ATHENS, Ga. — Eighteen now-former Georgia Bulldog football players took the field Wednesday at the Payne Indoor Athletic Complex in front of a deep crowd of NFL and CFL scouts, coaches and executives in an effort to make a final case to improve their draft stock come April. Among them were presumed first-round picks defensive back Malaki Starks and edge rusher Mykel Williams.
Injuries have certainly been a theme for the Bulldogs’ top prospects. Williams, who played all of 2024 with a Grade 2 left ankle sprain that he said kept him at “less than 60%” all season, ran the 40-yard dash but did not participate in any field drills. Top linebacker prospect Jalon Walker was also present but did not participate due to a minor thigh injury he sustained during a training session earlier this month. Both Williams and Walker will participate in a private workout for NFL teams on April 17.
“I’ll work more lateral and change of direction type stuff on my ankle,” said Williams. “I’ve really [only] been working linear, straight-line speed.”
Starks, however, was a full participant at this year’s NFL Combine. Apparently, the top safety was happy with his 4.50 second 40-yard dash and 33” vertical jump, as he did not participate in any tests today—only field drills. In his limited exposure, the safety looked as fluid as ever, showing the strong command of his feet and hips that have allowed him to be an extremely versatile defensive back during his time at Georgia.
Starks is widely agreed to be one of the top two safeties in this year’s draft, and has been consistently mocked in the late first round, sometimes slipping to early in the second. When asked if it was important to him to be drafted in the first round, Starks responded with a mixture of confidence and humility.
“Yes and no. That’s the goal, everybody wants to be a first round draft pick. But it doesn’t matter what number you get picked. When you get to a team, it doesn’t say ‘second round pick,’” said Starks, gesturing to his chest. “It says the team, and your name is on the back.”
Also fully participating was perhaps this year’s most notable Combine invite snub in Dan Jackson. The safety had a stellar week at the Senior Bowl, being voted the best safety in practice by his wide receiver and tight end teammates, yet was still not among the 56 defensive backs invited to Indianapolis.
“Pumped to be out here and show what I got at Pro Day, I can’t thank Georgia enough for everything they’ve done for me,” said Jackson of his snub. “I know all the [NFL] teams were here, and that was my goal since I got to Georgia.”
Jackson’s effort shone in field drills, as he exploded towards the ball out of his breaks and practically threw himself out of bounds in pursuit of a few errant balls (NFL team staffers threw for the defensive drills as opposed to a quarterback). Official testing numbers have not yet been released, but the consensus was that scouts were happy with Jackson’s 40 time, with whispers of a 4.3 or 4.4 passing through the crowd.
“The scouts know today that he ran fast, and I’ve been told them he was fast,” said receiver Arian Smith of his teammate. “They were asking before he ran, like, ‘is he fast?’ I’m like ‘you’ll see, you’ll know. You’re about to find out.’”
Other notable participants included offensive lineman Tate Ratledge and running back Trevor Etienne, neither of whom participated in testing as they did so at the Combine. Ratledge rocketed his draft stock in Indianapolis with a 4.97-second 40-yard dash and 9’ 5” broad jump, both of which were the best among guards at the Combine. Etienne’s 4.42-second 40 ranked sixth among running backs.
Etienne participated in route drills along with wide receivers Smith, Dominic Lovett and Izayah Reeves and tight end Ben Yurosek. Passes were thrown by quarterback Gunner Stockton, who replaced the injured Carson Beck for the Bulldogs late last season. Etienne looked polished in his routes, especially out of the backfield. Georgia’s pro day script included motion concepts, such as a whip route stemmed off of a motion out of the backfield, which Etienne ran to perfection. His strong footwork allows for fast and precise cuts which, paired with solid hands, will make him a reliable backfield passing option in the NFL.
I knocked Smith for his consistent drop issues throughout Senior Bowl week, and I’ll give credit where it’s due, as his field workout showed definite improvement in the hands department. His 4.36 speed was clear to see in his routes, and he hits a second gear in longer developing concepts that will certainly allow him to continue gassing opposing safeties and corners at the next level. Some work on his feet to build crisper, quicker cuts would allow him to make the most of his game-breaking speed at the next level.