Mel Kiper Leaves Georgia Players Off Top 25

Georgia Football fans have extremely high expectations for the upcoming 2021 season, and for good reason. Key players like JT Daniels, Jamaree Salyer, Zamir White, James Cook and Jordan Davis all elected to return to Athens for their senior seasons despite having draftable grades in the 2021 NFL Draft.

Some, like Davis, were projected to hear their names called as early as the first round.

Yet, despite the talent and depth on the roster, ESPN senior draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. ranked his top 25 players in college football and didn't have a single Georgia player.

Furthermore, he has Daniels ranked as the seventh overall quarterback available heading into the 2021 season.

Daniels ranks behind Spencer Rattler, Sam Howell, Malik Willis, Carson Strong, Desmond Ridder and Kedon Slovis. Perhaps this ranking has more to do with the limited sample size of productive play that Kiper and NFL executives have seen of Daniels in his new setting at Georgia. Despite the immense talent, Daniels' tape at USC wasn't all that clean.

White was ranked as the ninth overall running back in the class heading into the season. The ninth running back selected in this year's draft was Elijah Mitchell in the sixth round to the 49ers.

A lot of Georgia fans expect George Pickens to be a high draft pick in the upcoming draft despite the ACL injury that will keep him out of the lineup for the majority of the season, yet Kiper currently sees Pickens as the sixth-best wide receiver in this class. So, there's still room for improvement if he does indeed return at some point this season.

Offensive lineman Jamaree Salyer started nine games at tackle last season before ending the year at left guard in the Peach Bowl. It's still too early to know whether or not Salyer will be playing guard or tackle this season for Georgia, but it's clear to Kiper at least that his NFL future is at guard. This confirms what we've heard from sources close to the program.

Davis has seen his draft stock go up and down depending upon the analyst. Sources we've spoken to believe that following an NFL Combine, Davis will be cemented in the first round of the draft. They expect him to turn heads with his athleticism at 6-foot-6, 330 pounds. However, Kiper sees him now as the fifth-best defensive tackle.

Linebacker Nakobe Dean will be the leader of the Georgia defense for the second straight season in Athens, and he sees his name behind the likes of Alabama's Christian Harris and Henry To'o To'o, Auburn's Owen Pappoe, Utah's Devin Lloyd, and North Carolina State's Payton Wilson.

The highest-ranked Georgia player at their respective position is safety Tykee Smith. He will be playing mostly STAR for Georgia this season according to the sources we've spoken to and is coming off an All-America season in 2020. Lewis Cine was ranked the ninth overall safety.

The second-highest ranked Georgia player at their respective position is EDGE defender Adam Anderson.

Mel Kiper Leaves Georgia Players Off Top 25

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