UGA football: The Bulldogs’ top 2021 NFL Draft prospects

UGA football had seven players taken in the 2020 NFL Draft, but the Bulldogs may break a program record at the 2021 draft.

UGA football has one of the best groups of upperclassmen in recent memory. Once the youngest team in the SEC is now one of the most mature teams. With that maturity should come more success on the field, but will certainly produce more picks in the 2021 NFL Draft.

The school record for the most players taken in the NFL draft is eight (2002 and 2013). The 2020 UGA football team has the potential to shatter that record. Here are Georgia’s best prospects for the 2021 NFL Draft.

Monty Rice was so close to being NFL ready after the 2019 season, but there are just a few parts of his game he needs to clean up such as pass coverage over the middle. The rest of Rice’s game is solid. He flies all over the field making tackles and is always near the ball at the end of each play, which is why he led the team with 89 tackles and won the defensive MVP award. The SEC coaches noticed Rice’s impact as well and placed him on the All-SEC second team.

Rice is the kind of inside linebacker every NFL team looks for. It’s such an important position on defense because of the range and leadership that’s expected out of its players. At the college level, Rice is one of the best. Expect Rice off the board early in next year’s draft.

Expect to hear Richard LeCounte’s name soon after Rice’s on the first day of the draft. LeCounte is another player who contemplated leaving early but ultimately chose to stay to round out his game. According to Bill Bender of Sporting News, LeCounte’s game doesn’t lack much because Bender has LeCounte as the top safety in the 2021 draft.

LeCounte is a playmaker at safety and he takes being near the ball to a different level. When LeCounte isn’t making tackles, he is creating turnovers either by intercepting passes or recovering fumbles.

Yeah, Jamie Newman hasn’t played a down of UGA football yet, but that doesn’t matter, Newman is a future NFL quarterback. He has all of the physical tools, a year of playing under quarterbacks coach/offensive coordinator Todd Monken to polish his game is all he needs.

Newman has a strong arm that he uses for more than just deep passes. He throws with a lot of velocity, which makes him more accurate because the ball doesn’t leave its desired path. Newman is a dual-threat quarterback, possessing rushing abilities that are as good as any dual-threat quarterback in the 2021 draft. Best of all, Newman is a patient dual-threat passer. He doesn’t take off after a few reads, he keeps his eyes down looking for receivers and he doesn’t start running forward until he’s exhausted all options.

Jordan Davis is a monster. The junior nose guard is 6-6 and 330 lbs. of power and athleticism. Davis is probably the best interior defensive lineman in the SEC. He is a difficult player to block and demands double teams on running plays. Davis is a big reason why teams don’t have success on the ground against Georgia.

He’s spent his first two seasons in Athens improving against pass blocks and he’s come a long way. Coaches used to pull Davis out on obvious passing situations, but he started playing in more of those situations late in the 2019 season. It’s not likely Davis will stay for his senior season.