Mel Kiper ranks Georgia’s Javon Bullard as top safety ahead of 2024 NFL draft
The 2024 NFL draft will take place this week in Detroit and the Georgia Bulldogs are expected have another big year. No other college football program has been as successful as UGA has at the event over the last three years.
Georgia has sent 34 players through the NFL draft over that time span, including 15 selections in 2022, which is a league record.
While players like Brock Bowers and Amarius Mims represent the Bulldogs at the top of this year’s draft, several players are considered unknowns further down the board. One of those prospects is safety Javon Bullard.
ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. has high praise for the two-time national champion defensive back. Kiper recently chose Bullard as his favorite safety (subscription required) ahead of Thursday’s first round.
“As I wrote in my two-round mock draft, Bullard’s value comes in his versatility, as he played as a slot corner, center fielder and up near the line of scrimmage for the Bulldogs. He had four picks over the past two campaigns, and he was stellar in coverage last season. He allowed just 54 passing yards as the nearest defender in coverage in 2023, and that came on 20 attempts.
Bullard is a little undersized at 5-foot-11 and 198 pounds, but I love his all-around game and instincts in coverage.”
Bullard may be undersized by NFL standards, but he plays much bigger. The former three-star prospect routinely delivered gut-wrenching hits to opposing players. Perhaps the most talked about example came in Georgia’s Peach Bowl matchup versus Ohio State. Bullard delivered a powerful, legal hit on star wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. that ultimately knocked him out of the game.
Bullard earned Defensive MVP in Georgia’s win over the Buckeyes and went on to earn the same honor in the national championship win over TCU.
After starting at nickelback, or “STAR” in UGA’s nomenclature, in the 2022 season, Bullard moved to safety after NFL departures opened a starting spot in 2023. He didn’t miss a beat, earning second-team All-SEC honors for his efforts.
In 32 games as a Bulldog, Bullard racked up 114 tackles, eight tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, four interceptions and eight pass breakups.
Kiper projects Bullard to hear his name called on Day 2.
“Projection: In a safety class with no consensus No. 1 guy, Bullard is at the top of my board. He should be drafted in Round 2.”
You can watch first-round coverage of the draft on Thursday at 8 p.m. ET (ESPN), followed by Rounds 2-3 on Friday (7 p.m.) and Rounds 4-7 on Saturday (noon).
