Champ Bailey Highlights Another Banner Year For Ex-Bulldogs In NFL

Although he was robbed by being named just runner-up for the NFL defensive MVP award, Champ Bailey this fall proved that shutdown cornerbacks still exist in the NFL, as the ex-Georgia great and future first-ballot Pro Football Hall of Famer had a league-high 10 interceptions and a career-high 86 tackles.

Bailey, though, was just one of many former Georgia greats to enjoy success in the NFL this year. Dave McMahon of Dawgpost.com provides a well-researched update on how many former Georgia players fared in the NFL this season.

As I noted early in the NFL season, Georgia has become the third best NFL talent factory behind Miami and Ohio State. The Bulldogs tied Tennessee for the third most former players on NFL opening-day rosters, although Georgia's list of quality players in the NFL is only rivaled by the Canes and Buckeyes.

Early in the fall, I researched and wrote a Pulitzer-type series of articles that exhibited the wealth of UGA talent in the NFL. Included in these must-read blogs were the names and status reports of every offensive and every defensive former UGA squad members playing professional football at some level.

Using that list and the encyclopedic-type knowledge of UGA football I have garnered over the years, I formed a hypothetical 53-man roster of former Georgia players who could compete as a team in the NFL right now. Any of the 32 teams in the NFL would probably trade their defensive roster for the talent and depth on that list of ex-Georgia defensive players.

Of course, the hypothetical offensive squad of former Georiga players still able to compete today in the NFL was not nearly as strong or deep.

Marquee high school recruits often look for what schools give them the best opportunities to "go to the league." This is one of many reasons why smart Georgia fans strongly root for past Bulldogs to have success in the NFL, and are embarrassed by the likes of rare malcontents like Odel Thurman who hinder the reputation of the almost all fine upstanding young mem that come out of the Georgia football program.

You should also notice that the positions where the Bulldogs are weakest in the NFL - offensive line and especially receiver - are also the positions where Georgia has most struggled to sign top recruits in recent years.