Phil Steele ranks draft eligible Georgia players (Part 1)

Phil Steele’s College Football Preview magazine has started to hit the shelves of bookstores across the country, and with that, the buildup to the season is starting to amp up another notch. In the magazine, Steele shares his rankings of NFL Draft eligible players ahead of the season – both overall and position by position. With Georgia ranked No. 3 in the country according to Steele, there were bound to be several Bulldogs listed, and sure enough there were including two of the top five players overall and nine players in the top 10 at their position. Here’s how Steele breaks down the draft eligible Bulldogs.

Overall

Three Georgia players are ranked in the top 15 overall according to Steele, and not coincidentally, it’s the same three players that make up On3’s top defensive trio in the country. Jalen Carter (No. 4), Kelee Ringo (No. 5) and Nolan Smith (No. 15) are all three expected to be leaders on a Georgia defense that loses seven starters from 2021. Carter is widely considered to be a breakout player on the Bulldogs’ defensive line without the presence of Jordan Davis, Travon Walker and Devonte Wyatt, while Smith and Ringo look to continue their trajectory from last season, each starting double-digit games.

Full Top 15

1. Will Anderson, Alabama
2. CJ Stroud, Ohio State
3. Bryce Young, Alabama
4. Jalen Carter, Georgia
5. Kelee Ringo, Georgia
6. Jordan Addison, USC
7. Myles Murphy, Clemson
8. Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Ohio State
9. Michael Mayer, Notre Dame
10. Bijan Robinson, Texas
11. Bryan Bresee, Clemson
12. Eli Ricks, Alabama
13. Paris Johnson, Ohio State
14. Noah Sewell, Oregon
15. Nolan Smith, Georgia

Quarterback

Steele has Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett as the No. 49 overall draft eligible quarterback. Bennett returns for his sixth season of College Football and fifth at Georgia after leading the Bulldogs to their first National Championship in over four decades. He threw for 2,862 yards and 29 touchdowns with a combined 537 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions in the two College Football Playoff wins.

Running Back

Two Bulldog running backs crack the top 30 for Steele with Kenny McIntosh at No. 3 and Kendall Milton at No. 28. Both are stepping into bigger roles that they’ve ever had before.

This past season, McIntosh rushed 58 times for 328 yards and three touchdowns. He also caught 22 passes for 242 yards and a pair of scores. The only backs listed ahead of him are Texas’ Bijan Robinson and Alabama’s Jahmyr Gibbs.

Meanwhile, Milton finished fourth on the team in rushing behind McIntosh as well as the departed Zamir White and James Cook with 264 yards on 56 carries. Milton missed six games late in the season due to injury after missing some time the year before too, but if he can stay healthy, he’s got as good of a chance as anybody to be the top Georgia running back.

Wide Receiver

Wide receiver is another position with multiple players listed. Steele has three Georgia players – Kearis Jackson (No. 20), Ladd McConkey (No. 28) and Dominick Blaylock (No. 72) – ranked among the draft eligible receivers.

Jackson, back for his super-senior season, led the team in receiving in 2020 before a preseason knee injury slowed him down some this past year. He still played in every game but wasn’t quite as productive. Like the aforementioned Milton, if Jackson can stay healthy, he should be capable of producing at a higher level than he did last season when he only had 16 receptions for 194 yards and a touchdown.

As for McConkey, he was one of players that stepped up in the absence of a guy like a healthy Jackson as well as George Pickens who missed almost the entirety of the regular season. McConkey is the top returning wide receiver from last season after he caught 31 passes for 447 yards and five touchdowns, earning a spot on the coaches’ Freshman All-SEC Team.

Finally, Blaylock is in a similar situation to that of Jackson, hoping that he can return to previous season’s form. He was a major contributor for Georgia in 2019, seeing action in 12 of 14 games with 18 catches for 310 yards and five touchdowns. However, Blaylock tore his ACL in the SEC Championship Game before reinjuring his knee prior to the 2020 season and missing the entirety of that campaign. Blaylock returned to the field for the first time in nearly two years in November and played against Charleston Southern, Georgia Tech, Alabama and Michigan both as a receiver and on the kickoff coverage team.

Tight End

This is probably the least surprising position for Georgia to have players listed considering the depth that the Bulldogs have in the tight end room. It’s only two because two of the top four options are still underclassmen meaning you can count on seeing Georgia tight ends listed at or near the top for years to come. This year it’s Arik Gilbert at No. 2 and Darnell Washington at No. 4.

Gilbert transferred to Georgia last summer after spending his first season collegiately at LSU in 2020. There he earned Freshman All-SEC honors and caught 35 passes for 368 yards and two touchdowns in eight games. Of his 35 catches, 24 resulted in either a first down or touchdown and 11 came on third or fourth down. After being away from the team last season as he handled personal matters, Gilbert returned in the spring to catch three balls on G-Day for 49 yards and two touchdowns.

Then there’s Washington, who at 6-foot-7 and 265 pounds is an absolute freak. While he’s only caught a total of 17 passes for 320 yards and one touchdown in his career, Washington provides size that is impossible to coach. He can block, but he can also catch passes and run after the catch. Georgia will want to get Washington more involved this season than he has been during his first two.

Offensive Line

Lastly, on the offensive line, there are a total of six Georgia players listed. Obviously only five can play at a time, but it makes sense to see this many make the cut considering how strong the Bulldogs’ unit is expected to be. What doesn’t quite make sense is some of the spots that Steele has players listed in.

Sedrick Van Pran gets things started from the middle at center where he led the line last season. A starter of all 15 games, Van Pran played more snaps during the season than any other Bulldog, including every possible offensive play in eight games. He was the No. 12 center according to Steele.

Devin Willock at offensive tackle is an interesting one considering he doesn’t project to be a starter at the spot. If anywhere, Willock would get the nod at guard. He played some as a reserve, but it’s easy to see how somebody might look at his 6-foot-7, 335-pound frame and see something that they could work with. He is Steele’s No. 33 offensive tackle.

Maybe even more interesting are the projections at guard where Broderick Jones and Warren McClendon, Georgia’s two likely starting tackles, are projected No. 3 and No. 8. Jones started the final four games of the regular seasons for Georgia at left tackle and played the position in the National Championship Game when things shifted around some on the offensive line. Meanwhile, McClendon has started the last 24 games of his collegiate career at right tackle, playing 86 percent of offensive snaps each of the last two seasons.

The other two draft eligible guards listed are Tate Ratledge (No. 42) and Warren Ericson (No. 60). This one certainly will be interesting to watch during the season as Ratledge won the right guard starting spot out of camp last season before suffering a season-ending injury on the first drive of the season-opener. Ericson then started the final 14 games in that spot. Theoretically, both could start in 2022 with competition to be had on the left and right sides of the offensive line. However, Ratledge and Ericson aren’t the only two fighting for that spot with Willock and Xavier Truss vying for playing time as well.

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