In the NFL, genius moves in the moment seem like no-brainers in retrospect. Most teams look at great college teams as a collection of prospects to sort through, like picking the choicest oranges from a pile. But when you have before you the greatest defense in college football history, why not just draft … all of them?
The 2024 NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles have the NFL’s best defense, and it’s not hard to see why: At the heart of it is the 2021 University of Georgia defense, one of the best in college football history. Never in football has “getting the band back together” been a more appropriate, or effective, roster-building philosophy.
The Eagles’ 2024 defensive prowess began three years ago and 750 miles southwest, in Athens, Georgia. That year, the Bulldogs ripped through the regular season undefeated, then suffered an unexpected lapse in the 2021 SEC championship game against Alabama. Georgia wiped off the blood and proceeded to hammer both Michigan and the Crimson Tide by 23 and 15 points, respectively, to claim the national championship in defiant, indisputable fashion.
NFL teams tend to be wary of recruiting the logo rather than the player, but the Georgia “G” carried plenty of weight in 2021. As a team, Georgia gave up just over 10 points per game — including the uncharacteristic 41 that Alabama scored in the SEC championship — but that total includes points not scored against the defense, like pick-sixes and special teams touchdowns. The Bulldog defensive unit only allowed 132 points, or 8.8 points a game.
While individual Bulldog players may not have posted gaudy stats, that’s only because there was so much talent and not enough quarterbacks to sack. NFL GMs understood the potential of the group, though, and five Bulldogs from the defensive side of the ball were drafted in the first round of the 2022 draft, a third of the 15 Georgia players overall taken in 2022.
Chief among those talent evaluators: Philadelphia’s Howie Roseman, who has had scouts dispatched to the SEC, and particularly Georgia, for years. The investment is now paying dividends.
"They can basically spend their whole fall down there; it's like one-stop shopping down there," Roseman told the Athletic in 2022. "You go to practice, you go to a game, you go visit that facility, and you're just going, 'Shoot, I'll draft this whole team.' It's a great credit to their program and what they have done."
After cherry-picking the then-national champion Tide with their first two picks in 2021 — wide receiver DeVonta Smith and guard Landon Dickerson — the Eagles turned their eyes to Athens. Beginning with defensive tackle Jordan Davis at the 13th overall pick in the 2022 NFL draft, the Eagles basically rebuilt the Dawgs a few hundred miles north. Philly picked up linebacker Nakobe Dean in 2022’s third round, then in 2023 added defensive tackle Jalen Carter (first round, ninth overall), linebacker Nolan Smith (first round, 30th overall) and defensive back Kelee Ringo in the fourth round. (Carter fell to Philadelphia following pre-draft concerns about his maturity and his legal status regarding his involvement in a fatal drag-racing accident in Athens; the Eagles’ internal security satisfied questions about Carter’s fitness for the team.)
The Dawgs delivered immediate, and lasting, results. Carter placed second in the 2023 AP Defensive Rookie of the Year voting behind Houston’s Will Anderson; this year, he was named an All-Pro second-teamer and a Pro Bowler. In 16 games this past season, Smith had 42 combined tackles, 6 ½ sacks and 11 quarterback hits. Ringo has played in all 17 games in both of his two seasons, and was a Pro Bowl special teams alternate this year. Davis was named to the All-Rookie Team in 2022. This year, playing in all 17 games, he had 27 combined tackles, including three for a loss.
One Dawg will be watching from the sidelines, unfortunately for Philadelphia. Dean had 128 combined tackles, 80 solo, in 2024 but tore his patellar tendon in the first round of the playoffs against Green Bay. (Also on the roster: Lewis Cine, a sixth Dawg from the same era, signed off the Bills’ practice squad earlier this year. He’s yet to play a snap in green.) In all, the Philly Dawgs have helped power a defense that allowed the fewest yards and second-fewest points of any team in the NFL.
Granted, expecting good players to come out of Georgia isn’t exactly outside-the-box thinking. In fact, Super Bowl LIX marks the 24th consecutive Super Bowl with at least one Bulldog on the roster, a testament to the program’s ability to turn out elite-level talent on an annual basis. To hear the players tell it, the culture instilled by head coach Kirby Smart is the key to Georgia’s success — and that same culture manifests in Philadelphia, as well.
“This was one of my favorite top 30 visits,” Nolan Smith said shortly after he was drafted. “Just when I walked in the building, the coaches, the people around here, they greet you with a smile, they say hello, and really just the whole city. So, it was really fun just going from a good culture to an even better culture.”
Smart is an old-school head coach in the Nick Saban mode, prizing competition at every turn and preaching the value of teamwork and the danger of complacency. How well that management style will play in an NIL era is a question for another time, but like Saban, Smart is setting up his players for a rich future in the NFL, and the Eagles are taking advantage.
If the Eagles are able to take out the Chiefs on Sunday, don’t be surprised if there’s a little woofing at the Lombardi Trophy ceremony. After all, the Philly Dawgs have been there before.
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