Category: Predictions

Georgia has two of the highest graded returning edge defenders in SEC

According to PFF, Georgia edge defenders Malik Herring and Azeez Olujari are two of the top three returning in the SEC in 2020.

According to PFF (Pro Football Focus) Georgia is returning two of the SEC’s top edge defenders for the 2020 season.

Georgia senior defensive end Malik Herring graded as the highest returning SEC edge defender at 90.5. Herring, from Forsyth, Georgia, played in 13 games for the Bulldogs in 2019 and recorded five tackles for loss and 26 total tackles as part of a Georgia defensive line that played mostly as a unit, rotating in and out to keep legs fresh.

A few points behind Kentucky’s Jamar Watson on the list is Georgia red-shirt sophomore Azeez Ojulari, who graded as the third best SEC returning edge defender at 78.0.

After a red-shirting his freshman season, Ojulari burst onto the scene for the Bulldogs in 2019, recording 36 tackles and six for a loss. Against Tennessee, the Marietta, Georgia native led the team with two sacks and 10 quarterback pressures.

The 2019 Georgia defense was one of the best the Bulldogs have ever seen. And with the help of returning starters like Malik Herring and Azeez Olujari with veterans like Monty Rice and Richard LeCounte III, Georgia could have another record-breaking defense in 2020.

Georgia forward Rayshaun Hammonds makes final decision on NBA Draft

Georgia F Rayshaun Hammonds had made his final decision on his senior year in Athens.

Georgia basketball’s star forward Rayshaun Hammonds announced his final NBA Draft decision on Saturday, via Twitter.

Hammonds will forgo his senior season to pursue the next chapter of his basketball career in the NBA.

Hammonds, who stands at 6-foot-9, 235 pounds, averaged 12.9 points and 7.4 rebounds a game as a junior last season, showing great improvement from his 6.7 and 4.9 as a freshman.  He shot 35% from three-point-range and 46% from the field.

Hammonds was the second-highest scorer on the team behind likely number one overall lottery draft pick Anthony Edwards. The Dawgs’ head coach Tom Crean, entering his third year with UGA, will have to somehow replace the loss of 32 points and 12.6 rebounds a game that Edwards and Hammonds produced last season.

“Rayshaun let me know the other night of his decision and he is following his heart and dreams,” Crean told the Atlanta Journal Constitution on Saturday.  “We will continue to support him in every possible way as he pursues his future and he will always be apart of the Georgia Basketball family and the University of Georgia community.”

Georgia’s 2019-20 season suddenly ended after a victory over Ole Miss in the first-round of the SEC Tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Crean will also be losing his seniors Tyree Crump, Jordan Harris and Donnell Gresham as well as the transfer of freshman Rodney Howard to Georgia Tech. The Dawgs will have to recruit well and rebuild around their only returning starters Sahvir Wheeler and Toumani Camara.

Recruiting will only get harder with the NBA G-League announcing its new pathway program for high school players to take, detouring the NCAA.  There has already been a ripple effect seen, with the nation’s top high school player Jalen Green entering the pathway program.

“We are in the midst of restructuring and remodeling,” said Crean on the matter of the Dawgs recruiting process. “It will be ongoing each year with the landscape of college basketball.”

 

Projected rookie deal for former Georgia OT Andrew Thomas

Former Georgia OT Andrew Thomas is expected to make $32.3 million on his rookie NFL contract with the New York Giants.

Forbes SportsMoney’s Kurt Badenhausen has released his 2020 NFL Draft First-Round rookie salary projections.

The Giants’ fourth overall selection of former Georgia offensive tackle Andrew Thomas is expected to make $32.3 million, with $21.1 million of that guaranteed.

“NFL rookie contracts are determined by a complex formula that considers the league’s 2020 ‘rookie compensation pool’ of $1.4 billion across all teams, as well as the $198 million per-team salary cap,” Badenhausen said in the article.

The Cincinnati Bengals’ first overall pick of Joe Burrow is expected to make $36 million with $23.9 million guaranteed.  Chase Young, who was selected second by the Washington Redskins isn’t far behind Burrow, projected to make $34.6 million with $22.7 million guaranteed.Related: Adding up the 2020 NFL Draft salaries and Georgia’s drafted players

The drop in salary just by each individual pick is higher than you’d think.

