georgia football 2022 nfl draft todd mcshay nfl combine

After a massively successful 2022 NFL Combine, Georgia football is set up to come away with a massive draft haul for the 2022 NFL Draft.

ESPN’s Todd McShay published his latest NFL mock draft and Georgia is the most represented team in the first round. McShay has four Bulldogs coming off the board in the first round, which would be a program record.

Defensive end Travon Walker is slated to land with the New York Giants with the No. 5 overall pick. He’d reunite with a number of former Bulldogs, including Andrew Thomas, Azeez Ojulari and Tae Crowder.

“Few players I’ve ever evaluated can generate the power he does from the ground up, and that was on display with a 35½-inch vertical and 10-foot-3 broad jump,” McShay wrote. “Teamed up with Leonard Williams and Azeez Ojulari, Walker will only continue to develop while giving the Giants a dynamic edge rusher to spark the defense.”

On the strength of his dominant combine performance, Walker seems to have jumped Kayvon Thibodeaux as the No. 2 edge rusher in the draft. If Walker is taken this high, it would be the earliest a Georgia defender has been picked since Kirby Smart took over, as Roquan Smith was the No. 8 pick in the 2018 draft.

McShay next has two Georgia defensive tackles getting taken in the teens. Devonte Wyatt is set to land with the Cleveland Browns with the No. 13 pick and Jordan Davis is projected to end up with the Los Angeles Chargers.

Wyatt ran a 4.77 40-yard dash, just beating out Davis’ time of 4.78. Both Georgia defenders stole the show on Saturday, demonstrating why Georgia was able to win the National Championship last season.

Davis and Wyatt have mostly been inseparable since the duo elected to return to Georgia for the 2021 season. The two have trained together this offseason and have often referred to each other as brothers.

“The connection has stayed the same. We’re brothers,” Wyatt said. “We got out there and laugh and joke. We just try to bring joy everywhere we go.”

The last time a Georgia defensive lineman was taken in the first round was all the way back in 2003. If McShay’s predictions hold true, Georgia will have three taken in the first 17 picks of the draft.

Nakobe Dean is the next Bulldog off the board, as McShay has him landing with the New England Patriots with the No. 21 overall pick. Dean did not work out in Indianapolis, instead choosing to wait until Georgia’s pro day on March 16 to further demonstrate to NFL teams what he can do.

With Lewis Cine, George Pickens and Quay Walker also lingering as possible first-round picks, it’s not unreasonable to think that Georgia could possibly see five players from the 2021 team taken in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft.

Dating back to the 2018 NFL Draft, Georgia has had at least one player taken in the first round of the past four NFL drafts. The first round of the 2022 NFL Draft is set for April 27, with rounds two and three set for April 28.

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