#1 ALABAMA (13-1) vs #3 GEORGIA (13-1); 8 PM ET; ESPN; Indianapolis … At least in the world of college football, one can probably think that the universe is indeed evolving as it should as after a full 12-game regular season, the conference championships, and two national semi-finals arguably the two best teams are all that’s left standing for Monday’s CFP national championship game in Indianapolis. Certainly, Alabama and Georgia left little doubt in the semis as they both posted convincing wins over previously unbeaten Cincinnati and Michigan respectively. And the big question in this game between SEC powers is is whether Georgia, which had been considered to be the best team in the country pretty much all season, can rebound from a hugely disappointing 17-point loss to Alabama in the SEC championship game last month.
Despite their #1 ranking, it has not been a typical dominating year for Alabama which had more than its normal share of close calls, including a comeback win in OT over cross-state rival Auburn in the Iron Bowl in which a loss would have likely knocked the Tide out of the playoffs entirely. Still the Tide has potentially the deepest draft class in the country for 2022, although Alabama may not produce the record number of early picks that we saw in the past 2-3 years. Massive LT Evan Neal (#73, 6-6, 350), however, looks to be a top five lock, while WR Jameson Williams (#1, 6-2, 190) is a rising star in the receiver corps who is also getting plenty of top ten consideration of his own. At the same time, veteran ILB Christian Harris (#8, 6-2, 235) is a later opening round candidate, while RB Brian Robinson (#4, 6-0, 225), safety Jordan Battle (#9, 6-0, 210), DTs Phidarian Mathis (#48, 6-3, 310) and D.J. Dale (#94, 6-3, 310), ILB Henry To’o To’o (#10, 6-1, 225), CBs Jalyn Armour-Davis (#5, 6-0, 190) and Josh Jobe (#28, 6-0, 195), and TE Jahleel Billingsley (#19, 6-4, 230) are all solid second day prospects. And anyone thinking that the Tide’s dominating run could finally be coming to an end is probably in for a bit of a disappointment as Alabama also has some of the best young talent in the country including sophomore QB Bryce Young (#2, 5-10, 195), this year’s Heisman winner, and OLB Will Anderson (#31, 6-4, 245), another true soph, who was the national defensive player of the year after posting 15.5 sacks.
Meanwhile, if Georgia can finally get the Alabama monkey off its back they’ll likely do it primarily with what has been college football’s best defense which had allowed less than 7 points per game this fall prior to the conference title game. Certainly, almost all of Georgia’s top prospects for the upcoming draft are on that side of the ball. Headlining the defense are rising ILB Nakobe Dean (#17, 6-0, 225) and massive DT Jordan Davis (#99, 6-6, 340), both of whom are currently considered to have top 10-15 potential, along with DE Travon Walker (#44, 6-5, 275), a rising star who has also worked himself up into the mid-first round area. Indeed, Walker going against the Tide’s Neal should be the game’s best one-on-one duel. Meanwhile, CB Derion Kendrick (#11, 6-0, 195) heads a large group of second-day prospects on the Georgia ‘D’ including DT Devonte Wyatt (#95, 6-3, 315), ILBs Quay Walker (#7, 6-3, 240) and Channing Tindall (#41, 6-2, 230) and S Lewis Cine (#16, 6-1, 200).
On the other hand, the Georgia offense might go undrafted this year, although the unit has been scoring close to 40 PPG so far this year. The Bulldogs have an interesting situation at QB where both Stetson Bennett (#13, 5-11, 190) and J.T. Daniels (#18, 6-2, 210) shared taking snaps much of the year, although Bennett has finally emerged as the clear starter. However, he looks more like a CFL type given his size and arm strength. The Dawgs also have a couple of pretty fair offensive line prospects of their own in senior LT Jamaree Salyer (#69, 6-4, 325) and redshirt soph RT Warren McClendon (#70, 6-4, 305) who combined to shut down Michigan’s dynamic edge-rush duo of Hutchinson and Ojabo in the semis, while P Jake Camarda is one of the top 2-3 punters in the country who averaged 46.5 yards a pop this year.
