Stats Crunch: Five notes about the 2024 NFL Draft

The 2024 NFL Draft starts tonight and lasts through Saturday, and many Georgia Bulldogs are expected to be drafted.

The last year Georgia failed to have a player selected was in 1992. In that same year, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart was playing for his father at Bainbridge High School. Since becoming the leader of the Dawgs, Smart has had 54 Bulldogs drafted. In the last two seasons alone, 25 have been chosen. It's the most by any school in a two-year span by any team in college football during the common draft era (1966 to present).

In the last six NFL Drafts, Georgia players have had their names called in the first round 15 times. No one knows for sure how many Bulldogs will be drafted this week, where, or even who they will be, but in the meantime, here are five things you may not have known about this year's NFL Draft.

1 - Brock Bowers will most likely be the first Bulldog to hear his name selected on Thursday night. The two-time Mackey Award winner is expected to be drafted somewhere between tenth and fifteenth overall. A Georgia tight end has been chosen in each of the last five NFL Drafts (2019-2023). Before that, the previous Bulldog tight end taken was in 2014 (Arthur Lynch). The first Georgia tight end selected was Ray Jeffords to the Atlanta Falcons (yes, the Atlanta Falcons) in the eighth round of the 1968 NFL Draft. Jeffords was only listed as a tight end by the NFL since he never played football for Georgia. Jeffords was a basketball player for the Dawgs and a very good one, averaging 10.6 points and 8.4 rebounds per game. Later in the same draft, Larry Kohn, who primarily played defense for Georgia, was also taken as a tight end by the Giants. He was taken in the 17th round and 450th overall. The round and the pick were the latest a Georgia tight end has ever been selected in the NFL Draft. Ben Watson is the only Bulldog tight end to be selected first (until Brock Bowers). Here are the top five Dawg tight ends ranked by the earliest they have been selected in the NFL Draft, as of now.

2 - The next Dawg that might be taken is offensive tackle Amarius Mims. The big man from Cochran, Georgia, could have his name called anywhere from the middle to late first round. According to UGASports’ Patrick Garbin’s article from earlier this week, several “draft experts” are saying he will go to the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers love picking Bulldogs, but more specifically offensive Bulldogs. Since 1989, the Steelers have selected 11 Dawgs, and nine of them have been from the offensive side of the ball, including three in the previous two drafts. The only defensive Dawgs in that time were Kendrell Bell and Jarvis Jones.

Sedrick Van Pran is another Bulldog offensive lineman that will be taken. He is projected anywhere from the third to fourth rounds.

3 - Ladd McConkey could hear his name in the second round, although some have him going as early as the late first. Either way, it will be special for the versatile wideout. The term wide receiver wasn’t really specified as it is now until the late 1960s. The position was listed more as an end. However, Georgia really didn’t showcase the position, mostly due to the success of the running game during the Vince Dooley era. Nowadays, Georgia utilizes the position far more frequently. George Pickens has been the only Bulldog wide receiver chosen in this decade (four drafts). Lots more Bulldog wide receivers should be drafted in the near future, including Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint, who also could be picked this weekend. Last decade, ten Bulldog wide receivers were taken in the NFL Draft. The ten was the most by far by the Dawg receiving corps in any decade, as you can see below.

4 – Defensive backs Kamari Lassiter, Javon Bullard, and Tykee Smith may be chosen in the 2024 NFL Draft. There have been four previous drafts in which three or more Bulldogs have been picked in one single NFL Draft. There have been two Georgia defensive backs taken in each of the last three drafts. Multiple Dawg defensive backs have been taken in one year, a total of nine NFL Drafts, with the most coming in 2021.

5 – Running backs Kendall Milton and Daijun Edwards are listed as possible sixth rounders by certain pundits. In 1995, a Georgia running back was taken in the sixth round, 196th overall. He won a Super Bowl MVP award and is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Despite playing just seven pro seasons, Terrell Davis is the leading rusher in NFL history to be taken in the sixth round. In the 1995 NFL Draft, five running backs were taken in the first round, and none of them have had as many career yards and touchdown rushes as Davis.