Sedrick Van Pran: 2024 NFL Draft Profile, Projection, Prediction
Few programs have been better at putting players into the NFL during the Kirby Smart era than Georgia, and this year’s draft is no different. Brock Bowers, Amarius Mims and Ladd McConkey are likely to go early. There’s the mid-round guys like Kamari Lassiter, Javon Bullard and Tykee Smith and the late-round steals like Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint, Sedrick Van Pran and a pair of running backs – Kendall Milton and Daijun Edwards.
Looking to hit double-digits for a third consecutive year, the Bulldogs sent 11 to the NFL Combine earlier in the process. A couple more worked out at UGA’s Pro Day. To preview it all for you, DawgsHQ takes an individual look at Georgia’s players in the draft pool, recapping their career in red and black and providing the latest projections (and a prediction of our own) for where they’ll fall on draft night.
Sedrick Van Pran
Few have been more consistent in their Georgia career than Van Pran. After redshirting his freshman season in 2020, playing in four games, the New Orleans, La. native started every game for the rest of his time in Athens. That would be 44 straight including four College Football Playoff games, three SEC Championship Games and a pair of National Championships.
Named an All-SEC Second Team selection by both the coaches and media in 2022, expectations were high for Van Pran coming into 2023. He lived up to them for the most part, helping Georgia’s offensive line allow the fewest sacks in the SEC (seventh in the nation) while finishing top five nationally in several other offensive categories. None of it would happen without Van Pran as the center started every play.
Van Pran won the SEC’s Jacobs Blocking Trophy, was a finalist for the Rimington Trophy and earned All-American nods from ESPN, Sports Illustrated, AFCA, Associate Press, CBS, Fox Sports, FWAA, Sporting News, The Athletic and Walter Camp.
Palmer’s Prediction: It’s tough to predict where a center will get picked. It’s a valued position, but not nearly as valued as offensive tackles. Many teams will simply convert a guard to a center by teaching them how to snap. Whoever drafts Van Pran won’t have to do that as he’s been a center his entire career, but he does have the ability to play guard too if called upon. While most had him as the top center in the country coming into the season, that’s no longer really the case. He’s behind some others. My guess, Van Pran goes in the fourth or fifth round and provides a team with strong play and incredible leadership.
