The national champion Georgia Bulldogs held their pro day on Wednesday. It’s arguably the biggest collegiate workout event on the entire pro day circuit, with as many as 19 draft-worthy Georgia prospects working out.
All 32 teams were in Athens to check out the talent, but the Detroit Lions had an extra edge in one key positional group. Lions LB coach Kelvin Sheppard was running all of the workouts for the linebacker group for the Bulldogs. He was closely watched by Lions special assistant and legendary LB, Chris Spielman. Sheppard was visible on the SEC Network barking out orders and coordinating the drills the talented set of LBs went through during the session.
This is Sheppard (in grey with the long hair) working out Travon Walker, who is a defensive lineman but has movement skills and athleticism that could also work at OLB. Even though Sheppard went to rival LSU, he has to appreciate Walker doing some LB drills at his size.
Travon Walker in action.. pic.twitter.com/WHuXUy5wiO
— Anthony Dasher (@AnthonyDasher1) March 16, 2022
Georgia has three draftable off-ball linebackers in this class all in the consensus top 100 prospects overall. The headliner is Nakobe Dean, though the talented backer chose not to do athletic testing once again. Dean also eschewed the workout at the NFL scouting combine, though he did participate in on-field LB drills for Sheppard. Dean is generally project in the 20-35 overall draft range, where the Lions have two picks (32 and 34).
Channing Tindall is a familiar face for Sheppard and the Lions coaching staff. They coached Tindall during Senior Bowl week in January and know very well what he can do. He tested through the roof athletically at the combine,
Channing Tindall is a LB prospect in the 2022 draft class. He scored an unofficial 9.82 RAS at the Combine out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 40 out of 2188 LB from 1987 to 2022. https://t.co/SB0EOI1kZT #RAS via @Mathbomb pic.twitter.com/hLH5k0R8fr
— Kent Lee Platte (@MathBomb) March 6, 2022
Tindall is generally projected as a Day 2 prospect with high upside. Another Day 2 projection, Quay Walker, is the third Bulldog LB in the group. Georgia’s defense was so loaded that Walker couldn’t even start in 2021, yet he’s ready to start for an NFL team in the fall.
At #Georgia's Pro Day, LB Quay Walker ran the shuttle drills:
SS: 4.22
3C: 7.04Short shuttle would've been best at 2022 #NFLCombine among LBs
— Eric Galko (@EricGalko) March 16, 2022
Some other Bulldog prospects of note:
- S Lewis Cine
- RB James Cook
- DT Jordan Davis
- CB Derion Kendrick
- WR George Pickens
- OL Jamaree Salyer