Former Georgia offensive tackle Isaiah Wilson, selected 29th overall by the Tennessee Titans, is expected to make $11.6 million with $6 million guaranteed.

Most first-round picks are signed to four-year contracts with a fifth-year team option to re-sign.

Of the 32 players drafted in the first-round, they are projected to make a combined $575 million, which is 5% higher than what first-rounders made last year.

Badenhausen added that rookies’ signing bonuses wouldn’t be affected by any coronavirus concerns with next season.

“Players will almost certainly retain 100% of their signing bonuses even if the season is shortened because of coronavirus concerns. Only the base salaries would be impacted, based on the number of games canceled.”

Sam Pittman on Georgia’s 2020 offensive line: ‘They’ll be fine’

Former Georgia football OL coach Sam Pittman is confident in UGA’s 2020 offensive line depth chart.

Georgia fans were devastated to hear the news of the departure of former offensive line coach Sam Pittman in December.

Pittman assembled the best offensive line Georgia, and quite possibly college football, has ever seen … and he has the evidence to prove that.

The Dawgs had three offensive linemen go in the first 111 picks in the 2020 NFL Draft. Two went in the first round: Andrew Thomas fourth to the New York Giants and Isaiah Wilson 29th to the Tennessee Titans.

Georgia had never had two offensive linemen selected in the first round of the same draft, and Thomas became the highest-drafted Bulldog offensive lineman in school history.

Solomon Kindley was selected by the Miami Dolphins in the fourth round of the draft.

Pittman took the head coaching job at the University of Arkansas, which triggered Kirby Smart’s hiring of former Ole Miss head coach Matt Luke to fill Pittman’s position in Athens.

The Athens Banner-Herald spoke with Pittman about his old players, and the future of the Georgia offensive line.

“I was proud of them,” Pittman told the Athens Banner-Herald.  He was referring to the guys who stepped up in last year’s Sugar Bowl for the absent Andrew Thomas and Isaiah Wilson, who sat out for obvious reasons. “Jamaree Salyer did well. Warren Ericson was in there and played well. Cade (Mays) jumped out to left tackle and, of course, I know he’s not at Georgia anymore. The new guys, I felt like they played about what they played and Coach (Luke) did a nice job of getting them ready. I was really happy, and happy to see them win the game. I was happy for the kids because they finally got a chance to step in there and prove that they’re good football players as well.”

Coach Luke will be without a key piece he thought he would have the Dawg’s 2020 offensive line, Mays. The tackle entered the transfer portal this offseason and transferred to Tennessee, his father’s alma mater.

Pittman had some nice things to say about rising junior guard Salyer.

“Jamaree played quite a bit more this year than he had in the past. He actually played a lot of ball. To look at him, you’re going, man, he’s probably not a tackle but he is a tackle and he’s going to be a really good player. He’s kind of a natural pass protector.”

The Dawgs will also have rising junior center Trey Hill returning, who is a likely NFL prospect.

Pittman was not the slightest bit worried about Georgia losing so much talent to the NFL draft, even though the Dawgs are now conference foes to him.  Pittman knows there is a surplus of talented linemen at Georgia and has plenty of confidence in Matt Luke taking over what he started.

“There’s plenty of talent on that line there even though they lost several kids but they recruited well like Georgia always does,” Pittman said. “Xavier Truss is a kid that’s got a lot of talent. They’ll be fine. They’ve got a really good offensive line coach there. They’ll be fine.”

A look at some of Georgia’s top recruiting targets for 2021 class

We list our top-10 Georgia Football targets for the 2021 recruiting class.

Georgia currently holds the No. 12 ranked recruiting class overall and the 3rd best class in the SEC behind Florida and Tennessee. (link to sec class story here)

The Bulldogs hold seven commitments for their 2021 class which is led by 5-star QB Brock Vandagriff, 4-star OT Micah Morris and 4-star ATH David Daniel.

With much of the recruiting cycle still remaining, there are still plenty of great young prospects the Bulldogs will be pursuing over the next year or so.

Here is our list of some of Georgia’s top recruiting targets for the class of 2021. Just because a player is not listed does not mean Georgia is not targeting him.

