Javon Bullard identified as one to watch this week at Senior Bowl

Practice starts today at the Reese’s Senior Bowl, and Georgia defensive back Javon Bullard is one of seven Bulldogs down in Mobile. Before the week begins, Bullard – who is joined by wide receivers Ladd McConkey and Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint, offensive lineman Sedrick Van Pran, fellow defensive back Tykee Smith, long snapper William Mote and recently invited running back Daijun Edwards – is already being identified as somebody with a chance to seriously raise their stock.

“Bullard was a key part of Georgia’s championship run in 2022, and after returning for his senior [sic] season, he went from playing strictly as a nickel to moving around more on the back end of the Bulldogs’ defense. Tough and physical, he’s a willing tackler in space and against the run. And against zone coverage, he uses his instincts to read route concepts and quickly take away throwing windows,” ESPN’s Jordan Reid wrote over the weekend.

“It’s easy to see the leadership and energy that he brings to a defensive unit, and I expect those traits to stand out quickly during Senior Bowl practices,” he added. “Bullard plays with confidence, and he has the playmaking ability and physicality to catch the scouts’ attention. Teams are always searching for those types of defensive players. Yes, he needs to become more consistent in man coverage, but Bullard already has good experience from multiple spots in the secondary and has been productive in all of them. The potential third-or fourth-round pick could make a move up boards over the course of the pre-draft process.”

Reid is absolutely right in several of his points on Bullard. The Milledgeville, Ga. native was crucial to the success of the 2022 Georgia defense on its way to a second straight National Championship. He showed up big for the Bulldogs in a win over then-No. 1 Tennessee, taking down Heisman Trophy hopeful Hendon Hooker a pair of times for sacks. He led Georgia in tackles in the SEC Championship Game victory against LSU, and in the College Football Playoffs, he earned a pair of Defensive MVP honors with a sack, a pass breakup and a QB hurry against Ohio State plus a hand in three turnovers (two interceptions, fumble recovery) in the National Championship Game versus TCU.

Bullard made the move from STAR to safety in 2023, and it’s one that was beneficial for the team. Losing All-American Christopher Smith to the NFL, Georgia needed somebody to step in. Bullard did just that – taking a dip statistically but showing his versatility in the process.

“It has definitely been fun,” Bullard told reporters during the spring about his position change. “Football is going to be football. I still play defensive back. It’s not like I moved to receiver or anything like that.”

“I love it, man,” he continued. “The coaches brought me in and told me they were thinking about a position change. Like I said, it was definitely a challenge because you’re going into another world as far as safety. Safety is basically another linebacker. You’ve got to know because there’s so many checks in our defense but I feel like it was amazing, man. Just dialing in and the coaches helping me and really just taking that ownership and doing what I can to make the team better.”

Bullard finished third on the team in tackles in 2023 despite playing in two fewer games. In fact, he had more total in 12 (56) than he did the 14 he played the year prior (46). However, his tackle for loss total and turnovers created did take a step back. Still, Bullard had a pair of interceptions in top-15 showdowns for the Dawgs against Missouri and Ole Miss. He was also named a captain of the team in 2023, demonstrating that leadership Reid writes about.

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart thought more was made of the move to safety than maybe should have. As he pointed out, it’s actually a position that Bullard played at times during his high school career.

“I think that more has been made of that than it is,” Smart said. “He played that position in high school, that’s what we recruited him as. The first tape I remember watching, he was playing the deep part of the field, I call it. The spatial awareness is important back there, the angles are critical, the decision-making is different than at nickel, but when he came here, he hadn’t played nickel. So, the questions were more about nickel or STAR than they were about safety.”

“He’s gotten more reps, I think it was more about learning our terminology, and he’s picked that up,” he continued. “Coach Muschamp has done a great job giving him confidence, allowing him to grow, make plays and he continues to get better. In a lot of ways, he reminds me of Chris (Smith) in terms of stature. He plays bigger than he probably is, he’s very intelligent and makes a lot of plays on the ball.”

Smith was a fifth round pick the Las Vegas Raiders in this past year’s NFL Draft. Only time will tell whether Bullard goes higher than that, but as Reid said, he’s somebody that could make a move up boards during the pre-draft process starting this week at the Senior Bowl.