Eric Stokes selected in the first round of the NFL Draft
With much of the news on Thursday revolving around Aaron Rodgers’ unhappiness in Green Bay, the Packers went defense for their first pick of this year’s NFL Draft.
Eric Stokes, a Georgia cornerback, was taken No. 29 overall by the Packers.
Stokes is the fastest player in the 2021 NFL Draft class. He ran a 4.25-second time he ran in the 40-yard dash at Pro Day. Stokes also showed explosiveness with a 38.5-inch vertical jump and a 130-inch broad jump at the Georgia Pro Day in March.
Stokes was a first-team All-SEC pick by the Associated Press, and he started at cornerback in all 10 regular-season games. He finished with 20 total stops, four interceptions, four pass breakups and three QB pressures, and was second in the SEC with four interceptions.
Stokes, a converted running back, didn’t begin playing cornerback in on a regular basis until his senior season of high school.
Stokes is one of coach Kirby Smart’s top developmental stories, as he came to UGA as the lowest-ranked player in the team’s 2017 signing class and later redshirted that season.
“(Stokes) was a hard-hosed, get-better player,” Smart said, per Dawg Nation. He had a long way to go, but by his redshirt freshman year, he came on … “