ATHENS — Player development is at the heart of Georgia football success, and the latest Senior Bowl watch list reflects the Bulldogs have not slowed down in that department.

Senior Bowl executive director Jim Nagy has revealed that 20 Georgia players are under preseason consideration for an invite to the annual all-star classic in Mobile, Ala.

Next year’s Reese’s Senior Bowl game will take place on Feb. 1 at Hancock-Whitney Stadium, home of the South Alabama Jaguars.

Of course, there will be hundreds of NFL personnel on hand — general managers, head coaches, assistant coaches and scouts — as well as fans at each of the practices.

The Senior Bowl, with NFL coaches running drills and holding individual meetings with players- has become an important part of the NFL Draft evaluation process.

Seeing player film is one thing, but there’s nothing like meeting and interacting with players up close, providing as close to an on-the-job interview as possible.

Such impressions hold value beyond the draft, as coaches or general managers take detailed notes, to the extent it might one day lead to a free-agent contract or trade.

• In each of the past three years, the Senior Bowl had 100 or more players drafted and over 40 percent of the entire draft class — both record-setting figures for any all-star game.

• Over the past five years, 92 percent of Senior Bowl participants have made an active NFL roster at some point their rookie year.

• There were 130 of the 133 position players from the most recent Senior Bowl game attending the NFL Combine, and 80 percent of the Senior Bowl players were drafted.

So having 20 players on the Senior Bowl watch list suggests the Bulldogs have a chance to break the NFL Draft record they set in 2022, when 15 Georgia players were selected in the draft on the heels of winning the national championship after the 2021 season.

Many of the Georgia football names on the watch list are quite familiar, but the depth of talent on the Bulldogs’ roster and the program’s roster is such than no talented contributor gets overlooked.

The Georgia players on the preseason Senior Bowl watch list are:

• QB Carson Beck

• WR Dillon Bell

• DT Warren Brinson

• TE Oscar Delp

• CB Daylen Everette

• OG Dylan Fairchild

• OT Earnest Greene lll

• SS Dan Jackson

• WR Dominic Lovett

• LB Smael Mondon Jr.

• OG Tate Ratledge

• WR Arian Smith

• DT Nazir Stackhouse

• FS Malaki Starks

• OT Xavier Truss

• LB Jalon Walker

• DL Mykel Williams

• OL Jared Wilson

• WR Colbie Young

• TE Benjamin Yurosek