Former Georgia duo featured on NFL All-Under-25 Team
Just days after a pair of NFL-bound Georgia rookies were named to the Preseason All-Rookie Team by NFL.com, two Bulldogs were included on the site’s All-Under 25 Team. Picked and published by Nick Shoock from Around the NFL, both of Georgia’s selections come from the line of scrimmage with one on each side of the ball.
On offense, it’s New York Giants left tackle Andrew Thomas. A starter for Georgia from the day he stepped foot on campus, Thomas was the first offensive lineman off the board in the 2020 NFL Draft. He’s entering just his third season in the league and already has a Second-Team All-Pro selection to his name on top of the accomplishments achieved during his collegiate career.
In the span of a few days in early 1999, two of the NFL’s top tackles under 25 years old were born. Thomas arrived first — he was born on Jan. 22, two days before Wirfs — but he didn’t earn All-Pro status until last season, as a second-team selection. Brian Daboll’s arrival certainly contributed to New York’s turnaround, but give Thomas credit for staying dedicated to improving. The results are indisputable. It turns out former Giants GM Dave Gettleman made a good pick when he drafted Thomas in 2020. – Shook, NFL.com
Thomas started his career off at right tackle, earning Freshman All-American honors there in 2017 for the SEC Championship winning Bulldogs, but played his best football after switching sides and protecting the blind side for Jake Fromm. Thomas stepped in as a freshman, earned a starting spot and proceeded to start every game in which he played during his Georgia career. He was twice named a First-Team All-SEC selection, a First-Team All-American in 2018 and an unanimous All-American in 2019. Thomas, who was a team captain in 2019, also won the Jacobs Blocking Trophy before declaring for the NFL Draft and being selected fourth overall by the New York Giants in the 2020 NFL Draft.
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Flip things over to the defensive side of the ball, and it’s a player who’s coming off of his rookie season and contributed to the first of Georgia’s back to back championships, Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Jordan Davis. After being taken in the first round by the Eagles, Davis was part of a Philadelphia team that won the NFC Championship and played for a Super Bowl. He totaled 22 tackles on the year in 16 games played, starting five of those. Davis did miss some time during the regular season though due to an ankle injury.
He didn’t register a sack as a rookie, so you might not agree with this pick. That’s fine; I believe it will end up proving prescient. Davis was playing an important but understated role for the Eagles last season, occupying blockers and stuffing run lanes. Look no further than Philadelphia’s decision to hit the free-agent wire and sign not one but two veteran defensive tackles to fill the void when the rookie missed time with an ankle injury in the middle of last season. Davis will soon be a household name; I’ll take the hat tips then. – Shook, NFL.com
Davis was a find of Tray Scott during the recruiting process and somebody that took time to develop. He played some as a freshman, starting four games even, and earned a spot on the Freshman All-SEC and All-American teams. He had seven tackles midseason against LSU before taking on a bigger role and making his first collegiate start versus Florida.
Davis kept up his strong play as a sophomore. While he did take a step back statistically, he started eight of the 14 games. Then, as a junior, he earned All-American honors. He started seven of 10 games before deciding to return for his senior season in 2021.
As a senior, Davis once again earned All-American honors, this time unanimously – one of just 13 players in program history to do so. He won the Outland Trophy and the Bednarik Award, leading Georgia to a National Championship Game victory as one of the four permanent team captains. Davis started 14 of 15 games and played in all 15, finishing with 32 tackles including a career-best 5.5 tackles for loss as he plugged up the middle of the line of scrimmage and required a pair of players to block him almost every play.
