Philadelphia Eagles Rookies: From College Football Champs to Super Bowl Bound

Former College Football National Champions playing in the 2023 Super Bowl.

If Georgia knows a thing or two, it’s how to win and how to produce winners. Two guys straight out of Georgia and into the NFL happen to be on the same Super Bowl-bound team: the Philadelphia Eagles. Those two guys are Nakobe Dean and Jordan Davis.

From Bulldogs to Birds, the two rookies are flying into their first Super Bowl on February 12 against the Kansas City Chiefs. Though this is their first NFL championship, they’ve certainly been in the spotlight before.

The Georgia Bulldogs dominated the 2021 college football season going 14-1. This landed them in the CFP Championship, where they won 33-18 over Alabama.

The Georgia roster was stacked, as 15 players were selected in the NFL Draft. Dean and Davis were two of the guys who made an impact on Georgia’s success in the 2021 season.

Dean had 72 tackles, six sacks, two interceptions and multiple other impressive stats as a dominant playmaker during his time at Georgia. He even got in on the offense with one return and one touchdown. Dean was honored in the 2021 season with the Preseason 3rd-Team All-SEC, 1st-Team All-SEC and the Butkus Award.

Davis contributed 32 tackles, 5.5 tackles-for-loss, two sacks and 14 quarterback hits in his Georgia career. He was named to the Preseason 1st-Team All-SEC, regular season 1st-Team All-SEC and awarded the Bednarik Award and Outland Trophy in the 2021 season.

Both players contributed and helped Georgia be successful during their 2021 season en route to the championship. Having a team with loaded defensive talent proved to be successful for Georgia. In the NFL, it was something one NFC East team badly needed a boost in.

After their first season in a rebuild, the Eagles needed defensive help. With a new quarterback and new coaches, the team needed to add relief to the offense. Mirroring what the Dallas Cowboys did a year prior using the picks to build a solid defense, the Eagles' defense went from zero-to-hero in two seasons.

Dean and Davis contributed right away in their first season, rotating with some of the veterans on the Eagles. Dean had 13 tackles and Davis had 18 tackles and one pass deflection.

Because the Eagles were able to break away and have blowout wins this season, they sat starters in an effort to promote as few injuries as possible. This means that Davis and Dean had opportunities to play and show the coaches what they can do.

Another interesting fact that came from the added boost on defense was how much of an impact Jordan Davis was on the field versus off the field.

The Eagles allowed 2.9 yards per carry with Davis on the field compared to allowing 10 yards per carry when he’s off the field.

Nakobe Dean and Jordan Davis come off of a year in a championship just to go back to another. The Eagles using their draft picks to immediately fix something they struggled with last season was one of the boosts they needed to push for their second Super Bowl in five years.

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