Georgia Southern 2017 NFL Draft Roundup

With the conclusion of the 2017 NFL Draft, several Georgia Southern players will be finding themselves in the league this coming fall.

Most notably, linebacker Marcus ‘Ukeme’ Eligwe was taken with the 183rd overall pick by the Kansas City Chiefs, and will be competing for one of the linebacker spots for KC. With Justin Houston, Dee Ford, and Tamba Hali listed as pass rushers on the Chiefs roster, Eligwe’s hard-hitting style may be best utilized in the middle linebacker spot of Kansas City’s 3-4 base defense.

Georgia Southern’s undrafted free agents signed are as follows:

Center Andy Kwon and linebacker Ironhead Gallon - Arizona Cardinals

Gallon and Kwon are both solid pickups for Arizona. With Carson Palmer on the final stretch of his career, he’ll need all the offensive line help he can get, and Kwon provided that for the Eagles for two years as a starter, helping open up holes for the nation’s number one rushing offense twice during the 2014-15 seasons.

Gallon’s situation may be a ‘rich get richer’ situation for Arizona. In my draft profile of the safety before Thursday’s first round, I mostly compared him to current Cardinal player Deone Bucannon. What better fit for Ironhead than a team that already knows how to best employ the safety-linebacker hybrid position?

Kicker Younghoe Koo - Los Angeles Chargers

Koo struggled in his first two years with the program before breaking out in a big way in 2016-17. The senior kicker finished his senior season as a Lou Groza award finalist, drilling 19 of his 20 field goal attempts, and even knocking down a career long 53-yarder against Arkansas State last season.

Chargers kicker Josh Lambo is good, but not great, so why couldn’t Koo seize a starting job for the newly moved L.A. team?

Running back Matt Breida - San Francisco 49ers

The fact that Breida signed with a team personally makes me very happy. He was one of the best running backs in the nation numbers-wise in the ‘14 and ‘15 seasons, running for over 1,400 yards in back-to-back years and helping establish the Eagles as a top rushing offense under former head coach Willie Fritz.

After having his 2016-17 season torpedoed by the incompetence of Rance Gillespie and David Dean, Breida only rushed for 646 yards and three touchdowns last season. I was hoping that the running back would be drafted, but him getting a shot with the Niners is just as good.

Wide receiver Montay Crockett - Green Bay Packers

Crockett showed flashes of being a dominant, physical receiver, who could have benefited from more volume in the run-heavy Eagles team. The wideout should see plenty of reps as a member of the Packers, joining the likes of Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb, and the newly signed Martellus Bennett while catching passes from all-world quarterback Aaron Rodgers.