4/28/2016 football Edit

Bears trade up, take Floyd with ninth pick in the first round

The Chicago Bears moved up to take Leonard Floyd with the ninth pick in the first round.

Anthony Dasher • UGASports

Editor

Leonard Floyd learned his NFL home Thursday night as the former Bulldog was taken by the Chicago Bears with the ninth pick in the first first round.

Chicago actually made to trade to get him, working a deal with Tampa Bay to move into the No. 9 spot ahead of the New York Giants who were rumored to be taking Floyd, who turned out to be the first SEC player selected in the draft.

It marks the second straight year a Bulldog player was taken in the first round, following Todd Gurley last year.

A three-year starter for the Bulldogs, Floyd finished second on the team with 74 tackles, including 10.5 for losses of 32 yards and three sacks. He also returned a fumble for a touchdown in Georgia’s loss at Tennessee.

Floyd, a native of Eastman, becomes the 31st Bulldog taken in the first round of the draft since the Detroit Lions selected Frank Sinkwich as the No. 1 pick in 1943. Floyd is the 15th former Georgia player selected in the top 10 and the 18th Bulldog taken overall by Chicago since 1944.

"This guy lines up all over the field for Georgia. We see him as an outside linebacker on our defense," GM Ryan Pace told ChicagoBears.com. "He brings great athleticism for a guy that tall with that kind of length. He brings some juice to our defense that we need and will definitely help our pass rush."

Floyd is coming off a season that saw him finish second on Georgia’s defense with a career-high 74 tackles, including a team-high 4.5 sacks. Starting all 13 games, the Butkus Award finalist also shared the team lead with 10.5 tackles for loss and had one fumble recovery that he took 96 yards for a touchdown at Tennessee.

For his career, Floyd tallied 184 tackles, including 17 sacks (No. 11 in UGA history) and 28.5 tackles for loss (No. 9 in UGA history), five forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries.

The draft – which covers the next three days – will feature the second and third rounds on Friday followed by rounds four-seven on Saturday.

A couple of Bulldogs could hear their names called on Friday.

Fellow linebacker Jordan Jenkins is projected by many to be a second-round selection, while wide receiver Malcolm Mitchell is pegged to go in round three with running back Keith Marshall also a possibility.

Offensive tackle John Theus and defensive end Sterling Bailey are expected to be taken anywhere from rounds 4-7, with linebacker Jake Ganus, nose tackle Chris Mayes and fullback Quayvon Hicks also possibly hearing their names called.