Before they head to the NFL Draft, Kirby Smart watched this year's departing group of Bulldogs in Georgia's indoor facility one more time.
Georgia held its annual Pro Day in Athens on Wednesday morning. Coaches, general managers, and scouts from all 32 NFL teams were in attendance as a host of Bulldogs went through drills on the field.
"Excited for these kids," Smart said while meeting with reporters Wednesday. "It doesn’t seem like we have as large a group as we had last year. I thought last year’s just sheer numbers was probably more. But some great kids, some guys that worked really hard for this day. A couple guys getting to work out today that didn’t get to work out at the combine, which is really what the Pro Day is about.”
Here's what else Smart had to say about this year's group of Bulldogs that will soon be in the NFL.
On Stetson Bennett's performance: "To be honest, I didn’t get to see it. I was talking and visiting with different people, so it’s hard for me to judge. I know how he’s doing when he’s played games. I don’t think today’s any comparison to actually—what you do in the games matters more. He’s done a really good job of that.”
On a player in the class he feels isn't being talked about enough: “I don’t listen to what anybody’s saying, so I don’t know who’s getting talked to more or less. I think we’ve got some really good, quality players that’ll make really good pros. Chris Smith’s a guy that’s been really productive, played well. Kearis [Jackson] is a guy that’s not getting to work out due to a surgery that I think’s a great player. Warren McClendon, who’s going right now, nobody’s been more productive in the SEC the last three years than Warren has. Hopefully he gets a great opportunity.”
On if he's had a chance to speak with Jalen Carter: “I haven’t got to see him work out much. I got to see him, he came out to practice yesterday. I got to talk to him and visit with him, got to see him work out a little bit today. But I haven’t gotten to visit with him much.”
On what a team is getting in Darnell Washington: “Well, they’re getting a large human being that’s a target that can block and do so many things. He’s done a tremendous job, I think his weight was 264 at the combine. He played at high 270s, even 280s. He’s a much bigger passing threat than people probably understand when he’s at 264. I think he becomes a weapon in that league. He’s such a great target and he’s hard to cover. They’re going to get a really good player on and off the field. Excited to see him do well.”
On Washington's journey at Georgia: "Pretty incredible when you think about, I went on a home visit to Vegas and got to see him and meet his family and see kind of where he grew up. He’s a very mature kid. He had to mature at an early age. He’s a father. I think he takes a lot of pride in that. It says a lot about who he is. He’s had a plan since he got here. He’s followed that plan, he’s executed it. He’s been selfless. First play of the Kent State game, he’s running down the field literally jumping in the air, giddy because his other tight end is running a 70-yard touchdown run. I don’t think you find that many places, because it wasn’t about him.”
On NFL teams asking about Jalen Carter: “There’s been a lot of questions about Jalen, which probably was inevitable anyway. When you start talking about, I got a lot of questions about Travon Walker when he came out. There are a lot of questions generally, but with the situation, probably more questions and more direct. You just try to be honest and talk about the experiences we had with Jalen here. Jalen didn't have to come back and play after his first injury, nor after his second injury. Both times he wanted to overcome that injury. He begged us to put him in in games he was hurt. The competitive character he’s shown I think has been really good. I also think his teammates really respect Jalen. Jalen earned the respect of his teammates. They love being around him. That’s a lot of things you can say about him.”
On his sense of Carter's psyche: “I was glad he came out to practice. I thought it was important to get him back around the guys and be around some of them. I think him being isolated away from us for a while, because he’s been out working out and training, it’s tough. I can only imagine what he’s dealing with internally as a survivor from a tragic accident, knowing the outcome of that accident. There’s some mental health things there that you have to be able to help with. I can’t speak to what he’s going through. He’s got to answer those questions. We’re certainly going to try to support him as much as we can.”
On what teams have been asking about Bennett: “Strengths and weaknesses, what we think he can improve on, what his mental makeup is. All those things he got to showcase in every game he played in. I thought he did a great job of doing that."
On areas of improvement for Bennett: "Well, decision-making has been really good. He has shown improvement in those. But I don't think you pick one area and say he can improve in this area. He can improve in everything. What he's done is played at the highest level of college football for a lot of games, and he's played really well. That speaks volumes for itself."
On what the NFL turnout at Pro Day says about the Georgia program: "I think they do a good job covering us, and we have an open-door policy. We're one of the few teams in the country that will let you come in and watch anytime you want. We don't have something to hide. We don't say you can't come this week or we're paranoid that you're going to see some play. They feel very comfortable. They give us good feedback about the access to our players and the access to our program. I think they appreciate that. They know that we're their developmental league. That's what we are. They don't have a minor league. They have college football."
On former Bulldogs who transferred, coming back for Pro Day: "Well I think it says that we're comfortable about them coming back. We have to permit that, too, and that's not something a lot of schools feel like they should do. A lot of these kids, it's about how you leave, right? Do you leave the right way? Do you handle things the right way? I'm proud of a lot of those kids. They were Georgia guys for a long time in some cases and for them to have an opportunity to come back and compete, I certainly want to honor that."
On Nolan Smith: "Nolan is intelligent. He's charismatic, teammates love him, he's passionate. He's full of energy and he's one of the toughest guys I've been around. Nolan is going to be successful at whatever he does. He told me he's going to come back and be the head coach at Georgia, and I told him he could have it."
On having current UGA players running routes for Bennett: "I don't know that it's valuable for them. I think it's more valuable for Stetson, because take those guys out of it and you don't have anybody to throw to. So, really, it's a luxury. It's a nice reprieve the NFL has given to have guys be able to do that, because without that, it probably doesn't help Stetson. We needed guys to be able to come out and throw and catch and do those things. If anything, it gives them some pressure catches they get to make."
On if Jalen Carter should be a top pick talent-wise: "Yeah, he's a generational talent. He's very talented. I've been around coaching for 18 years, and there are very few guys I've coached that have the talent that he has."
On the first practice of the spring yesterday: "Excited about it. We had really good energy, enthusiasm. A little windy, so we probably didn't have the day you'd like to have as far as passing the football. But with 25 mile-an-hour gusts, that probably had a big part in that. I expect those guys to bounce back on that side. We didn't have pads on, so it's hard to evaluate that, but I did enjoy the energy and enthusiasm the guys had competing against each other."
On Pro Day as a recruiting pitch: "Well, I think the recruiting pitch probably comes on draft day when it actually happens. Today is a great day for our guys to come work out, but all the work they put in kind of gets paid off on draft day."
On the "Do it for Dev" motto and where it came from: "Probably from Warren Ericson. He spoke at the memorial service and he said it more like 'Be like Dev' because he was never on a list. He was never part of any discipline. Guy never missed a class or was late to anything. I thought Warren said it best when he said that this kid did everything right, and if you want to be like somebody, be like Dev. Because he didn't try to fake it. He didn't try to be super tough. He was a gentle giant, and more people should be who they are."
On Broderick Jones' skill set compared to previous UGA tackles: "Really talented. If you look at the guys we've had, they've got length, they've got athleticism. He's probably faster and maybe twitchier than some of those guys, getting to the second level. Maybe not as powerful as an Andrew (Thomas) or one of those guys. But in a pass pro league, he's elite at that."
On Robert Beal and his skill set: "Pass rusher, great athlete, is tough, physical. I think Robert is going to be really successful in the NFL."
