ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The Georgia Bulldogs won the Southeastern Conference championship in December, they won the national championship in January and they now have won the NFL draft.
The Bulldogs, powered by the nation’s top-scoring defense, set a record this weekend for players from one school selected in a seven-round draft. Georgia, when cornerback Derion Kendrick and tight end John FitzPatrick were taken with back-to-back picks in the sixth round (Nos. 212 and 213 overall), finished with 15 players selected in this year’s draft.
The current seven-round format began in 1994. The previous record in the format had been set by Ohio State with 14 players selected in 2004 draft and LSU with 14 in 2020, including quarterback Joe Burrow with the No. 1 overall pick.
Georgia had already set a record Thursday night for the common draft era with five defensive players chosen in the opening round, led by Travon Walker at the No. 1 pick overall.
Earlier this year Walker said he hoped the Bulldogs would have this kind of draft weekend to add to their national championship run.
“That’s something that’s history, being on the field with all those guys, just being on the team with all those type players is something special,” Walker said at the scouting combine. ” … There’s a lot of great players, a lot of hard workers. And we did what we was asked.”
In the end, the Bulldogs had eight defensive players selected this year, six offensive players and punter Jake Camarda (in the sixth round by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers).
The overall record for players from one school selected in the NFL draft was set in 1984, when Texas had 17 selected in a 12-round draft. Notre Dame had 16 players picked in a 32-round draft in 1946, when the NFL had just 10 teams.