Analyst Chris Trapasso projects the New York Jets to take Thomas with the No. 11 overall pick in the NFL Draft, which is currently scheduled for April 23 in Las Vegas.
On Thomas, Trapasso wrote:
Jets GM Joe Douglas knows how vital an offensive line is after his time in Philadelphia. Thomas was outstanding the two seasons at Georgia and has length for days.
Trapasso has Thomas ranked as the 15th overall player in the draft class and 4th ranked offensive tackle.
In total, Trapasso has seven Georgia players going in the draft.
With so many starting spots available, who will offensive line coach Matt Luke turn to during his inaugural season in Athens?
Following the departure of former offensive line coach Sam Pittman, the new head coach at the University of Arkansas, multiple Bulldogs he recruited to the University of Georgia followed suit.
Tackle Isaiah Wilson, a redshirt sophomore, declared early for the NFL Draft. Fellow tackle and projected first round pick Andrew Thomas did as well following his junior season. Relatively surprisingly, guard Solomon Kindley made the same decision despite qualifying for a redshirt senior season.
Cade Mays, the first Georgia Bulldog since Jonas Jennings to play all five OL positions in red and black, transferred to Tennessee to play with his younger brother in Knoxville for their father’s alma mater.
Center Trey Hill and guard/tackle Ben Cleveland are the only holdovers to start on the Bulldogs’ offensive line. Both players are entering their final season of eligibility.
With so many starting spots available, who will offensive line coach Matt Luke turn to during his inaugural season in Athens?
Xavier Truss:
Assuming Ben Cleveland gets early reps at right tackle (if not right guard), the left tackle spot will be wide open and thus attainable for the redshirt freshman Truss. At six-foot-seven and 330 pounds, he’s got the length and mass necessary to protect right-handed grad transfer QB Jamie Newman’s blindside. Combine that with the motor and footwork necessary to facilitate outside run plays and he may just be the Dawgs’ best fit at LT.
Warren Ericson:
Following injuries and the several aforementioned early NFL Draft declarations, Ericson started at right guard in January’s Sugar Bowl win over Baylor. In 2020, the redshirt sophomore may have to rotate behind seniors Cleveland and Justin Shaffer at either of the guard positions, but can put himself in a good position to secure solid substitute reps before Cleveland and Shaffer exhaust their eligibility. Matt Luke clearly sees something in Ericson.
Warren McClendon:
The younger of the OL’s two Warrens, McClendon shares with Ericson ample opportunity to break into the starting lineup. With both tackle spots ripe for the taking, McClendon can compete with Truss at left tackle, but seems more suited for right tackle as his size. The cousin of former Georgia running back Bryan McClendon saw limited action in 2019 but has the skills and build to impose his will upon SEC defenders in 2020.
Justin Shaffer:
Shaffer has patiently waited his turn to start on the Bulldogs’ offensive line, and an untimely injury extended that timeline. He made his first career start against Tennessee and started every play of the game. In his start against South Carolina, a neck injury sidelined Shaffer for the remainder of the regular season. After having fully recovered from his injury, he’s deserved his time to show out in the trenches for the Dawgs and is expected to be a mainstay on Georgia’s 2020 offensive line.
Charlie Woerner, nephew of legendary Georgia Bulldogs safety Scott Woerner, is just happy to be here. “I definitely don’t feel like I have enough tape out there catching balls. So it’s definitely something to go out and prove that I can do.” The …
Charlie Woerner, nephew of legendary Georgia Bulldogs safety Scott Woerner, is just happy to be here.
“I definitely don’t feel like I have enough tape out there catching balls. So it’s definitely something to go out and prove that I can do.”
The tight end is one of ten former Dawgs invited to appear before NFL scouts prior to the league’s 2020 draft.
Answering media members at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Woerner spent a near majority of his public interview singing the praises of his fellow Bulldogs invited to the combine.
