Georgia-Philadelphia pipeline: Examining Eagles’ love affair with Bulldogs

The Philadelphia Eagles, like every NFL team, has plenty of scouting eyes on the SEC, but general manager Howie Roseman wanted to take a look at one school for himself. So he made the trip down to Athens, Georgia, to attend a Bulldogs practice.

When he got back to Philadelphia, Eagles coach Nick Sirianni wanted to know which of the Bulldogs his general manager liked.

"I don't know," Roseman remembered saying. "Like, the whole defense."

That wasn't a joke.

The proof has been in the NFL draft over the last two years, where the Eagles have selected five players off the vaunted Georgia defense. They took two Bulldogs in the first round this year (defensive tackle Jalen Carter and edge rusher Nolan Smith) and then another (cornerback Kelee Ringo) in the fourth. And last year they got defensive tackle Jordan Davis in the first round and linebacker Nakobe Dean in the third.

It was the first time one NFL team has taken five defensive players from the same school in a two-year span in the modern NFL draft era (since 1967). And that's not all. During this year's draft, Roseman traded for veteran running back D'Andre Swift, who is a former Georgia Bulldog, too.

"Certainly, I know the jokes about Georgia, they're coming," Roseman said. "But for us, it's about the individual players. And if we were going to bypass a player just because we had taken another player from that school, I mean, that would be silly, too."

Actually, it seems a little silly that more NFL teams haven't raided the Georgia defense, considering how good it's been during the Bulldogs' run to back-to-back national championships. The 2021 defense, on which all five of the Eagles' "Bird Dawgs" were either starters and key players, is considered to be one of the greatest defenses in college football history.

That season, the Bulldogs shut out three Power 5 opponents. They held nine teams to 10 points or fewer — including five SEC teams and four teams ranked in the top 20. The defense gave up just 8.8 points per game overall. And it had an amazing seven players that have been drafted in the first round of the last two drafts. A total of 14 of them have been drafted overall, and there should be a few more in 2024.

The Eagles liked that defense so much, in fact, that back in February they interviewed Georgia's 32-year-old defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann for their own defensive coordinator job.

So of course they'd want to bring as much of that defense as possible from North Georgia to South Philly. And it made sense that scouting that Georgia defense — and the whole team, really — became a priority. Phil Bhaya, the Eagles director of draft management who was previously their Southeast scout, takes the lead on discovering talent in the SEC. And Alan Wolking, the Eagles director of player personnel, keeps an eye on college football's best conference, too. Both of them make frequent visits to Georgia practices and games.

"They can basically spend their whole fall down there," Roseman said last year after drafting Davis and Dean. "It's like one-stop shopping down there. You go to practice, you go to a game, you go visit that facility, and you're just going, ‘Shoot, I'll draft this whole team.'"

And it's not just Georgia. The SEC — or at least the top of it — has clearly become a focus for Roseman, who has also drafted three Alabama players in the last three years, including tackle Tyler Steen in the third round this year and receiver DeVonta Smith and guard Landon Dickerson in the first and second round in 2021.

In all, he's drafted nine SEC players in his 21 picks over the last three drafts. Compared to previous Philadelphia draft classes under Roseman, the emphasis on big-time programs and conferences has been a noticeable shift.

"The competition level matters," Roseman said. "You see those guys play in the biggest games, on the biggest stage against the best competition. So it's easier. It's hard enough when you have all the factors going into a draft pick. It takes the part out of the big jump in competition because the guys that they're playing against are the guys that are playing on Sundays."

Roseman feels so strongly about it, in fact, that he's been aggressive in going after SEC players. In this year's draft, he traded up in the first round for Carter (from 10 to 9) and traded into the fourth round for Ringo. In 2022, he traded up in the first round for Davis. In 2021, he traded up in the first round for DeVonta Smith.

There's obviously some luck involved, too. Carter, who many believe was the best player on the 2021 Georgia defense even though he wasn't a starter, wasn't expected to last as long as he did in the draft, until he was involved in a fatal car crash and was charged with two misdemeanors — reckless driving and racing — in January. Nolan Smith was projected as a top 10-15 pick before he slipped all the way to the Eagles at 30. And some thought Ringo could have slipped into the end of the first round or the early second before dropping all the way to the Eagles on Day 3.

But where other teams might have seen some risks, Roseman saw opportunities. He has become a believer in the kind of professional culture he believes is built at SEC schools — especially the best ones like Alabama and Georgia. He said he became convinced of that after drafting DeVonta Smith and Dickerson in 2021.

"The way those guys worked, the kind of players they are, certainly the kind of people they are, it just reminded us that (its) no different than when you're trying to hire someone for a position," he said. "Obviously you want guys to be really talented at what they do and whatever role they're in, but the other stuff matters, as well."

"I'd say one thing that we show at Georgia is we have a culture program," said Nolan Smith. "We believe in a culture, and they believe in a culture here at the Eagles. You felt that walking in the building. … Just the work and preparation and being selfless. That's one thing that we learned at Georgia is that we're selfless, and everybody is on the same page."

The ex-Bulldogs are all close, too. Ringo said there's "a tight bond between all five of us." Carter talked about how he looked up to Davis and even Nolan Smith at Georgia. And Smith spoke of the on-field connection he and Carter had, where all they needed was a look to know what the other was planning to do.

"It's only going to be more and more," Smith said. "The connection is only going to get better and better the more we play with each other."

That's what the Eagles are hoping, since all five figure to be big parts of the Philly defense this season, and they all figure to be starters by at least 2024. By then there might even be more ex-Bulldogs on the Eagles roster. Roseman said that Carter, Smith and Ringo were all lobbying him to draft some of their other Georgia teammates soon after their own names were called.

"I was worried they were going to relegate us to the SEC if we took more Georgia guys," he joked.

Actually, that might not be the only problem for Roseman, who graduated from the University of Florida, one of Georgia's traditional rivals.

"I'm sure I'm out of the Florida Alumni Association as we speak," he said on ESPN during the draft.

That's only because the Gators have struggled the last few years as Roseman has purposely shifted his focus to the nation's best programs. And right now, there's no doubt that Georgia is the best. They probably will be atop the rankings again this fall. And next spring, they'll surely have another load of top prospects available in the NFL Draft.

The Eagles currently have 10 picks in next year's draft, including three in the first two rounds. Is there any doubt about where they'll find at least one of those players?

"That's the real question," Nolan Smith said. "It's going to be somebody from Georgia, hopefully."

Considering the strength of the pipeline from Athens to Philadelphia, that's probably a good bet.

Ralph Vacchiano is the NFC East reporter for FOX Sports, covering the Washington Commanders, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants. He spent the previous six years covering the Giants and Jets for SNY TV in New York, and before that, 16 years covering the Giants and the NFL for the New York Daily News. Follow him Twitter at @RalphVacchiano.