All rankings via 247Sports:

  1. 5-star OT Amarius Mims (Cochran, GA)
  2. 5-star DB Tony Grimes (Virginia Beach, VA)
  3. 5-star S James Williams (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
  4. 5-star DT Leonard Taylor (Miami, FL)
  5. 5-star DT Mason Smith (Houma, LA)
  6. 5-star OLB Smael Mondon (Dallas, GA)
  7. 4-star DB Isaiah Johnson (Bluefield, WV)
  8. 4-star RB Donovan Edwards (West Bloomfield, MI)
  9. 4-star LB Barrett Carter (Suwanee, GA)
  10. 4-star DE Quintin Somerville (Scottsdale, AZ)
  11. 4-star WR Mario Williams (Plant City, FL)
  12. 4-star OLB Xavien Sorey (Graceville, FL)
  13. 4-star WR Chris Hilton (Zachary, LA)
  14. 4-star CB Nyland Green (Covington, GA)
  15. 4-star TE Brock Bowers (Napa, CA)

Florida head coach Dan Mullen Hopeful 2020 football season will happen

Florida Gators head coach Dan Mullen stays hopeful that the 2020 college football season will go on as planned.

Florida Gators head coach Dan Mullen isn’t making predictions for the 2020 college football season, but he gave his thoughts on how it could play out.

“If you look four months ago we were in a very different place in this country than where we are right now,” Mullen said in a video conference on Monday.

“To say where we’ll be in four months is hard to do. But I’m certainly hopeful, I’m sure as everybody is out there.”

Mullen tried and stay positive, keeping hope that the season will ensue.

“Hopeful that we find a vaccine and a cure.” said Mullen. “Hopeful that people are working hard to limit the spread of everything going on. Hopeful that people are trying as best they can to follow the regulations and making the most out of each day that’s going on. And hopeful we get back to whatever our new normal is going to be, and that includes having a football season this fall.”

Mullen said that most college coaches will want eight weeks of practice before games start, six could also be manageable.  Anything less than six weeks will be nearly impossible for coaches.

This means issues concerning COVID-19 will need to calm by the first two weeks in July to be on schedule for the 2020 college football season.

Georgia S Richard LeCounte high on 2021 NFL Draft board

Georgia football senior S Richard LeCounte is already at the top of some experts 2021 NFL Draft predictions.

This year’s NFL Draft featured seven Georgia players selected (two in the first round), along with a vast number of players signing un-drafted free agent contracts. One Georgia player that surprisingly didn’t hear his name called was safety J.R. Reed.

[lawrence-related id=27348]

Reed came back for his senior season in Athens and helped the Bulldogs to a Sugar Bowl victory. Reed had an incredible season, being named a finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award which is given to the best defensive back in the nation.  On top of that, Reed was also named a finalist for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy which is awarded to the best defensive player in college football.

Although he didn’t hear his name called on draft day, Reed quickly picked up an offer from the Jacksonville Jaguars, where he signed an un-drafted free agent contract.

[lawrence-related id=27328]

With the 2020 NFL Draft coming to a close on Saturday, the focus has already shifted to next year’s draft.

Looking ahead, Sporting News has already released their 2021 NFL Draft prospect top-50 and position rankings.

On that list at #12 overall sits Georgia safety Richard LeCounte.

Last season, LeCounte accounted for 4 interceptions, 2 forced fumbles and 3 fumble recoveries.

LeCounte’s play has been turning heads and is already predicted to go in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft. He is Sporting News’ #1 safety available for next year

Sporting News on LeCounte:

“LeCounte averages 50 tackles per season the last three years with the Bulldogs, and he created seven turnovers (four interceptions, three fumble recoveries). The 5-11, 190-pound playmaker is the top safety on the board.”

Other Bulldogs that made the top-50 include incoming transfer quarterback Jamie Newman at #29, cornerback Tyson Campbell at #35 and center Trey Hill at #43.

Lions RB D’Andre Swift tops fantasy football rookie rankings

Detroit Lions RB D’Andre Swift ranked as the top preseason 2020 rookie fantasy football player.

Former Georgia running back D’Andre Swift is expected to make a big NFL splash early in his pro career.

Swift, who was drafted in the early second round by the Detroit Lions, is already at the top of predictions for this upcoming season. Sporting News has Swift as the No. 1 2020 fantasy rookie available for next year that can help your team right away.