“D’Andre is a great player. I think he’s going to do really well in the NFL. He had a really good three years at Georgia. I wish all the best for him.”
“I saw Andrew grow a ton, man. When he came in as a freshman, I’d never seen a freshman more ready to play and help out a team.”
Thomas, projected by some as the top offensive tackle prospect in this year’s NFL Draft, received a glowing review from his former teammate.
“As a freshman and to his junior year, he grew a ton. He got stronger and he really understood the game more. It was fun to play with him, that’s for sure.”
Woerner continued:
“To put Andrew out there [as starting left tackle] as a freshman and for him to do what he did in three years at Georgia…we trusted Andrew.”
Woerner’s former collegiate quarterbacks and fellow combine invitees Jake Fromm and Jacob Eason, both of whom declared early for 2020’s NFL Draft, are right-handed. Referring to protecting a righty quarterback’s blindside, he noted that “left tackle is one of the most important positions on the offense.”
“Jake’s a competitor, man. He’s going to do whatever it takes to win a football game. He’s going to be one of the hardest working guys on the team for sure. He’s going to push everyone around him to be the best.”
Woerner will participate in drills at the NFL Combine on Thursday, February 27 alongside all invited tight ends, wide receivers and quarterbacks, including fellow Georgia alumni Jake Fromm and Lawrence Cager.
NFL Combine measurement results for every Georgia football.
This week, a number of former Georgia players are in Indianapolis for the 2020 NFL Combine, where they will be partaking in measurements, on-field workouts, team interviews and medical examinations.
So far, every player minus J.R. Reed has gone through the measurement portion of the week, and we have all results listed for you below.
Here is this week’s schedule for Georgia’s 10 players in attendance.
(Note, Georgia has no players in group 3 — Just 1, 2 and 4.)
Group 1: (Fromm, Cager, Woerner)
Sunday, Feb. 23: Arrive in Indy, Registration, Orientation, Interviews
Monday, Feb. 24: Measurements, Pre-exam at hospital, Interviews
Tuesday, Feb. 25: Media session, Medical exams, Position coach interviews, Psychological testing
Sunday, March 1: Limited testing, On-field Workout
Monday, March 2: Departure from Indianapolis
Here are the measurement results from the nine players so far:
Jake Fromm
Jan 6, 2018; Atlanta, GA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs quarterback Jake Fromm (11) speaks during media day at Philips Arena. Mandatory Credit: Butch Dill-USA TODAY Sports
Georgia’s Jake Fromm has received his 2020 NFL Combine measurements. Fromm’s hand size, which is under nine inches, is somewhat concerning. Nine inches is considered the minimum hand size for an NFL quarterback.
Here’s how both Jake Fromm and Washington Huskies QB Jacob Eason measured at the combine:
Ultimately, hand size doesn’t have much correlation with cold weather performance and fumbles, so it shouldn’t drop Fromm too far. That being said, Fromm doesn’t have the measurables of the other elite quarterbacks in the 2020 NFL Draft.
LSU’s Joe Burrow did have nine inch hands as well. He’ll still be the first pick of the NFL Draft. One-eighth of an inch shouldn’t make too much of a difference for UGA’s Jake Fromm.
Georgia Bulldogs offensive lineman Andrew Thomas is projected as one of the top players in the 2020 NFL Draft.
Georgia Bulldogs offensive lineman Andrew Thomas is projected as one of the top players in the 2020 NFL Draft. Thomas, who played left tackle for his final two seasons in Athens, is attending the NFL Combine.
Thomas will look to display his impressive size and athleticism at the combine. Thomas is off to a good start with some good measurements:
Andrew Thomas should be a first round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. He’s been compared to a former first round pick who played an Tennessee and has invaluable experience and talent. Fans should keep a close eye on Thomas at the combine, where he should have one of the most dominant performances of any lineman.
ESPN’s Mel Kiper has two Georgia football players taken in first round of his 2020 NFL mock draft.
