ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. includes Georgia trio in first-round NFL mock draft
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ESPN draft maven Mel Kiper Jr. can now predict the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft having digested the entire 2025 college football season.
The national title has been won by Indiana, led by star quarterback Fernando Mendoza, who officially declared for the draft on Friday morning and, to nobody’s surprise, was predicted by Kiper to be the first overall pick of this spring’s draft by the Las Vegas Raiders.
But what about after Mendoza and the Raiders? SEC powerhouse Georgia has produced a plethora of first-round draft picks in recent years with Kirby Smart running the show, and Kiper believes this draft will be no different. In fact, Kiper thinks that 3 Bulldogs will be off the board by the time the first round ends on April 23.
Now, according to Kiper, Georgia fans who revel in their program’s success in turning out NFL-ready players might have to wait a little bit during that first round to start hearing their players’ names called. Kiper believes the first Bulldog to be drafted will come with the 19th pick, where the Carolina Panthers will take Georgia linebacker CJ Allen.
Five picks later come the Clevland Browns at No. 24, and Kiper sees the Browns snagging Georgia wide receiver Zachariah Branch to add to their offensive arsenal in 2026.
And 5 picks after that, the Los Angeles Rams will take their turn, and Kiper predicts they will turn their attention to the trenches in drafting Georgia offensive tackle/guard Monroe Freeling.
Naturally, this is just one Kiper mock draft revealed in late January, about 3 months before the draft actually takes place in Pittsburgh. So, a lot can happen between now and then, and Kiper will surely have a few more mock drafts to catch fans’ attention before April 23.
But for now, Kiper sees Georgia once again having a big-time presence in the first round.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
