Depending on what draft expert one cares to believe, former Bulldog Richard LeCounte could be falling down the list as far as safeties go.

In four years at Georgia, LeCounte established himself as one of the better safeties in the SEC. However, after a Pro Day performance in Athens where he ran a 4.76, opinions many had of LeCounte suddenly began to change. Not for the good.

Fortunately, with those whose opinions count—the 32 NFL teams—LeCounte is still held in high esteem.

Although it does appear he could indeed be a third-day selection in the NFL Draft that gets underway April 29, NFL Network draft expert Daniel Jeremiah says teams aren't holding LeCounte’s times against him.

“[He] didn't run well at his pro day, but most of the teams I've talked to are forgiving the workout and believing in what they saw in the player on tape,” Jeremiah said in a teleconference with reporters. “I still think he factors into that. Probably the fourth round will be where he ends up going.”

LeCounte’s senior season obviously didn't go quite the way he'd hoped.

His motorcycle accident after the team returned from Kentucky cost LeCounte the rest of the year before finally he finally got back on the field for the final play in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl against Cincinnati.

Nevertheless, Jeremiah said the tape LeCounte put up his first three seasons is what teams are actually paying attention to.

“I have my top 150 coming out next week. But I went through and stacked all the positions,” Jeremiah said. “So, my safeties, I have (Trevon) Moehrig from TCU, Jevon Holland from Oregon, Richie Grant from UCF. Then I have Divine Deablo from Virginia Tech and Andre Cisco from Syracuse—Cisco coming off an injury. I have LeCounte right after Cisco.”

One quick look at his statistics explains why Jeremiah feels this way.

In 44 career games, LeCounte finished with 176 tackles and eight interceptions.

“When you look at LeCounte and you look at him on paper, you see the pro day he ran a 4.76 and you're like, 'Oh my, no way he's going to be the sixth safety off the board,” Jeremiah said. “But his tape is really good, and in talking to a bunch of teams that have all the GPS data, he plays like, if you were going to do the equivalent, he plays like a 4.4 safety. That's how he plays on the field. He had the accident which we mentioned. I don't think he's fully recovered from that yet.”