Kirby Smart shares on Georgia's top prospects before their big night

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart has been making his rounds before the start of the 2022 NFL Draft, one that’s expected to feature a record number of Bulldogs being selected. He appeared alongside Nakobe Dean on ESPN’s First Take this morning, and later in the day took to NFL Network to share on some of the top Dawgs. Here’s what he said.

Travon Walker

“I love the debate when people talk about production and projection, because this is a guy that played amongst a lot of defensive talent. On third down when you get your opportunity at a sack, he wasn’t always on the edge for us. A lot of his sacks came on first or second, and he was a big interior rusher for us on third down because we had Adam Anderson, Robert Beal, Nolan Smith, Jermaine Johnson for one year. He had a lot of good players around him. So I’m excited to see what he does when he gets to go other there and do it every down on third down. He did kind of what we asked him to do. I think his production is going to be a lot more in the NFL because he’s going to have an opportunity to rush on the edge. He’s a talented young man. He was a great basketball player in high school, I still remember his junior year in high school when he was playing a 7-on-7 passing tournament as a receiver. You’re talking about a freakish athlete doing that.”

Jordan Davis

“Turn the tape on. This is a guy that was dominant in a very, very competitive league for multiple years. You go back to his freshman year, he made impact plays in big games even then. The conditioning level in terms of the NFL, teams aren’t tempo teams in the NFL. It’s not how the game’s played. They go tempo only in two-minute, but it’s not a tempo game. He’s able to sustain that and be really active. He’s a lot better twitchy athlete than you might think for a big guy. He’s got great quick short-area movements. He’s going to make a great NFL player.”

Devonte Wyatt

“I think when you talk about four-down fronts and three-techniques, he’s like the picture perfect guy because he’s so twitchy and athletic. This guy’s motor runs nonstop. I’ve never had a kid in practice that could go the entire practice, condition and then go run with the skill players and keep up with them like he can. He was a guy that really great and got better during his time here. This was his fifth year. So he topped out when he was about 305 and had a great conditioning level. He proved he could play at a high level.”

George Pickens

“They’re getting a talented guy. I’ve never seen one 50-50 guy quite like this guy. He’s unbelievable when it comes to going up and getting balls, making big time catches. He came off the ACL and broke all kinds of records in terms of leaps and jumps. He’s a special talent. I haven’t seen one in a long time like him when it comes to catching 50-50 balls. Some of the plays he made in our practices will never be forgotten because he made some of the sickest catches I’ve ever seen.”

James Cook and Zamir White

“I think you’re getting two work horses. You’re getting two guys that have played in free release protection offense. They’ve done every protection known to man. They can hit people up. They blocked three of the best linebackers in this college football draft for the last three to four years. So they can protect your quarterback. They can free release out of the backfield and catch it. Really good special teams players which is a huge value in your rookie season. Really they’re just tough. They were two of our best leaders, so James and Zamir are both sub-4.5 guys that can catch the ball out of the backfield which is so important in NFL offenses today.”

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