Georgia football: Winners and losers of the NFL Combine

The Georgia football winners from the 2022 NFL Combine

Georgia football won the NFL Combine, and before anyone acts like they didn’t, it doesn’t matter. The Dawgs took Indianapolis over by storm and proved what hard work and development could do for a program.

There is a reason Georgia demoralized 14 of their 15 opponents, and that is because of the freak-talent people saw last week at the Combine.

The winners of the 2022 NFL Combine are the Georgia players in general. All 11 that participated elevated their stock or proved why any mock draft before the Combine wasn’t accurate. The Dawgs are flat-out talented, and they showed that among the other players participating.

While we can’t list every great thing, here are the two winners for the NFL Combine.

Winner: Georgia football and that 40-yard dash

Instead of giving each guy a winning tag, it’s only fitting that we combine them all into one big section. Georgia got so much attention because of this group of 11 players that ran the 40-yard dash. The other workouts were great too, but this speed is unmatchable and worthy of greatness.

Georgia saw 11 guys run in the 40, and only one ran higher than a 4.78. Justin Shaffer finished with a 5.14 40-yard dash, which is good for him.

The Dawgs’ running back duo and George Pickens showed off their speed first. Zamir White clocked a 4.4 40-yard dash while James Cook beat his brother Dalvin’s time and posted a 4.42. Pickens ran a 4.47 40, showing that he is much faster than people remember. His performance also signified how important Ron Courson, head of the sports medicine department at Georgia, is to the program.

They took the right amount of time to rehab Pickens and didn’t rush anything. That patience paid off for the receiver at the NFL Combine, and he could sneak into the lower half of the first round or will be a high Day 2 pick.

Both running backs proved that the RBU title is still intact with their times. Cook deserves more respect for his name because that ceiling is way higher than his stats provide, but we all know that by now. White may have helped himself with his 40-yard time after two ACL injuries, and now it’s a waiting game.

The three defensive linemen heated things up for the Dawgs as Travon Walker ran a 4.51 40-yard dash at 275-pounds. He put on a show and did some of his best work on the right day. Devonte Wyatt ran a 4.77, and Jordan Davis ran a 4.78 — to both be over 300-pounds. Those 40-times sparked so much noise that Davis ended up trending on Twitter.

Jake Camarda proved he is a quick punter as he clocked a 4.56 40-yard time. Who would have thought the punter would be that fast, but of course, he is because every Georgia player was that fast.

The linebackers made themselves some money as Channing Tindall ran a 4.47 — but we expected that after watching him run down countless opponents to tackle them in the open field. Quay Walker ran a 4.52, which should elevate his stock some too.

Georgia made noise in the 40-yard dash, and it’s safe to say it will make this group a lot of money.

Winner: Lewis Cine

Before anyone mentions we left Cine out of the 40-yard dash section above, we thought he deserved his own moment for what he did at the NFL Combine. Cine clocked a 4.37 40-yard dash, marking the fastest among Georgia players and safeties.

When he ran that thing, it was incredibly athletic and so smooth. He edged out Notre Dame safety Kyle Hamilton by a mile with his speed and gritty playing style.

Some still claim Hamilton edges out Cine, but we disagree after seeing how hard he worked on Sunday. Because that raw talent is coachable, Cine should go first-round and ahead of Hamilton.

Whoever picks him up can fine-tune him, but that speed isn’t going anywhere. It wasn’t just his remarkable speed, but the 36.5″ vertical and 11’1″ broad jump. Those are first-round grades and will make some history by getting taken early.

This year’s NFL Combine will make history for Georgia football in producing the best draft class to ever come out of Athens. The next month is going to be fun watching mock drafts figure out where teams could take a Georgia player, because 14 of the 15 are getting picked up by some NFL team.