With the addition of a school record-tying 14 prospects this week, there have been approximately 250 former Georgia players to be invited to the NFL Scouting Combine since the annual event started being held in Indianapolis in 1987.
UGASports has formed an all-time timeline, so to speak, highlighting some of the most significant moments in the nearly 40 years of Bulldog players showing out at the NFL Combine.
1987—The first combine in Indy: After being held in Tempe, Arizona, in 1985, then New Orleans for a year, the NFL Combine was moved to Indianapolis, where it has remained. In late January of 1987, seven former Georgia players were amongst 300 college seniors for what was then called the GTE Scouting Combine: offensive linemen Keith Johnson, Victor Perry, and Wilbur Strozier; defensive backs John Little and Gary Moss; wide receiver Fred Lane, and fullback David McCluskey. Of the seven invitees, only two—Strozier and McCluskey—would ultimately be drafted.
The seven participants at the combine in 1987 would represent the most from Georgia until 1999 (nine). A few times, only one player (but never none) has represented the Bulldogs, including as late as following Kirby Smart’s first season in 2017 (receiver Isaiah McKenzie). However, beginning in 2018 to the present, at least nine Bulldog prospects have been invited every year, with an annual average of 11.4 players, ranking in the nation’s top four all eight years.
1989—The most interesting story: Fresh off a Georgia career where he became the school’s all-time leader in sacks after not even knowing the rules of the sport and walking on just a few years before, outside linebacker Richard Tardits, “The Biarritz Blitz,” was considered “the most interesting story of the [1989] combine.” An honor graduate who had already earned his MBA, Tardits had a job waiting for him in South America and was planning his move until he was invited to the combine. “I never thought I could play in the NFL. I didn’t even think I would get drafted.” Tardits also didn’t prepare for the combine—wasn’t even aware the event existed. Nevertheless, he showed up in Indianapolis and posted a respectable 4.79 time in the 40, a 32.5-inch vertical leap, and a 114-inch broad jump. In late April, Tardits was chosen early in the fifth round by the Phoenix Cardinals.
1993—Not working out: After undergoing a standard physical exam by the NFL just prior to the start of the combine, Garrison Hearst was revealed to have a partially torn ACL in his left knee. Although physicians couldn’t pinpoint when the ACL tore, they agreed that the standout running back, who had left Georgia early for the pros as a projected top-10 pick, likely had the injury throughout the 1992 campaign when he rushed for more than 1,500 yards, scored 21 touchdowns, and finished third in the Heisman Trophy voting.
After being measured and diagnosed with the ACL tear, Hearst promptly left Indianapolis, becoming the first high-profile former Georgia player to skip the combine’s on-field workouts. Although he claimed his not working out was a “personal preference” and not because of injury. Wide receiver and fellow underclassman Andre Hastings, one of four former Georgia players invited to the combine that year, also decided not to work out for scouts.
1999—Quite a show: Less than two months after completing an extraordinary career at Georgia, Champ Bailey put on quite a show for pro scouts in Indianapolis. Although resulting more than a quarter-century ago, his combine-best 3.79 in the shuttle remains the fastest ever by a Bulldog player and is the third-best all-time by a cornerback at the combine. What’s more, Bailey’s 4.28 in the 40 remains the fastest by a former Georgia player at the combine, as well, and was the fastest ever clocked by a cornerback until Miami’s Demarcus Van Dyke ran a 4.25 in 2011. Ironically, Bailey had originally decided to skip the 40-yard dash after suffering a hamstring injury a few days before while running track.
2004—One smart invitee: Unofficially, Georgia tight end Ben Watson evidently scored a 48 out of 50 on the combine-administered Wonderlic test—a staggering score that would rank as one of the highest ever recorded by an NFL prospect. However, officially, or those scores regarded as such according to NFL resources, Matthew Stafford’s 38 in 2009 is the highest a former Georgia player has scored on the test.
2010—Bench-pressing Bulldog: At the combine, defensive tackle Jeff Owens totaled a whopping 44 bench press reps, or eight more reps than the Georgia player with the second-most at the annual event (Cornelius Washington with 36 in 2013). Owens’ bench press total was not only the second-highest at that year’s combine but remains the fourth-most reps amongst all defensive tackles competing at the combine since 1999.
2015—Best showing by a Bulldog: A receiver with nearly 2,000 career receiving yards at Georgia, Chris Conley was projected as a late-round pick in the 2015 NFL Draft—that is, until he had what is still considered perhaps the best on-field showing ever by an individual at the combine. Conley ran a 4.35 in the 40, the seventh fastest at that year’s combine, third among receivers, and currently ranks fourth-best by a former Georgia player. More so, he had a 45-inch vertical leap, one of the highest vertical-leap marks in combine history, and a broad jump of a staggering 11 feet, seven inches, which was tied at the time for the all-time combine record.
2021—The show must go on: Due to COVID-19 precautions, the NFL canceled in-person interviews and workouts in Indianapolis and instead held interviews virtually while pro days were conducted at college campuses. Although their “combine” measurements are not considered official by the NFL, cornerback Eric Stokes ran a 4.31 in the 40 (which, if considered, would rank second by a Bulldog in combine history). Also, cornerback Mark Webb and defensive end Malik Herring each had a broad jump of 136 inches (which would also rank second).
2022-23—Improving their stock even more: In recent years at the combine, Georgia has been recognized as having a number of high draft-potential players improve their status even more so with extraordinary workouts. In 2022, defensive tackles Devonte Wyatt and Jordan Davis ran the 40 in 4.77 and 4.78, respectively—the second and third-best 40 times clocked by a Georgia defensive tackle at the combine. For the 341-pound Davis, he became the first player over 330 pounds to run a 4.78 at the combine since 2006. In addition, his 10-foot, 3-inch broad jump, which remains the longest by a Georgia defensive tackle by a half-foot, was the longest by a 300-pounder at the combine since 2003.
A year later in 2023, linebacker Nolan Smith was considered “the star” of the combine’s on-field workouts. He ran a 4.39 in the 40 (tied with Ladd McConkey for eighth best by a Bulldog at the combine) with a 1.52 in the 10-yard split (combine record for EDGE players), while registering 41.5 inches in the vertical jump, the top mark in his position group. The 239-pound Smith became the heaviest player in combine history to post a sub-4.4 40-yard dash and a vertical jump of more than 40 inches.
