They began their college football careers under Mark Richt and finished them under Kirby Smart.
On Wednesday, the veterans of Georgia's 2017 Southeastern Conference championship team competed under the watchful eyes of scouts from the NFL during the Bulldogs' annual pro day in Athens. The two head coaches from Super Bowl LI, New England's Bill Belichick and Atlanta's Dan Quinn, were among the representatives from all 32 teams who studied the likes of running backs Nick Chubb and Sony Michel, Butkus Award-winning inside linebacker Roquan Smith, and the outside linebacker tandem of Davin Bellamy and Lorenzo Carter.
There were 22 former Bulldogs who attended pro day, including former Calhoun High School long snapper Trent Frix and former defensive back Reggie Wilkerson, who signed with Georgia in 2013 but transferred to Iowa State last year to play his final season as a graduate transfer.
Former Georgia inside linebacker Roquan Smith (3), shown here helping sack Oklahoma's Baker Mayfield in January's Rose Bowl, is expected to be the first Bulldog selected in next month's NFL draft.
Detroit Lions head coach Matt Patricia works with Georgia outside linebacker Davin Bellamy during Georgia Pro Day, Wednesday, March 21, 2018, in Athens. Pro Day is intended to showcase talent to NFL scouts for the upcoming draft. (Joshua L. Jones/Athens Banner-Herald via AP)"You don't replace a Roquan Smith or a Nick Chubb or a Sony Michel," Smart said this week as his third spring as Georgia's head coach opened with notable absences. "You don't replace any of those guys, because there is not going to be another Roquan Smith. There is not going to be a guy exactly like him."
Georgia had its worst draft performance in a quarter century last year, with receiver/return specialist Isaiah McKenzie the school's only representative selected when Denver chose him in the fifth round. This year's crop of draft hopefuls could break the program mark of eight selections set in 2002 - when defensive end Charles Grant, linebacker Will Witherspoon and tight end Randy McMichael led that year's contingent - and matched in 2013, when linebackers Jarvis Jones and Alec Ogletree were first-round picks.
The first Georgia player selected is widely expected to be Smith, who racked up 137 tackles last season and ran the 40-yard dash in 4.51 seconds at last month's NFL combine in Indianapolis.
"I love Roquan Smith," NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock said. "I think he is today's NFL off-the-ball linebacker, which is mostly about speed. Deion Jones was drafted in the second round in Atlanta two years ago, and he's been the prototype, and I think Roquan Smith takes it a step further.
"They are very similar-type guys, and I love the way he plays. I studied the game against Notre Dame, and he just jumped off the tape. I got excited just sitting there."
Smith is rated by CBS as the No. 4 overall prospect in this year's draft, with most projections to this point having him going 10th to Oakland. He has accepted an invitation to attend this year's draft, which will be held April 26-28 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
CBS projects offensive lineman Isaiah Wynn as a first-round pick as well and has running backs Nick Chubb and Sony Michel going in the second round. Carter is expected to be a third-round pick, according to CBS, while receiver Javon Wims is pegged for the fifth round.
"The more I watch Sony Michel, the more I think he can make an impact like Alvin Kamara," Mayock said of the former Tennessee Volunteers running back who was the NFL's offensive rookie of the year with New Orleans this past season. "He has burst acceleration and better toughness than people think, and better contact balance than I expected. What he doesn't have yet is the pass-game ability that Kamara did. I think he's got good hands, but I'm not sure yet, because they didn't throw it to him too much.
"He didn't run great routes. He just did checkdowns and flare screens."
Smart told the SEC Network on Wednesday that Chubb doesn't get enough credit for his pass-catching ability, adding, "We didn't ask him to do that."
Bellamy and defensive tackle Trenton Thompson are sixth-round projections. Bellamy had just 15 reps of 225 pounds on the bench press at the combine, but he produced a more respectable 19 on Wednesday.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.