If you were judging based on the schools that sent the most players to this week’s NFL combine in Indianapolis, Georgia would not be the most talented team in the SEC or college football last season.

The Bulldogs will have 10 players on hand this week, meeting with teams and taking part in drills, interviews and medical evaluations.

Those 10 players have Georgia tied for fifth for players from one school. Texas A&M leads the way with 13, with Alabama just behind at 12.

Ahead of Georgia are also Ohio State and LSU with 11 each.

Georgia football players attending 2026 NFL combine

What’s interesting to note is that the four teams above Georgia combined to win just a single College Football Playoff game. That was Alabama, which beat Oklahoma in the first round of the College Football Playoff. The Sooners will also have 10 players at this year’s combine.

Indiana, the unquestioned best team in the sport last season, will have nine players on hand. Miami, last season’s runner-up, will have 10 players participating. Quarterback Carson Beck, who began his career at Georgia, is one of those 10.

Georgia is no stranger to being well-represented at the NFL combine and thus in the NFL draft. Last year saw 13 players get drafted, trailing only Ohio State. Georgia’s 2022 NFL Draft class still holds the record for most players taken from a single draft class with 15.

But this haul of players heading off to the NFL is a bit different from what Georgia has sent in previous years.

The three defensive players invited to the NFL combine are the fewest from Georgia since the 2020 NFL Draft, when the Bulldogs sent just one defensive player to the combine in safety JR Reed. He went undrafted, while Allen, Miller and Everette are all expected to be taken in the top-100 picks of this year’s NFL draft.

The lack of defensive representation further highlights how young Georgia was last season while also offering up some optimism for what this group brings back in 2026.

Gabe Harris, Xzavier McLeod and Rayeln Wilson all could’ve earned possible invites to this year’s NFL combine. Instead, the Bulldogs bring all three back next season to what should be an ascending Georgia defense.

The Bulldogs have ready replacements for Allen, Miller and Everette. It won’t be a surprise to see linebacker Justin Williams, defensive lineman Elijah Griffin and cornerback Ellis Robinson eventually make their way to Indianapolis when it comes time for them to participate in the NFL combine.

On the offensive side of the ball, the wide receiver position is the best-represented group. Branch, Young and Bell all fit different roles last season, giving offensive coordinator Mike Bobo and quarterback Gunner Stockton plenty to work with.

Now the challenge will be replacing those three, along with Delp. The Georgia tight end was Stockton’s closest friend on the team.

The Bulldogs have to replace six of their top seven pass catchers from last season’s team. What should be a strength at the NFL combine will be Georgia’s biggest question mark heading into next season.

Georgia added Georgia Tech’s Isiah Canion via the transfer portal and signed three wide receivers in the 2026 recruiting cycle. The Bulldogs are largely counting on their 2025 wide receivers to make up for the production lost to the next level. Talyn Taylor, CJ Wiley and Landon Roldan all have the chance to carve out significant roles for Georgia next season.

On the offensive line, Georgia does have to replace the left side of its offensive line. For as much instability as there was on Georgia’s offensive line last season, Freeling and Morris combined to start 27 of 28 games at left guard and left tackle.

Freeling could well position himself to be Georgia’s highest-drafted player with a strong showing this week. As for who steps in at left tackle, Earnest Greene is likely the early favorite. At guard, Dontrell Glover and Juan Gaston played significant snaps last season. Gaston could also be a tackle for Georgia, opening the door for Michael Uini or Daniel Calhoun.

Freeling and Allen are the only members of Georgia’s 2023 signing class to be representing the Bulldogs at this year’s NFL combine. Traditionally, Georgia’s most talented players have spent just three seasons in Athens before moving on to the NFL. Of the 21 first-round draft picks to play for Kirby Smart, 12 fit into that category.

The light representation from Georgia’s 2023 recruiting class only further illustrates how that signing haul knocked Georgia from its perch atop college football. Allen and Freeling are the only two players signed from that class, ensuring that this NFL draft haul will have the fewest number of any recruiting class signed by Smart since he took over the program a decade ago.

Georgia knew going into the year that it wouldn’t get a ton from what had been the No. 2-ranked signing class for that cycle. Of the 26 signees, 13 were no longer with the program at the start of the season.

Had a few more players entered the draft early from that class — Wilson, tight end Lawson Luckie and kicker Peyton Woodring likely could’ve gotten invites — it becomes a moot point.

Instead, the return of Wilson, Jordan Hall, Luckie and Woodring helps Georgia’s 2026 team.

The reality for Georgia is that the 2025 year was also going to be a bit of a soft reset in terms of talent. The Bulldogs weren’t going to overwhelm teams with a massive talent edge like they had in recent seasons.

Yet that this team still got to the College Football Playoff, went 11-1 in the regular season and won the SEC should point to how strong of a job Smart did in building last year’s team. Consider that Clemson is sending one less player to the NFL combine than Georgia but the Tigers had four more defeats in 2025.

Georgia still has a strong contingent at this year’s NFL combine. That shows that even in what could clearly be described as a down-year from where the Bulldogs had been from a talent perspective, Smart still has been able to position the program to be an annual contender.