Georgia football: Justin Shaffer will make a promising late-round pick in 2022 NFL Draft

Georgia football has the potential to see 10 or more guys drafted in the upcoming 2022 NFL Draft. A good chunk of those guys could go early, but some could get picked up in the later rounds.

One of the guys that could get picked up in the fourth-seventh round is offensive guard Justin Shaffer. He has a lot of potential to be an NFL guy but hasn’t always gotten to show it on the field.

Shaffer is one of those guys who love Georgia so much, and he stuck around even when things didn’t look so great. He fought hard to get back from a neck injury and became a starter, which shows his work ethic. That determination is one reason he will be someone that surprises whoever picks him up in the draft or free agency.

Georgia football guard Justin Shaffer will be a solid late-round pickup in the 2022 NFL Draft.

The Dawgs picked up Shaffer way back in 2017 as a three-star guard. He ranked on 247Sports as the No. 23 overall guard and No. 39 player in Georiga.

A middle-of-the-row prospect, Shaffer has gotten to work with two solid offensive line coaches in Sam Pittman and Matt Luke. He has put in a lot of work to improve and get where he is now.

The redshirt senior finished his career in Athens with a national championship ring and got named to the AP and Coaches All-SEC Second Team. He started all 15 games for the Dawgs and played the second-most reps behind Georgia’s center, Sedrick Van Pran.

Shaffer has a mean streak at times, but it’s perfect and could use some more work on a few things. However, a team could take a risk on him later in the draft.

According to Pro Football network’s scouting report, his stock rose after this past season as so many people wanted to know who was pile driving guys during the season.

He may have the attitude and demeanor teams want out of a player, and his inconsistency makes us feel like he will be a later choice or someone a team picks up in the free agency.

Shaffer will get a chance to prove himself at the NFL Combine this coming week and could be someone who improves his draft stock drastically with a solid performance.

After a decent Senior Bowl performance, his stock rose a little more, but there are a lot of things that Shaffer could improve on before the Combine and Draft.

Justin Shaffer’s strengths and weaknesses

He is a guy that can look like a stud one minute and two plays later Shaffer will make you scratch your head wondering what is going on.

Shaffer has great size for a guard at 6-4 and 326-pounds. He can move people when he can stay connected, that nasty demeanor is fun to watch, he has great balance by sliding his feet close to the ground, and he always finds work in pass protection.

One thing he needs to work on is getting out of his stance to pull. Shaffer also lacks lateral quickness, and sometimes his hands can be unfocused. He could be more athletic too, but these are things that Shaffer could get better at with a little more work.

If he could learn how to limit his mistakes, Shaffer could find himself with a relatively long career in the NFL.

Where could Justin Shaffer land in the 2022 NFL Draft

Shaffer could go as early as the third round, but I’m expecting him to go in the fourth or fifth round just to be safe. He could improve on that at the NFL Combine, but only time will let us know if that will be the case.

Some teams who need help at the guard position are the New England Patriots, the Washington Commanders and the Tennessee Titans.

It’s hard to speculate who could pick up Shaffer, but he should be one of many Dawgs taken in this 2022 NFL Draft. However, whoever grabs him will get a hard worker that could surprise them.