Leading up to this week’s NFL Draft, UGASports concludes this year’s annual series on mock drafts with the final edition of the Bulldogs Mock Draft Tracker. We released the tracker's v1.0 in late January, which was followed by v2.0 after the combine. Last week, we published a preview of this third and final version of the tracker.
We analyzed the same five mock drafts as before, a couple of which have been updated since last week’s preview. This includes WalterFootball, which has even been updated since earlier this week when forecasting the Detroit Lions would take a trio of Georgia players with the team’s first three picks. Like WalterFootball, mocks Draft Tek and Lines project all seven rounds, whereas Tankathon and Draft Wire each forecasts the first three rounds.
This year’s draft appears like it could be a record-breaking event for the Bulldogs. In the draft’s 86-year history, the most former Georgia players chosen in a single draft was nine last year, including six (also a school-record) in the first three rounds. According to the three seven-round mock drafts, 13 Bulldogs—and the same 13 for the three mocks—will be drafted. Also according to the mocks, approximately 10 (9.8 average) former Georgia players will be chosen in the draft’s first three rounds alone.
As mentioned here before, there’s the long-standing notion that the Atlanta Falcons rarely draft Georgia players. And, indeed, in 56 possible NFL drafts, only nine Bulldogs have been drafted by the local professional team, and that includes one UGA basketball player—Ray Jeffords in 1968. What’s more, the Falcons have never drafted a Bulldog offensive player in the first three rounds. According to the latest mocks, much of the same is expected in this year’s draft. Of the 57 combined mock selections featuring Georgia players, none is by means of Atlanta.
(Each player is listed with his average overall draft position and whether his draft stock increased ⬆️ or decreased 🔻 since v2.0. Each player is followed by projected round, overall pick in parenthesis, and selecting NFL team for each of the five mock drafts):
Notably, Travon Walker has gone from an early second-round pick according to the v1.0 mocks to a No. 3 overall average for v3.0. Two of the five latest mocks even have Walker being selected No. 1 overall. In draft history, four former Georgia players have been chosen No. 1 overall: Frank Sinkwich (1943), Charley Trippi (1945), Harry Babcock (1953), and Matthew Stafford (2009). Shared by Notre Dame, Southern California, and Oklahoma, the most No. 1 overall draft picks by an individual school is five.
Back in January, Derion Kendrick had a No. 45 overall average, or a mid-second-round pick, for the mock drafts. Since then, his draft stock has dropped to a No. 204 average, or a mid-sixth-round selection. On the contrary, Channing Tindall was forecasted to be selected by just two of the original mock drafts; Quay Walker was featured in only one. However, for all of the five latest mocks, Tindall is forecasted to be selected within the first three rounds. More so, Walker currently has a No. 51 overall average, or a mid-second-round pick.
The NFL Draft will run from this Thursday, April 28, in Las Vegas to Saturday, April 30.