Detroit had injury problems at the running back position last year, meaning Swift could have a much bigger role than expected early on.  He will definitely be used catching short passes in the backfield a lot which will be great for PPR (point per reception) leagues.

Swift was listed ahead of three rookie running backs including the Colts Jonathan Taylor, Chiefs Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Ravens J.K. Dobbins.  He was also ranked ahead of Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, who went first overall to Cincinnati in the draft.

Sporting News on Swift:

“Swift likely will start in a committee with Kerryon Johnson and Bo Scarbrough, but Matt Patricia will end up trusting the Georgia running back and use him in a similar role as Bill Belichick does with Sony Michel. Swift might be inconsistent from week to week early in the season, but there’s a good chance he leads all rookies in rushing yards in 2020.”

Swift could be a solid steal for fantasy owners who will most definitely want to keep him on their radar.

2020 NFL Draft: Which Georgia football players could go tonight?

Here are some Georgia football player we hope will be taken in either the first or second round of the 2020 NFL Draft.

The Georgia Bulldogs had two players selected in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft.

Things got started when the New York Giants used the #4 overall pick to draft offensive tackle Andrew Thomas.

Three hours later, Georgia saw another offensive tackle go as the Tennessee Titans took Isaiah Wilson with the 29th overall pick.

We kept waiting and waiting to hear D’Andre Swift’s name called, but that did not happen on night one. Most expected the Dolphins or the Chiefs to take Swift.

Instead, Miami traded down from #26 to #30 and took Auburn cornerback Noah Igbinoghene. But the real shocker came with the final pick of the first round when the Kansas City Chiefs took LSU running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire, making him the only ball carrier taken in the first round.

Edwards-Helaire is a great player, but he’s no Swift. Either way, Swift is going to make one team very happy when he hears his name called early on in the second round. He is currently the second best available player on Mel Kiper’s Big Board.

So, with rounds two and three quickly approaching, here’s a look at which Georgia Bulldogs we could expect to be selected tonight:

Running back D’Andre Swift:

 Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Swift should go very early in round two. The Dolphins and the Bucs hold the #7 and #13 picks, respectively, in the second round. They both may be forced to trade up in order to get Swift.

Offensive guard Solomon Kindley:

Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

I’d expect Kindley to go in either the late second or early third round.

Safety J.R. Reed:

Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

He’s one of the best safeties in the entire draft. Could he find his way into either the second or third round?

Quarterback Jake Fromm:

Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

Maybe a bit early Fromm, who analysts see as a fourth round guy.

Georgia OT Andrew Thomas goes top-ten in CBS Sports’ NFL mock draft

Wednesday, CBS Sports released a final mock draft and Georgia football OT Andrew Thomas was picked to go No. 6 to the Chargers.

The virtual 2020 NFL Draft is tomorrow and as the final round of mock drafts are released, we take a look to see where some of the top Georgia players are predicted to go.

In CBS Sports’ latest one-round mock draft, Georgia’s Andrew Thomas is predicted to land with the Los Angeles Chargers at pick No. 6.

CBS Sports wrote:

“I think if the Chargers have a shot at getting Tua, they’ll do it in this spot. But despite the late buzz for Justin Herbert, Plan B for L.A. could be to just take one of this year’s elite tackles after trading away Russell Okung, and then try and get a quarterback later.”

There has been speculation as to who is the best offensive lineman in the 2020 draft class. Most of the conversation revolves around Georgia’s Andrew Thomas, Alabama’s Derrick Willis Jr., Iowa’s Tristan Wirfs and Louisville’s Mekhi Becton.

Thomas definitely made his case as the best tackle in his three years at Georgia.

As a freshman, Thomas was named to Freshman All-America teams by ESPN, USA Today and the Football Writers Association of America and as a sophomore he was named 1st team All-American by Sports Illustrated. In 2019, as a junior, Thomas was a Walter Camp 1st team All-American and the recipient of the SEC’s Jacobs Blocking Trophy.

Don’t believe in accolades proving talent? Just watch Thomas make potential first round pick and LSU defensive end K’Lavon Chaisson look average.

While the debate continues over the next day on who should be the first blocker taken, we all should agree that Thomas is the best piano player in the 2020 draft class.