WATCH: Kirby Smart, former players speak at Georgia Pro Day

On the number of guys that Georgia had working out

“Yeah, I wish I had some coming back. I wish they could come back and play for us again, but unfortunately they can’t. So I’m excited for them today. We broke our own personal record of 122 NFL personnel here today and about five or six head coaches, more than we’ve ever had. So luckily we have a new team meeting room that we’re able to house these guys in. 

They’ve been very complimentary of our kids, the leadership of our players, the knowledge. I know several head coaches were here last night and sat down and watched tape of our players and went through each one by one. Really impressed with their football knowledge. But they’re great people, too. So I’m excited for these guys. A couple guys that hadn’t gotten to work out yet get to. Fitz [John FitzPatrick] is here today. He’s not able to work out, but he didn’t get to go to the combine. Julian, obviously. Excited for these guys.”

On John FitzPatrick playing hurt in 2021, what that says about him

“Yeah he’s a guy — he probably needed surgery about halfway through the year. He chose not to have that surgery. He wanted to play out the year. He did that and did a really good job for us. The good news is he’ll be healthy for all the mini-camps and all the OTA days wherever he gets to go. But he’s bulked up some; I think he’s jumped to 265. They want him to be able to play Y, so he’s added some weight. He hopefully will get to work out maybe in April for some teams later on when he’s healthy.”

On if having so many players in the draft pool is a testament to what the program has done in recent history

“Well, the credit goes to these kids. You know, they made the decision to come to school here. Our job is to develop him and make sure they’re better people when they leave. I think each one of these kids will tell you they’re more successful because of the work ethic they were able to achieve here. We had some really coaches to help coach them up and some really good players to help play. And I think it’s very unique to have this kind of collection of talent. You don’t have that every year. It’s not every year you’re going to have 14 guys at the combine. It’s just tough to do. And I’m proud of this group.”

On Nakobe Dean, why he didn’t run

“He has a pec strain. So he was getting ready for the combine and doing a lot of bench press, and he strained his pec. He hasn’t been able to train as much. He’s going to do some position drills and things. That’s a decision that he has to make, and I think he’s made the best decision.”

On ifv players leaving and seeing the fruit of their labor pay off helps those behind them

“Well, I think, if you look up there, a lot of our kids like to try and miss class to come watch this. That’s always a concern of mine. We tell them today is probably the most important day you go to class. When you get out, you can go cheer for your brothers and cheer those guys on. But we’ve all been there before: I was a player. You wanted to watch all of those guys ahead of you, and you aspired to do what they’re doing. It’s an exciting day for them. I’m just very thankful we’ve got this facility to hold it in because had it been eight, nine, 10 years ago, we would have been outside in this weather, and that would be unfortunate for these kids.”

On how this impacts recruiting

“It depends how many kids watch it. You think all these kids watch it and then you bring a recruit in and they say I spend all my time on social media looking at other recruits. So we want to push what these guys have done out, what they’ve been able to achieve, the amount of NFL personnel here, we want kids to see that. Where we’re one of the few schools in the country where we’re open to NFL teams whenever they can come, they can watch our players. A lot of coaches aren’t comfortable with that but for us we want our players to get seen, get evaluated and be able to put their best out there. I think that has helped our guys be comfortable in front of NFL personnel because it’s not the first time they’ve done it.”

On characteristics of the players working out

“I think every guy is different. There’s been a lot of accolades given to this group, especially defensively and the two backs. The biggest thing that sticks out is the way they play on tape. They pop, they play really physical. They know they’re coming from a very structured environment where they have to be on time, attentive, work hard. It’s not easy and when the kids tell them it’s not easy I think these NFL guys like that because they want it to be tough.” 

On meetings and practices being run like the NFL

“I don’t think any coach in college football would say that it’s not that way at their place. Nobody’s going to say it’s not that way. We try to mimic ours off what’s best for us. What we did last year might not be best for us this year. Our kids have a standard they have to execute to. There’s a discipline program where you better dress the right way, behave the right way in order to be successful. I think the off-field discipline helps with the on-field discipline and we try to sell that to these guys.”

