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Kirby Smart shares revealing quote about how much NFL teams value Georgia players
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Kirby Smart spoke with reporters on Monday ahead of Georgia’s Week 3 contest against Kentucky.
Smart covered a variety of topics pertaining to the game on Saturday, but he also touched the impact that the transfer portal will have on this week’s matchup with the Wildcats. Kentucky quarterback Brock Vandagriff and starting linebacker Jamon Dumas-Johnson are both former Bulldogs who will face their old team this week.
Both Vandagriff and Dumas-Johnson are set to play bigger roles for Kentucky this season than they would have in Athens, but Smart implied that the move isn’t necessarily better for their NFL prospects in the future.
Smart claims that NFL teams say they get their best evaluations from watching Georgia practice due to the sheer quality of players up and down the roster. He said NFL teams view Georgia practice reps as more valuable than what some players will get playing in real games at other programs.
In that context, Smart called it “unfortunate” that some players have decided to transfer away from Georgia in search of playing time.
“It’s unfortunate because the feedback we get from the NFL is ‘there’s nowhere they’d rather have players than here developing,'” Smart said. “Countless GMs have told me that ‘the kids that come out of your program are so much better off and developed for having stayed even over playing because of what kind of practice they get and who they get to go against practice.’
“They feel like their best evaluation is when they come to our practice and see guys go against each other. That’s not anything directly at Brock and [Dumas-Johnson], not at all. Both those guys were awesome young men, great young men for our program. But just as a whole, asking about transfer portal stuff.”
Smart’s claim certainly has some evidence behind it. Georgia has put a whopping 33 players into the NFL Draft over the last 3 years alone. Under Smart’s leadership, the number of all-time first-round draft picks from Georgia has grown to 48 as of 2024.
Vandagriff struggled mightily in Kentucky’s Week 2 loss to South Carolina. He went just 3-of-10 for 30 yards and 1 interception against the Gamecocks. He’ll now face an even tougher test in Week 3 against Georgia.
Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday night.
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
