Alright so I actually just wrapped up this little project today. Basically I woke up thinking about Georgia football – again. Been doing that a lot lately since the draft buzz was everywhere. Saw like three different mock drafts before breakfast scrolling through my phone. Kept wondering which Bulldogs actually went first, you know? Felt like everyone was shouting opinions, but nobody just laid out the facts.
Starting Point: The Data Hunt
Grabbed my laptop around 11 AM. Opened up that draft tracker website everyone uses – the official NFL one. Searched specifically for “Georgia”. My process was super simple:
- Scanned down the draft order, round by round.
- Flagged every single player listed from University of Georgia.
- Jotted down their names, positions, and where exactly they got picked.
- Made a coffee. This took longer than I thought!
Found Brock Bowers first. Tight end. He popped up at pick number 13 to the Raiders. Felt kinda early for a TE, tbh, but he’s solid. Then I kept scrolling. Round 1 finished. Nobody else from Georgia yet? Interesting. Definitely not what the pre-draft hype led me to expect.
Switched tabs and pulled up a different site just to double-check. Yep, same thing. Only Bowers in Round 1. The rest were still waiting. Kept going.
Finding the Flow (and More Bulldogs)
Round 2 started. Scrolled down… bam! Amarius Mims, offensive tackle. Bengals grabbed him at pick 18 in the second round (so pick 49 overall). Big dude. Makes sense. Kept scanning. Click… scroll… click.
Saw Kamari Lassiter, cornerback. Texans took him at pick 42 in Round 2 (pick 59 overall). Okay, solid. The Bulldogs were getting picked, just later than some folks predicted.
Round 3 rolled along. Thought I’d see Ladd McConkey here. Looked. Scrolled. There! Chargers got him at pick 34 in Round 3 (pick 97 overall). Receiver move. Expected him maybe a bit earlier, but hey, third round.
Then another one! Javon Bullard, safety. Packers picked him at pick 39 in Round 3 (pick 104 overall). Two Bulldogs back-to-back in late Round 3. Kinda wild.
Late Round Gems
Didn’t stop there. Rounds 4-7 came. Found a few more Dawgs scattered around:
- Sedrick Van Pran, center. Saints got him in Round 5 (pick 141 overall).
- Tykee Smith, safety. Buccaneers took him in Round 3 (pick 89 overall) – missed that earlier!
- Zion Logue, defensive lineman. Falcons picked him Round 6 (pick 197 overall).
Double-checked my list. Cross-referenced with a third site just to be thorough. Yep, that seemed like the main crew.
So… Who Actually Went First?
Put it all together:
- Absolutely Brock Bowers, tight end, was the first Bulldog off the board.
- He went way before anyone else, at pick 13 to Las Vegas.
- Mims was next, at 49th overall.
- Ladd McConkey got picked later than some expected, at 97th.
Honestly, it was kinda funny seeing where everyone landed compared to all the pre-draft noise. Reality hit different. Good guys got picked, just not necessarily in the order the talking heads predicted. Feels good to have tracked it down myself instead of just reading someone else’s take.