We’ve written far more about the 2011 NFL Draft prospects of Georgia Bulldogs than Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, which makes sense. It’s simply going to be a bigger year for Georgia in the NFL Draft than it will be for Georgia Tech. In recent years Georgia and Tech have been taking turns supplying the NFL with top talent — Calvin Johnson, then Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno, then Derrick Morgan and Demaryius Thomas, and now A.J. Green and Justin Houston.
But there are a handful of Tech players likely to get a chance to play on Sundays. The ever-useful Mocking The Draft lists three senior Jackets who could hear their names called during draft weekend: RB Anthony Allen, CB Mario Butler, and ILB Brad Jefferson.
Allen projects as a fourth-to-sixth rounder. He’s played in more conventional offenses, so NFL teams shouldn’t worry about his ability to adapt. At times he hasn’t been the most spirited blocker, and he has had fumbling issues. He runs with power, albeit bizarre upright power, and shouldn’t have the same conditioning issues that caused his predecessor Jonathan Dwyer’s NFL standing to plummet.
The two defenders are likely to go in late rounds. I’m interested to see where Jefferson and Georgia’s Akeem Dent wind up — the fact that they have even a little bit of 3-4 experience should boost their draft stock beyond what it would’ve been otherwise.