Georgia’s Richard LeCounte is headed to the NFL after a storied four-year career in Athens and surprisingly, Pro Football Focus has the 2020 First Team All-SEC safety ranked as the No. 15 safety on their 2021 NFL Draft board.
LeCounte, the unquestioned leader of the Bulldogs defense for the last two seasons, reacted to PFF’s rankings via Twitter.
🤦🏾♂️ https://t.co/a6scszMB0F
— Richard LeCounte III (@LilEasy_35) January 21, 2021
Those ranked ahead of LeCounte are:
- Trevon Moehrig, TCU
- Ar’Darius Washington, TCU
- Hamsah Nasirildeen, FSU
- Elijah Molden, Washington
- Andre Cisco, Syracuse
- Parris Ford, Pittsburgh
- Richie Grant, UCF
- Caden Sterns, Texas
- Tyree Gillespie, Missouri
- Jamien Sherwood, Auburn
- Divine Deablo, Virginia Tech
- Kolby Harvell-Peel, Oklahoma State
- Talanoa Hufanga, USC
- James Wiggins, Cincinnati
In 44 games played at Georgia, LeCounte racked up 176 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, 18 passes defended, four forced fumbles, six fumble recoveries and eight interceptions, one of the most productive defensive back careers in Georgia football history.
The former five-star recruit was named 2020 Preseason All-American, but his season was derailed after only five games when he was in a motorcycle accident on Halloween night. LeCounte went on to miss the rest of the Bulldogs season, except a one-play appearance in the Peach Bowl win versus Cincinnati.
Through only five games played, LeCounte recorded 26 tackles, including a career high 13 stops in a win versus Kentucky, a tackle for a loss, fumble recovery, three interceptions and four pass breakups.
At least the SEC realized LeCounte’s prowess by recognizing him as 2020 First Team All-SEC, but PFF needs to take a step back here.
See what Georgia coach Kirby Smart and 2021 signee Kamari Lassiter said about LeCounte here.
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