ATHENS — The NFL took note of the talent in the Georgia football program and selected nine Bulldogs in the first three rounds.
But too many teams looking for a linebacker missed the memo on Nakobe Dean.
The Philadelphia Eagles secured a third-round steal with their 83rd overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.
Dean will be ready for some football after a frustrating and painful Friday night of waiting.
One can only imagine what was going through Dean’s mind as he delved deeper and deeper into the 2022 NFL Draft.
Dean never gave anyone reason to doubt him in Georgia.
Dean proved to be a conspicuous 5-star recruit after joining UGA of Horn Lake, Miss.
So why wasn’t he given a chance to prove himself as the essential NFL first-round pick that started that process after winning the national title?
It was the NFL Combine and specifically the way some teams interpreted the medical exam part.
Never mind that Dean had proven himself a player in Georgia and started every game in 2020 despite struggling with a labrum injury for most of the year.
Dean underwent postseason surgery after helping the Bulldogs to their fourth consecutive top 10 finish.
Dean was restricted at spring 2021 practice, but he wasn’t completely sidelined.
Coach Kirby Smart, who is constantly looking for creative ways to keep players developing, allowed Dean to stay at the heart of the action.
Dean stayed mentally strong despite his debilitating physical injury by stripping down for spring practice – pads and all – and staying in the huddles to name games.
Of course, it was all mental repetition once the ball was caught and Dean was safely out of the way.
But Dean never missed a rep mentally, and his Georgia teammates stayed in sync and heard his voice and checks.
The proof played out in 2021, when the Bulldogs’ defense put on a historic performance during an undefeated regular season.
Georgia, ruled by center Dean, conceded fewer points in the regular season (6.9) than any collegiate team since Oklahoma in 1986.
Smart referred to Dean as the “commander in chief” of the defense.
However, NFL teams did not have the benefit of knowing Dean as an established leader and defender like Georgia did.
For some of those 32 franchises, Dean appeared as an injury risk as eight linebackers were selected ahead of him.
From 10,000 feet, Dean went from a torn labrum in 2020 to a chest injury that prevented him from the 2022 NFL Draft evaluation process.
Then he wasn’t healthy enough – or didn’t think he was healthy enough – to participate in the NFL Combine Drills.
Many other players – perfectly healthy players with minor medical histories – were available on the draft board.
NFL teams, with their 52-man rosters, cannot afford picks in the first three rounds that may not have immediate impact due to injuries.
In a faster, even bigger football league, is a player with an injury history more likely to suffer a setback than a prospect with a clean medical history?
Directors are given a small fortune to decide what risks to take.
Read here that Dean has recovered from injury before, and his awesome football IQ will ensure the Philadelphia playbook will be engraved in his memory quickly.
Certainly Jordan Davis, the first-round pick from Philadelphia, was pleased to know that Dean’s familiar voice will likely be behind him soon.
“Delayed not denied,” Davis said of Dean’s entry into the NFL.
It’s kind of a twist as Davis was the lower rated player to break into the college ranks, a 3-star player who ranked 424th in the nation in the 2018 class according to the 247Sports composite.
Dean was ranked 19th in the nation in his recruiting class a year later, another of Smart’s 5-star nominees.
Philadelphia’s hardcore football fans will soon understand what made Dean such a fan favorite – and coach favorite – in Georgia.
Dean, a Butkus Award winner who’s beaten virtually every other achievement attainable — Consensus All-American and Captain of the AFCA Good Works Team, to name a few — will find out.
The Eagles defense with Davis and Dean will soon be flying high.