ESPN’s NFL Draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. has two Georgia football players going in the first round in his most recent 2020 NFL mock draft.
With the No. 8 pick in the NFL Draft, Kiper predicts the Arizona Cardinals will bolster their offensive line by selecting Georgia offensive tackle Andrew Thomas. Kiper has Thomas as the first left tackle off the board.
Kiper wrote:
This is about the range in which we could see a run on offensive tackles, and Thomas, who has played on both the left and right, is No. 1 on my board. I debated going with a receiver here; wouldn’t Kyler Murray’s former teammate CeeDee Lamb enjoy catching a few more long touchdown passes from his friend? But this comes down to protecting the franchise quarterback, and Arizona desperately needs help along its line, particularly at left tackle, where starter D.J. Humphries is a free agent. The Cardinals also have some defensive deficiencies, so keep an eye on a defensive back, too.
Running back D’Andre Swift is the second Georgia player that Kiper has going in the first round. He has Swift going to the Miami Dolphins, who possess three first round picks, at 26 overall. Kiper also has the Dolphins taking Too Tagovailoa with the fifth pick. What a tandem that would be.
On the prediction, Dolphinswire.com sounds content with the Swift selection.
Miami’s biggest area of need is improvement in the run game. Forget positional value — Miami has enough picks that they should be focused on finding difference makers for their team. Swift definitely fits the bill as a dynamic three down back.
The NFL Draft is just a few months away and the league released a list of all the early entrants, including from Georgia football.
On Tuesday, the NFL released the official number of early entrants for the 2020 draft.
Of the 115 early entrants, 99 athletes were granted special eligibility (three years removed from high school) and 16 will have graduated but have collegiate eligibility remaining.
Last year, a record 135 collegians left early for the NFL draft. Of those, nearly one-third did not hear their name called on draft day. The siren song of the NFL sometimes isn’t so sweet.
The SEC, proving once again it is the most talented and competitive conference in the nation, saw 35 players forgo their senior year. The Big Ten lost 21 early entrants, the ACC and Pac-12 each lost 13 and the Big 12 lost 8 players to the draft. Other conference and NCAA division early losses include:
Mountain West, 6
AAC, 5
Conference USA, 4
Independents, 3
Sun Belt, 1
MAC, 0
FCS, DII, DIII, 5
National champion LSU lost the most early entrants with 9. SEC rivals Alabama, Georgia and Texas A&M were next, losing 6, 5 and 4, respectively.
Georgia offensive tackle Andrew Thomas (junior) is widely expected to be one of the early entrants drafted in the top 10. Other Georgia early entrants include tackle Isaiah Wilson (RS soph, 2nd-3rd round), guard Solomon Kindley (RS junior, late 1st-2nd round), quarterback Jake Fromm (junior, 1st-2nd round) and running back D’Andre Swift (junior, 1st-2nd round).
The 2020 NFL Draft will be the 85th annual meeting of National Football League franchises to select newly eligible players. The draft is scheduled to be held from April 23–25, 2020, in Paradise, Nevada and will be televised live on ESPN.
Three Georgia Bulldogs go in the first round of the 2020 NFL Mock Draft : D’Andre Swift, Solomon Kindley, and Andrew Thomas .
Three Georgia Bulldogs went in the first round of USAToday’s 2020 NFL Mock Draft. The mock draft is for the first four rounds of the draft. UGA’s D’Andre Swift, Solomon Kindley, and Andrew Thomas all went in the first round.
