The Eagles used the No. 10 pick in the NFL draft to select Georgia edge rusher Nolan Smith on Thursday night.
Smith was a key player on the Bulldogs’ back-to-back national championship teams, but his 2022 season was cut short because of a pectoral muscle injury suffered in November. He has been fully cleared to resume football activities.
Here are three things to know about Smith:
Freakish athlete
Smith stunned many draft experts when he ran a 4.39 and was measured with a 41.5 inch vertical leap at the NFL Scouting Combine back in March. He became the heaviest athlete to ever run a sub-4.4 and jump over 40 inches. Smith is listed at 6-foot-2, 238 pounds, which isn’t big for an edge rusher. But neither is Haason Reddick of the Eagles and he had 16 sacks last season.
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Jordan Davis and Nakobe Dean effect
Smith is one of several star Georgia defensive players either playing in, or on the cusp of, the NFL. In 2021, he teamed with Eagles first-round pick in defensive tackle Jordan Davis and third-round pick in linebacker Nakobe Dean. Smith had 9 TFL, which was second on the team, and 3.5 sacks that season. He had 3 sacks and 7 TFLs in 8 games last season.
Top pedigree
Smith, who finished his high school career at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, was considered the top recruit in the class of 2019 by 247sports.com. He was ranked No. 2 by ESPN and other recruiting publications. He finished his Georgia career with 12.5 sacks and 20 TFLs.
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.
