter still was yet to reach his potential. His physical traits meant that many still expected him to go pro. But alongside several other key players, he returned for his senior year.
That turned out to be a great decision for both Carter and Georgia. In 2017, he morphed into a ‘do it all’ linebacker who was a key feature for one of the best teams in the nation. He rushed the passer, defended the run and also played a key role in coverage when needed. Carter also became one of the biggest leaders on the team and his blocked field goal in the Rose Bowl will go down in UGA folklore.