Questions About Kirby Smart Developing Players Don't Hold Water
"Kirby can't develop."
It's a criticism that opposing fan bases have thrown in the face of Georgia Football fans, and the doubt surrounding head coach Kirby Smart has even creaped into the thoughts and minds of a small portion of the fan base itself.
Smart has obviously recruited at an elite level since his arrival on campus in 2016. His first full signing class, 2017, was ranked No. 3 overall and he hasn't fallen out of the top three in the recruiting ranking since then.
So, when you recruit at the level that Georgia has over the last several years, the expectation is that it will lead to equivalent draft success as programs like Alabama, Ohio State and Clemson.
It's easy to get caught in the weeds looking at the 5-star players that enter the Georgia program and expect them to be the players that are first-round draft picks, and Smart has produced his fair share of those.
However, turning 5-star talents into first-round picks shouldn't be the measurement of development. Turning lesser-known recruits into NFL starters and even first-round picks, however? That's development.
3-Stars Drafted
- CB Eric Stokes: First round, 29th overall (669th overall player in high school)
- CB DeAndre Baker: First round, 30th overall (657th overall player in high school)
- OL Solomon Kindley: Fourth round, 111th overall (1,051st overall player in high school)
- LB Tae Crowder: Seventh round, 255th overall (not ranked nationally)
Evaluating Smart's ability to develop players should focus not not on the 5-stars, but rather players like Monty Rice who was ranked as the 334th player overall that will go on to play in the NFL.
Even if the discussion is on the players that entered Georgia's program with elite expectations and ratings, Smart also hasn't missed too often on those.
Smart's 2017 signing class is the first true graduating class at this point, and of the six players he signed inside the top 50 overall rankings, three of the six — Isaiah Wilson, D'Andre Swift and Andrew Thomas — were top-35 picks in the NFL Draft. Jake Fromm was also drafted and Richard LeCounte is available in this year's draft. That's five of six and a strong hit rate.
Alabama will always be the comparison point for Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs, and rightfully so. The Crimson Tide have what Bulldogs fans want: titles. With titles comes high draft picks. Six players from Alabama's 2020 national title team went in the first round Thursday night equaling the most ever in NFL history.
It doesn't stop there. In 2019, the LSU Tigers had five players selected in the first round of the draft. In 2018, Clemson placed three players in the first round.
The fruits of Smart's recruiting labors are just now coming to fruition in terms of NFL draft prospects, and a championship run in 2021 could make this discussion seem preposterous when the 2022 NFL Draft occurs.
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