Todd McShay has high praise for pair of Bulldog defenders in NFL Draft

ESPN NFL Draft analysts Mel Kiper and Todd McShay met with media members on Wednesday after the release of their three-round alternating mock draft which featured nine Georgia players off the board during the first two days. That would leave the Bulldogs five picks shy of tying the NFL Draft record set by Ohio State and LSU with 14 players picked within a single draft with four rounds remaining.

Asked who he saw as the most impactful Georgia player in this draft class, McShay stated that there were so many options. Ultimately however, he landed on two defensive stars with one making an immediate impact and the other a more long-term play.

“Where do I start with this group man?” McShay said. “I mean, that was the longest individual group I had to do in terms of watching tape. Starting with Nakobe Dean the linebacker, Jordan Davis, Devonte Wyatt, Travon Walker, Quay Walker the linebacker, and Lewis Cine at the safety position. It is just this group is loaded.”

“I would say, right away, Nakobe Dean probably would have the biggest impact,” he continued. “I just think his football IQ is better than any defensive player in this draft. And I know every scout I’ve talked to cites his just-average arm length, some missed tackles, and doesn’t have great time speed, but I don’t care about timed-speed if you play fast, and he plays fast. He didn’t run a 40-yard dash because he didn’t want that number to come out whatever it would have been, but he’s two steps ahead of every other linebacker on that defense and you got (Channing) Tindall and Quay Walker who both could be second-round picks … I’m talking two full steps ahead of them on misdirections, play-actions, all that stuff. I just love his makeup as a football player, so I would say he probably makes the biggest immediate impact.”

That game speed that McShay is talking about was on display all of last season for Nakobe Dean. The Horn Lake, Miss. native won the 2021 Butkus Award as the nation’s best linebacker, finishing second on the team in tackles with 73 stops including a team-high 10.5 for loss, 6.0 of which were sacks. He also recorded an impressive 31 quarterback hurries, six pass breakups and two interceptions, one of which he took to the house for a touchdown in Georgia’s rivalry-game win over Florida. Dean was named First-Team All-SEC by both the Associated Press and the league’s 14 head coaches, SEC Defensive Player of the Year by Pro Football Focus and a First-Team All-American by the AP, Walter Camp, American Football Coaches Association, Sporting News and USA Today among others.

Dean was projected at No. 21 to the New England Patriots by Kiper and McShay, the third highest of any player that suited up for the Bulldogs last season. The highest of those would be Travon Walker, projected No. 2 overall to the Detroit Lions. McShay noted that there’s been some buzz about Walker going first overall to the Jacksonville Jaguars, but if he’s not first, he very well might be second. To McShay however, he’s the player that can have the biggest impact long term with his best football still to be played.

“Long term, I would say Travon Walker,” McShay said. “I think his best football is still ahead of him. He’s got to learn how to use his hands a little bit more efficiently as a pass rusher and how to finish better, kind of gather himself because he left a lot of sacks on the field – only finished with 9.5 sacks in his career. He was the dynamite out on the defensive line just taking up blocks. I always say fishing with dynamite. He’s the dynamite that goes in and blows everything up and then allows guys like Nakobe Dean and Tindall and Walker and some of those other guys to blitz and creates a crease for them.”

“He’s so powerful versus the run. He’s an exceptional defensive end when it comes to stopping the run. I think he’s gonna be at his best rushing the passer right away on the inside,” he continued. “The more time goes on and the more he works on his hands as a pass rusher, he’s gonna become a really good edge rusher too. I think the ceiling for him is extraordinarily high. He’s 6-(foot)-5, 272 pounds running 4.51 (40-yard dash) with 35.5 inch arms. He’s like a left tackle running like a running back. You don’t see many guys come out of college with his traits.”

Walker started all 15 games for Georgia at defensive tackle last season, finishing with 37 tackles, the second-best among interior defensive linemen behind only likely fellow first rounder Devonte Wyatt. Walker, like Dean, had 6.0 sacks with 7.5 tackles for loss and a team-high 36 quarterback hurries. He played more than any other Bulldog on the defensive line.

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