Kirby Smart has once again turned Athens into an NFL factory. Thirteen from the Georgia Bulldogs fam heard their names called in the 2025 NFL Draft, nearly matching the program’s record-setting haul of 15 in 2022. It’s the kind of output that cements a coach’s reputation in ink, not pencil. That kind of production doesn’t happen by accident—it’s systemic, it’s cultural, and it’s ruthless. And it’s no wonder that, like the Eagles before them, the Detroit Lions became the latest NFL team to hoard Bulldogs like blue-chip stocks. But for all the confetti from draft night, there’s a darker cloud forming over Georgia’s upcoming season.
A gnawing question about identity and whether it still exists between the hedges. Josh Pate, on his show, took the air out of the offseason optimism with a pointed and unfiltered take on Georgia’s 2025 outlook. “Georgia just sent 13 guys to the NFL draft. They couldn’t run the ball last year. So, that’s the identity. That’s like a non-starter,” he said bluntly. “If you tell me Georgia can’t run the ball, I don’t really think Georgia can do a whole heck of a lot in the national championship picture.” And he’s not wrong. The Dawgs posted their worst rushing output this millennium last year—a stat that stings especially hard in a program built on physicality and trench dominance.
Pate didn’t stop there. “So, is that back? They went and got the kid out of Illinois in the portal. Is the ability to control the game running the ball back?” he asked, nodding to a much-needed portal pickup. “I love the addition at the edge position, but just getting their identity back. They weren’t all that great defensively last year either. Running the ball, playing solid defense. I just expect that with Georgia. So, can I expect that this upcoming year? I don’t know.” And here’s the kicker: “They open against Marshall, so it’s not like opening against Clemson last year, but that schedule ramps up pretty quick. They play Tennessee and Alabama in their first four games.” That’s SEC for you, no time to rebuild, just reload or get run over.
FILE -Georgia running back Branson Robinson (22) runs the ball an NCAA college football game against Auburn Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022, in Athens, Ga. Branson Robinson, who showed his potential to emerge as a lead running back at Georgia by rushing for two touchdowns in the Bulldogs’ 2022 national championship game win over TCU, will miss this season after suffering a ruptured patellar tendon. Coach Kirby Smart announced Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2023 that Robinson, a sophomore, suffered the injury on Tuesday.(AP Photo/John Bazemore, File)
But if there’s a silver lining in the storm clouds, it might be found in how NFL teams continue to value Georgia’s culture. Lions GM Brad Holmes, who spent years scouting in the Southeast, offered a rare behind-the-scenes glimpse into why his team grabbed three Bulldogs in this year’s draft:
“Before I got this job, I was living in Atlanta, Georgia, for a long time, just scouting the Southeast,” Holmes said. “And then when the Rams moved out to L.A., just kind of stayed in Atlanta. But obviously, have been to Georgia practices a lot, and been around that program a lot. It’s unlike anything else that I’ve seen live in terms of college practice, in terms of just the intensity.” That kind of endorsement doesn’t just speak to coaching—it speaks to standards.
Reclaiming the run game, Kirby Smart could be inching closer to a long-term answer. Four-star prospect Jae Lamar has emerged as a potential crown jewel for the 2026 class. Lamar, who plays for Colquitt County High School in Moultrie, Georgia, is currently ranked as the No. 9 running back in the class and the No. 110 player in the nation overall.
At 5-foot-11 and north of 200 pounds, Lamar is the kind of back who could eventually restore the downhill brutality Georgia’s ground game has been missing. According to On3 Sports, the Bulldogs are in a strong position to land him, and given the recent struggles, he might be more of a necessity than a luxury. Georgia’s greatness wasn’t just built on sending players to the NFL—it was built on imposing its will from the first whistle.
Kirby Smart receives another bad news
The battle for the No. 1 quarterback in the 2026 class is heating up, and it’s turning into a coast-to-coast tug-of-war. Georgia native Jared Curtis is caught right in the middle of a high-stakes recruiting showdown between Oregon’s Dan Lanning and Kirby Smart—and things are getting spicy.
According to recruiting insider Tom Loy, the edge—at least for now—goes to the Ducks. “One day he [Curtis] is feeling Oregon, one day he is feeling Georgia. I think people inside his family are kind of preferring the Bulldogs,” Loy explained. “I think that Jared’s gut feeling is leaning towards Oregon. I’m going to lean towards Oregon because I think in the end, that’s what Jared wants.”
Curtis, ranked as the top quarterback in the 2026 cycle per the 247Sports Composite, is still doing his homework. He’s expected to meet “Mike Bobo at Georgia and Will Stein at Oregon. He’s going to meet with them once, potentially twice this week before he makes a decision,” Loy said.
The 6-foot-4, 225-pound signal caller, with a $2.8 million NIL value (per On3), will visit Eugene, Oregon, during the weekend of June 6.
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