We may soon see privet hedges and a doghouse at Lincoln Financial Field.
The Philadelphia Eagles continued collecting former Georgia Bulldogs on Day 3 of the 2023 NFL Draft. They swung the first trade of a veteran in this year’s draft, dealing for running D’Andre Swift from the Detroit Lions. They gave up a fourth-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft and a seventh-round pick in 2023 to get Swift and a seventh-round pick in 2023, per reports.
Swift, a Philadelphia native, became available after the Lions selected running back Jahmyr Gibbs with the No. 12 overall pick in Thursday’s first round. Swift has been one of the game’s top dual-threat running backs since he was drafted in 2020. He rushed for 542 yards on 5.5 yards per carry while adding 48 receptions for 389 yards and scored eight total touchdowns in 14 games last season.
Philadelphia’s trade for Swift was its second addition of a former Bulldog on Saturday. The Eagles ended defensive back Kelee Ringo‘s slide early on Day 3, selecting the Georgia Bulldog in the fourth round with the 105th-overall pick.
Ringo is the third player from Georgia that Philadelphia has selected in the 2023 NFL Draft. The Eagles traded up one spot to select defensive tackle Jalen Carter with the No. 9 overall pick and later in the first round, they selected edge Nolan Smith with the No. 30 overall pick.
Not only have the Eagles selected a Georgia Bulldog with three of their first five picks in the 2023 draft, but they’ve also been enamored with players from their 2021 national championship squad. They drafted Georgia defensive tackle Jordan Davis with No. 13 overall pick and Georgia linebacker Nakobe Dean in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft.
The Eagles are the first team in the common draft era (since 1967) to select five defensive players from the same school over a two-year span. It marks the first time in the common draft era that Philadelphia has selected three players from a single school in one draft.
The Eagles also tied the record for most defensive players drafted from a single school in one draft. It had been done six times, but most recently by the New England Patriots in 2013 when they took three defenders from Rutgers.
In an ironic twist, Eagles executive vice president and general manager Howie Roseman is a proud alum of the Florida Gators, one of Georgia’s fiercest rivals.
Roseman poked fun at that fact multiple times during the draft.
All five of those players that the Eagles have drafted over the past two seasons were either starters or key contributors to Georgia’s historic defense in 2021. Davis and Carter were forces in the interior that season, finishing with two and three sacks, respectively. Smith had 4.5 sacks in 12 games that season while Dean had 72 tackles and six sacks. Ringo had two interceptions that season, including the game-sealing interception that was returned for a touchdown in the national championship game.
Carter, Smith and Ringo all returned to Georgia in 2022 and continued to dominate on defense this past season. Carter had 32 tackles (seven for loss) and three sacks. Smith had three sacks in eight contests and Ringo had two interceptions to go along with 42 combined tackles as they helped the Bulldogs defend their national title.
Swift was also part of the Georgia team that ended the school’s 12-year SEC title drought and reached the national championship game in 2017.
Carter and Smith were projected to be first-round picks as a result of their dominant seasons. Carter was actually viewed as one of the top prospects in the draft by many experts, though off-field and character concerns may have caused him to slide.
Ringo was projected by most analysts to be picked sometime in the first two rounds. That obviously didn’t come to fruition, and the Eagles were able to pick him in the fourth round as they took a step closer to being able to field an all-Bulldog defense.
Here’s how Eagles players and others on social media reacted to the team’s Georgia-centric moves Satuday:
NFL Draft coverage from FOX Sports:
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