Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray is widely recognized as a 2014 NFL Draft prospect, but can the fifth-year senior look around the locker room and say the same about many others?
Not really, says one NFL scout.
Week 11: Things we learned
From AJ McCarron being tabbed the nation's most underrated player to Auburn's Nick Marshall outrunning Johnny Manziel, here are the lessons we learned from Week 11. **More ...**
"They don't have the draft-eligible players this year," an NFL scout told the Chattanooga Times Free Press, "and when you actually look at it, it's a credit to what their coaching staff has done. Their coaching staff lost nine guys on defense who are in the NFL, and they lost a couple of players on offense and then had all these injuries on offense, yet they've still gone out and won ball games."
Looking at the top players on the roster, it's not hard to see the point. Star running back Todd Gurley, of course, is only a true sophomore and thus won't be draft-eligible until 2015, or 2016. Wide receiver Malcolm Mitchell might have been a potential early entry player for 2014, but after a knee injury ended his season in the Bulldogs' first game, Mitchell figures to return to UGA next year to prove his health.
Georgia had eight players drafted last year, a school record.
That doesn't mean Murray will be the only Bulldog to hear his name called next spring. Senior tight end Arthur Lynch and senior defensive end Garrison Smith are two potential draftees. But some of the very best talent on the roster is too young for a 2014 exit, and some of the team's top juniors are anything but certain to turn pro early.
*Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter **@ChaseGoodbread*.
