Georgia’s Nolan Smith Headlines Defense At 2023 NFL Scouting Combine

Georgia EDGE Nolan Smith is the biggest riser so far from this year’s NFL Scouting Combine. Who else has stood out on defense from the first two days?

Despite the lack of production at Georgia and injury concerns, Nolan Smith made his presence known at the Scouting Combine with his insane athletic testing. He was just one of the standouts of the front seven group that showed off their athleticism on the first day of the Scouting Combine.

Due to a torn pectoral, Smith missed half of the season last year, as he was playing behind first-round starters the year before in a heavy rotation as an edge player. Due to the lack of playing time as a starter for the Bulldogs, his production isn’t special (at 12.5 sacks in four seasons) but with his testing, the senior definitely made some heads turn on the first day of the Scouting Combine.

2023 NFL Scouting Combine Standouts On Defense

At 6’2″ and 238 pounds, the edge rusher from Georgia led his position or was in the top three for all the events that were recorded, including the 40-yard dash, 10-yard split, vertical jump, and broad jump. His 40-yard dash and vertical were historic, as his 4.39 was the 2nd fastest ever, and his 41.50″ was the highest ever. His 1.52 10-yard split (top five ever) and his 10’8″ broad (top nine ever) were also off the charts, at least since 2003.

Prior to Smith jumping out of the gym and running at a blazing time, there was another highlight of the first day of the Scouting Combine, as this defensive tackle surely raised his draft stock to a potential round one player. One that has seen comps to Rams All-Pro defensive tackle Aaron Donald for more reasons than one.