On the importance of NFL draft success to Georgia

“It helps. You’re going to sell the next Jordan Davis on Jordan Davis. You’re going to sell the next George Pickens on George Pickens. So that helps sell, but ultimately it takes a lot of work and organization.”

On Jordan Davis and his weight

“You know going back to his SEC Media Days, Jordan weighed 330. It’s not like those major changes there. He played throughout the season in the 350 range. He played the National Championship game somewhere around 340, 345. I think a lot has been made about that. When he maintained his weight, he’s at the weight he’s at now. He’s had some fluctuations there but he came in at 315 pounds. He was going to put on weight and muscle when he got here and he did that. He’s done a good job managing that.”

On Nakobe’s work ethic

“He was a year younger than those guys, so all those guys were a year younger than him. I certainly think his character, his competitiveness. To get on the field in that room, you had to be on it. It raised the standard, it raised the bar. That’s kind of what we’re missing now. We don’t have the depth to where we can compete. Some guys have just inherited jobs. In that linebacker room you didn’t inherit anything. You had to work. Monty (Rice) set that standard for a lot guys in that room. He set a standard of excellence. Monty learned that from Roquan (Smith). So it gets passed down.”

On Julian Rochester

“I’m just happy for Julian to be healthy. He;s worked really hard to be healthy, had a couple of ACLs, he’s a kid who has been through a lot here but he’s never wavered. He was a great leader for us last year. He was a leader for us in the locker room, He helped shape Jordan and Devonte’s work ethic. So I’m happy for him at the end of the day.”

On if Jordan Davis can be a three-down lineman in the NFL

“Absolutely. He could have been a three-down lineman for us here. It;s more about conditioning. When he’s at his top level of conditioning and his best weight, he can play on third down. We’ve got pass rush ability out of the guy. We didn’t ask him to do that because we had the luxury of  Jalen Carter and Devonte Wyatt and Travon (Walker) to go in there and do it. He did it for us in practice all the time.”

On Davis’s ideal weight

“It depends on how teams are using him. If team’s are using him for every down, pass rushing things, he’s probably going to need to stay between 325-335. If he’s not going to be that guy, if he’s going to be a stop the run guy and you can put faster guys on the field, then he probably needs to be 345-355. But the teams will make that decision.”

On the jump for Devonte Wyatt, if he saw that kind of ability all along

“He’s had that kind of talent.  I think we’re all optimistic for Devonte. He’s a great kid, home grown from Atlanta.  Nobody gives Tray Scott enough credit for the work he’;s done with not only all of them, but really Devonte because Devonte has come the furthest from a natural talent standpoint. This guy decided to stay an extra year and he didn’t have to do that. IT’s paid off for him in terms of maturity and moving up the draft board.”

On Travon Walker being a workout freak, why the defensive end numbers don’t necessarily correlate at Georgia

“Well, it’s what they ask you to do a lot of times. He didn’t just line up and rush on the edge. There’s several NFL scouts that say, hey you just line him up at outside backer and let him set an edge, he’s going to be tremendous at that. He’s really strong, he’s really fast. But that’s not what we asked him to do. We asked him to do a lot of different things. His value comes, like you said, in workouts. He’s a freak. He’s got a lot of length. He’s an incredible athlete and he’s going to be a high draft pick.”

On George Pickens

“Well he trained. You’ve got to remember, George has kind of been training for this most of the year because he wasn’t with us. He was rehabbing a knee and doing a lot of springs. That correlates with running a good 40. We were happy to get him back when we did. He helped us, but he also helped himself because he was able to get on the field and get some tape.”

On if continuity of Tray Scott, Glenn Schumann is showing in the performances of DL/LBs

“A lot of continuity. I think that helps. Same thing at inside linebacker with Coach Schumann. I think that kind of stuff helps. We’re going through some transition right now, but when you hire good coaches that want to teach, that happens pretty quick.”

George Pickens, WR

Jamaree Salyer, OL

Justin Shaffer, OL

Jordan Davis, DL

Devonte Wyatt, DL

Travon Walker, DL

Nakobe Dean, LB

Channing Tindall, LB

Quay Walker, LB

Lewis Cine, DB

Derion Kendrick, DB

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