Georgia has dominated the NFL Draft for years now. Ever since Kirby Smart became head coach the Bulldogs have always been one of the schools with the most players drafted, and the expectations is for that to continue again this year.
ESPN however isn't so confident in that as they only predicted seven Bulldogs to be drafted later this month. And if that prediction comes true it could be a bad sign for the future of the program.
Georgia's program could take a hit if ESPN's mock draft comes true
Before diving into why this would be a bad thing for Georgia, let's first take a look at the seven players ESPN is projecting will be drafted.
Round Selected | Player |
|---|---|
1 | C.J. Allen |
1 | Monroe Freeling |
2 | Zachariah Branch |
2 | Christen Miller |
4 | Oscar Delp |
5 | Daylen Everette |
6 | Dillon Bell |
C.J. Allen unsurprisingly is the first Bulldog to be picked in ESPN's mock draft. Monroe Freeling has also made a lot of noise as well and has worked his way into the first round as well. After that though ESPN only thinks that five other Bulldogs will be drafted which is not to the level Georgia expects.
Whether this is a good prediction or not is up for debate because there are many other Bulldogs who could hear their name called this year, but this would be a disastrous outcome if it comes true.
Smart has made it very clear that he doesn't want players to come to Georgia who are super focused on NIL. He would rather have the players that want to be coached hard and are motivated by winning and getting to the NFL. But if Georgia stops sending the most players to the league then that recruiting pitch won't have the same effect.
The good news for Georgia is that one year with only seven draft picks shouldn't hurt their perception with recruits. But if that trend were to continue then it could become problematic.
It's unlikely that only seven Bulldogs will be drafted though, so this problem may not exist once the draft occurs.