4 Georgia players making first impressions on NFL decision makers at Senior Bowl

UGA star Christopher Smith showed great character on and off the field, and NFL decision-makers will get to watch him play and meet him in person this week at the Senior Bowl

ATHENS — The postseason NFL Draft evaluation process is underway in Mobile with players arriving for Senior Bowl week.

Georgia football will be well-represented with two-time national championship players Kenny McIntosh, Christopher Smith, Jack Podlesny and Warren McClendon.

It’s fair to say each one of those players has been pivotal to the championship run, whether it was how McIntosh lifted a struggling offense in November, or Smith’s momentum-changing blocked FG against LSU, Podlesny’s clutch kicks or McClendon’s 37-game starting streak.

RELATED: Chris Smith and Kenny McIntosh among 4 players who will determine CFP

Executive director Jim Nagy, a former Super Bowl-winning NFL scout, has been excited about the class of the Bulldogs players being brought in, and he explained the value of the person-to-person interaction the players will be getting.

“I’ve told a lot of guys today when they’ve shown up that your tape is your tape from college,” Nagy told The Draft Network.

“Guys have seen you practice, but it’s a lot of scouts … but not a lot of guys in the decision-making group have seen you play live or seen you practice.”

Those decision-makers — head coaches and general managers — are among the hundreds that will attend the practices from Tuesday though Thursday.

Nagy explained how the Senior Bowl helps identify which NFL prospects can fit into that 80 percent of the players.

“The competitiveness, the toughness, the practice tempo and the ability to take coaching,” Nagy said, sharing what NFL teams are looking for at the Senior Bowl.

“Who can learn a playbook in a couple of days and execute it? Who is getting ripped or questioned because they aren’t doing the right stuff?”

The Senior Bowl practices begin on Tuesday at the University of South Alabama, with fans allowed to enter the stadium free to observe.

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