The Georgia Bulldogs rode a feisty, stifling defense to an appearance in the College Football Playoff and eventually, their first national championship since 1980.
They made even more history on Thursday night. Five Georgia defenders were selected in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft, setting the record for the most defensive players selected in the first round out of one school in the common draft era (since 1967).
The Bulldogs broke the record previously held by Miami (2004) and Florida State (2006).
Georgia players started flying off the board with the very first pick when Jacksonville began the draft by selecting edge rusher Travon Walker. Twelve picks later, defensive tackle Jordan Davis -- an interior defender who wowed onlookers at the NFL Scouting Combine in early March -- became the second Bulldog to be selected at No. 13 overall by the Philadelphia Eagles.
The first round concluded with Minnesota's selection of Georgia defensive back Lewis Cine with the 32nd pick. In between the selections of Davis and Cine, two more Bulldogs found their NFL homes when the Green Bay Packers spent both of their first-round picks on a pair of Georgia defenders: linebacker Quay Walker (22nd overall) and defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt (28th overall).
Georgia will have plenty of holes to fill in 2022, but Thursday night should go a long way toward helping coach Kirby Smart keep the Bulldogs near the top of the college football mountain. There's no better recruiting tool than a long list of former players who end up going in the first round of an NFL draft. Smart's program was happy to send nearly a half-dozen players to the next level on one historic night in Nevada.