ESPN analyst Matt Bowen attempted to list the best player in 100 different skill traits among prospects available in this month’s 2025 NFL Draft. Four different Georgia players were mentioned. Tate Ratledge was listed as having the best play demeanor among offensive linemen.
Ratledge plays angry up front, with a tenacious demeanor displayed on the tape. He’s a culture-setter who could add an old-school feel to an offensive line room.
An Associated Press Third Team All-America selection, AFCA First Team All-American, and AP and Coaches First Team All-SEC selection in 2024, Ratledge played in 10 games this season, with eight starts. According to Pro Football Focus, Ratledge graded out at 77.3 as a pass blocker and 74.7 as a run blocker. A 2023 Associated Press Second Team All-American and AP and Coaches All-SEC First Team Selection, Ratledge played in 39 games over five seasons at Georgia, making 37 starts.
The best speed to power among edge defenders went to Mykel Williams.
An easy fit for the loaded defensive fronts we see in the NFL, Williams can use his long 6-5 frame to convert speed to power from edge alignments. He’s a physical defender with the tools to develop into a disruptive force.
In 2024, Williams earned second-team All-SEC honors as voted on by the league’s coaches. He ended the 2024 season with 21 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, 5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, and 2 pass break-ups. In three years at Georgia, Williams recorded 67 tackles, 21.5 tackles for loss, 14 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, and 1 fumble recovery. He was named a first-team Freshman All-American by the Athletic in 2022.
The “fastest speed to ball carrier” among linebackers went to Jalon Walker.
Walker can eat up grass quickly, eliminating the distance to ball carriers. He also has the traits to rush off the edge in defensive packages, with 6.5 sacks and seven tackles for loss last season.
Walker, the 2024 Butkus Award winner, played in all 14 games last season and made 11 starts, tying Chaz Chambliss for the team lead in sacks (6.5), leading Georgia with 11 tackles for loss and seven quarterback hurries, while also making 60 tackles (fourth on the team), two pass breakups, and two fumble recoveries.
Safety Malaki Starks earned the title of “most coverage versatility” among defensive backs in the draft.
Starks can play inside as a nickel safety or at the star position, but he also has the range and ball skills to patrol the deep areas of the field. He plays with a high level of football awareness on the tape.
Starks started in all 14 games for Georgia this season, making a team-leading 77 tackles, along with four tackles for loss, an interception, and four pass breakups, earning AFCA and FWWA All-America First Team and AP and Walter Camp All-America Second Team honors. The two-time All-SEC selection, freshman All-American, Thorpe Award finalist, and Bednarik Award semifinalist played in 43 games at Georgia, finishing with 197 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, 6 interceptions and 23 passes deflected.
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