Georgia football set records in the 2022 NFL Draft, and they could be doing more of the same in 2023. Could Georgia have another historic draft class?
In last year’s NFL Draft a Georgia Bulldog, Travon Walker was taken as the No. 1 overall pick by the Jacksonville Jaguars, which was a tremendous endorsement of the job that Kirby Smart and his coaching team had achieved.
As with the back-to-back National Championships Georgia has won, there is a real possibility that Georgia will have back-to-back No. 1 NFL draft picks.
The 2022 NFL Draft saw 15 Bulldogs selected, with five going in the first round. Here is a look at some potential 2023 first-round picks that could come from the Georgia football roster
Georgia football 2023 NFL Draft class: DL Jalen Carter could be a perfect fit in Chicago
Currently, the Chicago Bears have the first pick of the draft. With Justin Fields being their quarterback for the foreseeable future, it is highly unlikely that they try to grab one of the quarterbacks in this draft.
This gives Chicago the luxury of picking the best player available or trading out of the first pick to allow a team to jump ahead of their rivals to grab the quarterback of choice. With so many teams seemingly desperate for QB, this is a likely scenario and the Bears would be silly not to snatch the bag of gold on offer.
But here’s the thing – the first pick has only been traded away twice in the last 22 years and Chicago hasn’t had the first pick in the draft since 1947. In fact, Chicago has only had the first pick twice – first in 1940 and then seven years later.
So frankly, with so much pressure on this pick, there is no guarantee that they trade this away. So lets for a second assume the Bears stay put and select the player they really want. Who’s it gonna be?
The Bears need some help on that terrible 2022 interior defensive line and Jalen Carter is the best athlete in this class. So this pick makes a lot of sense. This last season the Bears were at the bottom of the pile in pressuring the passer and we know that Carter would be an instant upgrade in the middle of the defensive line.
Carter is also a carbon copy of the player that Bears head coach Matt Eberflus needs in his “three-technique” defense. So whether the Bears stay put or trade down for increased draft capital, it feels like Carter is their guy.