ATHENS — If there’s one Georgia football player who needs to make the most of his Senior Bowl opportunity it’s Mark Webb.
On Wednesday, Webb did just that, impressing with a nifty interception off a Jamie Newman tipped pass.
Webb measured in at 6-foot-1 1/2 and 210 pounds, and with NFL teams viewing him as more of a safety than the nickleback position he played for Georgia, where he was at his best coming down in run support.
Webb has been getting matched up against some of the best in the nation at the Senior Bowl.
Earlier, Webb had shut down Rodgers per scouts on hand.
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Pass coverage has not been Webb’s forte, and twice last season, including once in the fourth quarter of the 44-28 loss in Florida, Webb dropped interceptions.
It made making a play in Wednesday’s practice that much more important as it showed NFL teams why Coach Kirby Smart had so much confidence in Webb.
Webb, a Top 100 player out of Philadelphia who began his career at UGA as a receiver, checks all the boxes as a leader and disciplined teammate.
There’s no question, Webb is a popular player that has all the physical skills and football knowledge to make it in the NFL.
Webb showed he could make open-field tackles with 21 stops this season in the 8 games he played, also finishing with one interception and 2 pass break-ups.
Smart indicated Webb would play in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, but he was sidelined by what appeared to be a foot or lower leg injury and did not play in the 24-21 win over Cincinnati.
The “American” and “National” teams will return to Hancock-Whitney Stadium on Thursday for their final padded practices of the week leading up to the 2:30 p.m. game on Saturday.
Senior Bowl Notes
Georgia middle linebacker Monty Rice remains sidelined by the foot injury that slowed him the second half of the season. Rice, a Butkus Award finalist last season, showed NFL scouts he had improved in pass coverage earlier this season, so the value of the Senior Bowl for him was meeting players.
Tight end Tre’ McKitty continues to impress in practices, following through on a prediction made by Senior Bowl executive director Jim Nagy. Nagy, a former NFL scout with New England, Green Bay and Seattle, said McKitty would prove a better NFL player than college player.
Some vocal UGA fans on social media still aren’t over Jamie Newman leaving the program last August, but Newman remains loyal to the Bulldogs, and shared the tale of how he watched his new friends on TV last fall.
“I’d have Wake on my TV and Georgia on my laptop,” Newman said, per NFL.com. “I just used Saturdays to kind of fuel my fire.”
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