Former Georgia linebacker Leonard Floyd was selected No. 9 overall by the Chicago Bears.

With that, Floyd became the first SEC player selected in this draft — quite a surprise considering Laremy Tunsil was being talked about as a potential No. 1 overall pick weeks ago.

The 6-foot-5, 240-pound athletic freak has as much upside as anyone in the entire draft, and the Bears plans to develop that talent. And I feel like he’s just scratching the surface of his elite ability.

Chicago has been searching for a franchise edge rusher ever since the team lost Julius Peppers. Floyd is a long, lean and mean pass rusher, and he’s a matchup problem for almost any elite offensive lineman.

He has a very unique combination of athleticism and length and possesses great change of direction for a longer player. No doubt you’ll hear some criticism about how Floyd is too slim and how his strength — or lack thereof — is a major concern, but with that frame, he should be able to put on some weight. Assuming he can add more bulk to his frame, it will help him become an everyday player in the NFL.

In three seasons with UGA, Floyd racked up 17 sacks and 28.5 tackles for loss and logged 54 quarterback pressures. His best season overall came in his final season in 2015 when he made 74 tackles, 4.5 sacks and 10.5 tackles for loss. Sure, he would have loved the sack numbers to have been much higher, but he made 19 more tackles than either of the prior two seasons. He also led the team in sacks for three straight years.

Floyd spent his first year in 2012 at Hargrave Military Academy.