The 2021 Georgia Bulldogs allowed just 10.2 points per game in their historic run to a national championship. The Bulldogs saw five players get drafted in the first round of the 2022 draft, including the Philadelphia Eagles drafting defensive anchor Jordan Davis with the 13th pick.
The team’s defensive leader, Nakobe Dean, fell right into the Eagles’ lap at pick 83 in the third round of the same draft after a major slide.
Now in the 2023 NFL Draft, the Eagles have once again turned to the Bulldogs to draft their talent, reassembling the historic 2021 defense.
Positioned with a top-ten pick after a Super Bowl run is extremely uncommon in the draft. Still, after another Howie Roseman master class, the Eagles held a lucrative pick in the draft with their eyes on one man, Jalen Carter.
Carter was looked at as the best player on that Georgia defense in 2021. He has everything you look for in a defensive tackle, but off-the-field issues caused him to slide in range for the Eagles to go up and get him.
The fit makes too much sense. Carter is now reunited with Davis and Dean, plus another Bulldog we’ll get to shortly, and joins a locker room filled with veteran leadership to help guide him in the right direction.
Talent was never a question with Carter. The tape shows what he can do on the field; it was just a matter of his issues off the field.
Eagles draft Georgia star DT Jalen Carter with the No. 9 pick, per @AlbertBreer
Philly’s D-line just got scarier 😤 pic.twitter.com/FRJ0xT380L
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 28, 2023
Based alone on true talent, it can be argued Carter is the best player in this draft. Now you bring him to replace Javon Hargrave and partner him with his old running mate, and the defense looks even scarier.
Roseman and the Birds were not done plucking from the Bulldogs Thursday night, though. With the second to last pick in the first round, the Eagles selected edge rusher Nolan Smith. Smith was frequently mocked by the Eagles at number ten by analysts, and they got him all the way at 30. Smith is undoubtedly very raw and coming off a pec injury that ended his season early last year, but he is an athletic freak that you now pair with Haason Reddick on the outside and allow Reddick to teach him and help him grow.
Smith was another leader on that Georgia defense that is now going to be rocking midnight green in 2023. He may be an undersized edge rusher, which potentially could have caused him to slide, but Roseman now adds another athletic defensive lineman to the Eagles’ ferocious pass rush.
Carter, Smith, Davis, and Dean are all set to be major contributors to the Eagles’ defense in 2023. Roseman has stuck to his recent trend of drafting from the SEC and now has just turned to the Bulldogs of Athens, Georgia, to build his team around.
Georgia is a great football program that has won back-to-back national championships. These guys know how to win, and Roseman is now looking for them to win another championship, this time in midnight green.
Photo: Grant Halverson/Getty Images
