2018 Draft Profiles for all Georgia Football players
John Atkins, NT:
How good was he in Athens?
‘Big John’ as he was known in Athens ended up producing a pretty solid UGA career. A run-stuffing defensive tackle, Atkins played a great deal throughout his career. He stayed at Georgia for 5 years and was a major part of the defensive line rotation over the past 3 seasons.
While he was never a great pass rusher, Atkins did a great job of eating space. He often attracted multiple blockers and helped free up the other linemen to make tackles. He was an understated player during his time in Athens but was a great leader. As an older player, be brought a sense of professionalism to the side and will be missed in 2018.
Could he be better in the pros?
Atkins will be one of the older players in the draft. He left high school in 2012 but had to spend a year at a military academy to improve his grades and come to UGA. He redshirted in his first year and so spent 5 years in Athens. During that time, he’s gotten his degree and had a child and he’s brought a strong work ethic to the program.
It’s hard to project Atkins like a lot of other players. He will have less time in the pros in his physical peak. However, he’s a guy who could come in right away and fit in for any team. The guy doesn’t have any growing up to do and he wasn’t starting all those games for Georgia as a charity case. He was a legitimately good nose tackle in the SEC and those are actually pretty rare.
Projected grade and landing spots:
Much like Sanders, Atkins could be a late-round pick. This is not a good draft for defensive tackles and so while he has limitations, I can see a team that needs some depth turning to him. He’s not someone who needs time to develop or mature. You can plug him in on day one and he could be a decent part of a defensive rotation.
I can see a team like the Jaguars or the Patriots taking a shot with him. You know what you get with Atkins and there is value to that. Like Sanders, I think that his success at UGA will lead to him getting picked. He’s not going to be an under the radar UDFA and will get plenty of offers if he goes undrafted.