NFL Scouts Weigh in on Georgia Defensive Prospects

Plus more notes on Week 10 of the college football season, including thoughts Tennessee receiver Jalin Hyatt, Brian Kelly’s big win with LSU and more.

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The last few years, my Six From Saturday notes have been included at the bottom of my MMQB column on Monday mornings. This year, they’ll be published as a separate post each week. Here are my thoughts on this weekend’s college action, geared mostly toward what should be of interest to NFL fans.

1) Georgia was Georgia on Saturday, and we got another look at the defensive talent that’s flowing through Athens right now. “The amazing thing is you go to a practice and you see them, and it’s like, ‘Good God, who is that?’” said one AFC exec. “And it’s like, ‘Oh yeah, he’s a true freshman’ or ‘He’s a redshirt freshman.’ They have a lot of guys.”

You’ll hear about (at least) three, in particular for 2023. The first one is interior lineman Jalen Carter, who’s been on the NFL’s radar for two years. “If you watch last year, with all that first-round talent out there, there were times he was the best player on the field,” said the exec. “He’s versatile. You can line him up at DT, put him on the end, let him rush from there. He’s big, athletic, can play the run. I don’t know how high in the first round he goes, but he’s up there.” 

Carter is one of several NFL-caliber players on the Georgia defense :: Dale Zanine/USA TODAY Sports

Then, there’s wildly talented corner Kelee Ringo, who had the game-clinching pick in the national title game but has been less consistent this year. “From what I’ve seen, he's long, strong, and he had all the first-round hype coming into the season,” said the exec. “I’m not sure if he’s played up to that, but he’s athletic, can bend, it’s all there.” 

And, finally, there’s the really amazing thing about Saturday, which is that the presumed third first-rounder, Nolan Smith, who’s now out for the year, didn’t play. “He toyed with the idea of coming out last year, bulked up, he’s probably up to 240 now—for an edge guy, he’s leaner. But he’s still physical and tough against the run, high motor, can rush off the edge, drop in coverage. He’s just productive. Probably a Sam ’backer in the pros, a guy who can play on the line and off it. … I don’t know how the injury affects his draft position.” So add all that up, and, yeah, what happened on Saturday in Athens wasn’t an accident.

2) That said, while Tennessee’s talent isn’t in the ballpark of Georgia’s, there were still plenty of Vols for the NFL to look at, especially in the passing game. Along those lines, Jalin Hyatt’s been the most statistically prolific receiver in the country through two-plus months—with 51 catches for 970 yards and 14 touchdowns. He found a way to grind out 63 yards on six catches against Ringo and the Bulldogs’ secondary, which should actually help the NFL evaluate a guy who’s a little slight by NFL standards “He’s got some DeVonta Smith vibes,” said one NFC exec. “Long, lean, explosive. Not just a vertical threat. He runs good routes, good body control, and track-and-adjust skills. He’s explosive after the catch, but he’s got average strength and doesn’t face press much.”

3) It’s not hard to attach Clemson’s struggles on offense the last two years to the fact that the Tigers lack the elite quarterback play they had from 2014 to ’16 (Deshaun Watson) and again from ’18 to ’20 (Trevor Lawrence). Add that to the fact that the ’17 team, the one in between, was defense-heavy, and that Lawrence entered the league with a longer way to go developmentally than anyone expected, and there are a lot of fair questions to ask. Those questions, undoubtedly, will be asked now after an ugly night at Notre Dame.

4) Brian Kelly was very much on the NFL’s radar in the past—the Eagles were involved with him between Chip Kelly initially saying no, and then yes, to them in 2013—and this year is again showing why. For all the memes, and jokes, and fake accents and weird recruiting videos, the guy wins everywhere he goes, from Grand Valley to Central Michigan to Cincinnati, Notre Dame and now LSU. Maybe most impressive was all that noise about his fit in Baton Rouge was bolstered by a 4–2 start featuring a loss to middling Florida State, a blowout at the hands of Tennessee and a rock-fight win over Auburn. Kelly kept them engaged, in running a demanding program, and now they’ve won four straight and the coach has his first signature win in the SEC.

5) This week, news of a high school sophomore named Colin Hurley reclassifying from the class of 2025 to the class of ’24 broke, and this is hardly the first time it’s happened (Texas QB Quinn Ewers is another example). And this trend, in time, will be interesting from an NFL standpoint, in that these moves are designed to get players draft-eligible faster. Ewers, for example, will be eligible in ’24, rather than ’25, as a result of his move. And Hurley would be in ’27, rather than ’28.

6) If the monster TV deals were designed to make the SEC the AFC and the Big Ten the NFC (or vice versa), then the College Football Playoff this year might manifest that all at once, because it doesn’t seem all that unlikely that 11–1 Tennessee and the Michigan–Ohio State loser could get in. To be clear: I’m not saying it’s 100% happening. And some dominoes would need to fall, for sure. But it’s definitely in play.