Javon Bullard is officially an NFL draft pick, as the Green Bay Packers took the Georgia safety with the No. 58 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Bullard is the fifth Bulldog off the board, as Georgia has already had Brock Bowers, Amarius Mims, Ladd McConkey and Kamari Lassiter selected.
Bullard joins recent Georgia draft picks Eric Stokes, Quay Walker and Devonte Wyatt in Green Bay.
Bullard was a two-year starter for the Bulldogs, playing both safety and star. He started 25 games over the past two seasons, making a number of big plays for Georgia.
“Huge shoutout to coach [Will Muschamp] and coach [Kirby] Smart for drilling it into our heads that your versatility is your value,” Bullard said. “Just knowing we played every position on the back end, and every position in the secondary, knowing you had to do that at Georgia to be successful, It paid dividends for me and I’m grateful.”
Georgia landed Bullard as a 3-star prospect in the 2021 signing class out of Milledgeville, Ga. But Bullard quickly outplayed that recruiting ranking.
Bullard earned All-SEC honors as a junior, where he finished with 56 tackles, 2 interceptions, 5 pass breakups and a tackle for loss. As a sophomore, Bullard had 46 tackles, 7 tackles for loss, 2 interceptions and 3.5 sacks.
Some of Bullard’s best moments in college came in Georgia’s biggest games. He won defensive MVP honors in both of Georgia’s College Football Playoff games during the team’s 2022 National Championship run.
Against TCU in the national championship game, Bullard had 2 interceptions and a fumble recovery as the Bulldogs won 65-7. Bullard injured his shoulder in the win and still continued to make plays.
“His shoulder comes out tonight, his collarbone, and he just stays in the game,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said following the win. “He embodies what our culture is, which is toughness. And I have a very serious appreciation for that because they do it for a university I love.”
Bullard improved his draft stock throughout the draft process, earning rave reviews for his performance at the Senior Bowl and NFL combine. He won positional honors at the Senior Bowl and ran a 4.47 40-yard dash at the combine.
“Bullard is a guy that is a steady dependable player who puts himself in the right positions, so it was sometimes hard to gauge his speed,” said Senior Bowl executive director Jim Nagy. “The 40-yard dash time was big. There were speed concerns in the league before timing in the mid 4.4 range at the combine, which is plenty fast for safeties.”
Bullard is one of three Georgia defensive backs likely to be taken in the 2024 NFL Draft, joining Lassiter and Tykee Smith.
Bullard learned a lot in his time at Georgia and he looks forward to bringing that to the next level. The Bulldogs went 42-2 in Bullard’s time in Athens.
“This game is physical, (and) this place is physical, and it’s always going to be like that,” Bullard said. “It’s not because of certain players. It’s just the standard we hold within this organization. It was physical before I got here, and it’s going to be physical after I leave. So just the physicality that we bring, I pride myself on that.”
Javon Bullard NFL combine measurements and stats
- Height: 5-foot-10 1/2
- Weight: 198 pounds
- Arm: 30 3/4-inches
- Hand: 9-inches
- 40-yard dash: 4.47
- 10-yard split: 1.51
- Tackles: 114
- Interceptions: 4
- Pass breakups: 8
- Tackles for loss: 8
- Sacks: 3.5