4. New York Giants: Andrew Thomas, left tackle
Nov 30, 2019; Atlanta, GA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs offensive lineman Andrew Thomas (71) prior to the game against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at Bobby Dodd Stadium. Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
27. Seattle Seahawks: Solomon Kindley, left guard
Dec 1, 2018; Atlanta, GA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs offensive lineman Solomon Kindley (66) blocks against Alabama Crimson Tide defensive linemen in the SEC championship game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports
28. Baltimore Ravens: D’Andre Swift, running back
Nov 18, 2017; Athens, GA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs running back D’Andre Swift (7) straight arms Kentucky Wildcats safety Darius West (25) during the second half at Sanford Stadium. Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
46. Denver Broncos: Isaiah Wilson, right tackle
Dec 1, 2018; Atlanta, GA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs offensive lineman Isaiah Wilson (79) and Alabama Crimson Tide defensive lineman Raekwon Davis (99) at the line of scrimmage during the first quarter in the SEC championship game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports
91. Oakland Raiders: Jake Fromm, quarterback
Jan 1, 2020; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Georgia Bulldogs quarterback Jake Fromm (11) throws as Baylor Bears linebacker Blake Lynch (2) pressures during the first quarter at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
110. New York Jets: Ben Cleveland, offensive line
Apr 16, 2016; Athens, GA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs guard Ben Cleveland (74) during the Dawg Walk before the spring game at Sanford Stadium. Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
With six Georgia Bulldogs going in the first four rounds of the 2020 NFL Draft, it’d be a great showing for Kirby Smart and all of the talented players he’s coached. The biggest question mark of this mock draft is Ben Cleveland, who may or may not be returning to school. Cleveland was academically ineligible for the 2020 Sugar Bowl.
Solomon Kindley going in the first round is another big surprise. Kindley played excellent as a sophomore, but battled some injury issues this season. The Seahawks are known to be unconventional in the first round and need offensive line help.
The Georgia Bulldogs are facing the Baylor Bears in the 2020 Sugar Bowl, but a number of UGA’s Andrew Thomas, Isaiah Wilson won’t be playing
The Georgia Bulldogs are facing the Baylor Bears in the 2020 Sugar Bowl, but a number of UGA’s best players won’t be suiting up. Kirby Smart is motivating players to avoid last year’s result versus Texas.
Georgia’s Andrew Thomas, the sturdy left tackle, is skipping the game against Baylor as he prepares for the 2020 NFL Draft. Thomas is projected to be a first round pick. He’s leaving Athens as a junior.
Isaiah Wilson, Georgia’s right tackle, is also skipping the Sugar Bowl in order to prepare for the NFL Draft. He’s heading to the NFL following his redshirt sophomore season. Wilson’s NFL Draft stock is not nearly as high as Thomas’s, but he’ll be selected.
So far, these are Georgia’s only underclassmen who have declared for the NFL. The rest are waiting until after the Sugar Bowl to make their decision.A number of underclassmen throughout the country have already reached their decisions.
A pair of Georgia football players were named semifinalists for prestigious CFB awards.
Two Georgia Bulldogs have been named semifinalists for a pair of college football’s most prestigious postseason awards.
Andrew Thomas, a junior left tackle, was named one of six semifinalists for the Outland Trophy, which goes to America’s top interior lineman.
Joining Thomas on the list is:
OC Tyler Bidasz (Wisconsin), DT Derrick Brown (Auburn), OT Penei Sewell (Oregon), OG John Simpson (Clemson) and OT Tristan Wirfs (Iowa).
I could definitely see Thomas bringing home the trophy, but Auburn’s Brown poses a tough fight. Currently, Thomas is a top-five pick in almost every NFL mock draft I’ve seen.
On Monday, the list of six will be trimmed to three and the winner will be announced at ESPN’s College Football Awards on December 12th from the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta.
Georgia junior safety J.R. Reed was named a semifinalists for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, which is given to America’s best defensive player.
Reed is joined by Brown (Auburn), LB Isaiah Simmons (Clemson), DB Antoine Winfield Jr. (Minnesota) and DE Chase Young (Ohio State).
Right now, this trophy is looking like it’s Young’s to lose, despite the fact hew was suspended for a portion of the season. But Reed has been a consistent force in the secondary all season and will go on to a long NFL career.
