Dawgs Daily

NFL Draft Profile: Nolan Smith Likely to Be Big Winner in Indy Despite Injury

Nolan Smith missed the last six games of his senior season due to a pectoral tear. We bring you his NFL Draft profile prior to the NFL Combine.

Brooks Austin

Georgia has been placing players in the NFL Draft at an unprecedented rate over the last three seasons. For three straight years, Kirby Smart has broken the University of Georgia NFL Draft record for a number of draftees. Last year's 15 total selections were not only a school record but a modern draft-era record and it likely would have been 16, had it not been for the return of one Nolan Smith. 

Smith elected to forego what was undoubtedly a draftable grade following his junior season where he racked up a career-high 4.5 sacks on a defensive front that featured four eventual first-round picks in the form of Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, Travon Walker, and Devonte Wyatt. His decision to return to Georgia for a fourth year looked to be paying massive dividends, having tallied 3.0 sacks and 7.0 TFLs in just 8 games prior to a season-ending pectoral tear. 

Smith, the former No. 1 ranked player in America in the 2019 signing class, came to Georgia with the more than merely lofty expectations for his performance in the Red & Black. 

Nolan will likely forever be remember in Georgia lore for his uncanny smile as well as his leadership and voice in the locker room over the last four seasons. Head coach Kirby Smart re-iterated during the national championship press conferences that there was a time where Smith wanted to pack it in, and just prepare for the NFL Draft, but Smart was adamant he return and finish what he started. 

"Of our captains, he was the leading vote-getter. It tells you that everybody respected him. And he was not playing. And he was going to check out and go train and go work out. I said, 'Nolan, it will be the greatest mistake of your life if you leave right now and don't finish this because people will remember how you finished. Whether we win or lose is irrelevant. But the rest of your life you will be remembered, were you a captain, were you there for everybody? Did you stand by this team? Did you impact them in a way without being on the field? Because NFL teams will value someone who can impact their team when they're not playing.'" - Kirby Smart on Nolan Smith

The leading vote-getter for a two-time national championship football team without ever lacing them up. That's the kind of human being Nolan Smith is. He was the first commit in the 2019 class. He was the first signee in the 2019 class. And he leaves college football a two-time national champion. 

As for the football player, Smith is undoubtedly one of the more technically sound football players in the draft. Despite years of being touted as the No. 1 player in America in high school, this isn't a 6'5, 275-pound, 4.6-running monster like Travon Walker from a year ago. Smith is an instinctive player, he's a player that moves first and strikes with proper pad level and leverage at 6'3, 240 pounds. He's going to have plenty of physical questions about his size and ultimate position in the NFL, questions that he will more than likely answer with that patented smile on his face. 

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Brooks Austin
BROOKS AUSTIN

Brooks Austin is a former college football player turned journalist and broadcaster. Follow him on Twitter @BrooksAustinBA

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