Four former Georgia high school football players are projected to go in the first round of the NFL Draft, which starts Thursday.
Four would be the most from Georgia since 2015 and tied for second-most in history.
Between 15 and 20 former Georgia high school players are projected to be drafted overall, which is on par for the past decade.
Most mock drafts have Derrick Brown of Lanier, Andrew Thomas of Pace Academy, Xavier McKinney of Roswell and A.J. Terrell of Westlake as first-round picks.
All four were top-50 national recruits and first-team all-state players in high school.
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Those four, plus former Houston County and Georgia quarterback Jake Fromm, are among 58 players invited by the NFL to ''participate virtually'' in the draft, meaning they'll be hooked up remotely by video to get their reactions. ESPN will televise. Fromm is projected as a third-round pick in most mock drafts.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the draft will be coordinated by video. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell will announce first-round picks from his home in New York.
Brown, a defensive lineman from Auburn, is a consensus top-10 overall projection and most likely to be the highest Georgia player taken. Brown was The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's all-classification high school player of the year in 2015.
Thomas, an offensive tackle from Georgia, is expected to go among the first 15 players. McKinney and Terrell are projected as middle to late first-rounders.
The last time that Georgia had four first-round picks was five years ago when Vic Beasley of Adairsville, Cameron Erving of Colquitt County, Bud Dupree of Wilkinson County and Breshad Perriman of Arabia Mountain were taken. Unlike this season’s four, none of those were high-profile national recruits.
The most first-round picks from Georgia occurred in 2005, when five were taken.
Below are 22 of the state’s former high school players who are projected to be drafted by four experts. Other possible Georgia draftees that don’t appear below include wide receiver Marquez Callaway of Warner Robins, defensive tackle Josiah Coatney of Chapel Hill, running back Brian Herrien of New Manchester and defensive lineman Chauncey Rivers of Stephenson.
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