In the past, the Cincinnati Bengals have seemingly carried the torch for the most current Georgia Bulldogs on the roster. Now, the Miami Dolphins are trying to make a push for them in that category.
The Dolphins now have five former Bulldogs on their roster and the Bengals have six on their squad. Miami played in the Georgia Dome on Friday night against the Falcons, with Atlanta winning the game 16-10. That said, players like linebacker Dannell Ellerbe and defensive tackle Garrison Smith got some playing time on the field. Rookie tight end Arthur Lynch, running back Knowshon Moreno, and safety Rashad Jones did not find the field.
Garrison Smith is an undrafted free agent and is trying to win a job with Miami. His reps have been limited so far, yet he’s not going to press when he gets an opportunity on the field.
“All I try to do is the best I can,” Smith said. “I do it all for the glory of God and that’s the most important thing. I just do it the best I can. That’s all the God requires me to do. As long as I do it to him, I won’t have any regrets about anything. That’s why I’ll never have any worries.”
Smith did record one tackle on the night in his limited playing time. The veteran of the former Bulldogs, linebacker Dannell Ellerbe picked up four tackles to lead the Dolphins defense on Friday night. Even though his team lost, he’s still glad that the Dolphins locker room is becoming more like “Athens South.”
“I was happy to get a couple more guys on the team,” Ellerbe said. “When I was at Baltimore, I was the only one. We probably brought one Bulldog there with me when I was in Baltimore. Now that we have five guys on the team, it’s a blessing. I love it.”
As for the Bulldogs that have left Athens, they still keep an eye on the program. Smith is in his rookie season and he’s got high hopes for the Dawgs in 2014.
“The Georgia boys are going to be ready this year,” Smith said. “I’m predicting a national championship and a Heisman season for (running back) Todd Gurley. The boys there are going to represent. We’ve got a lot of SEC dudes on the team, like from LSU (referencing his locker room neighbor at the Georgia Dome rookie defensive tackle Anthony Johnson). They know what happened to them last year, so I don’t think they want it (laughing).”
Veteran running back Knowshon Moreno as mentioned did not play on Friday night. However he did make the trip with his team to the Georgia Dome. He’s in agreement with Smith, as far as feeling good about his alma mater.
“Me too I’m going to say the same thing,” Moreno said. “Hopefully we can do that. It’s been a while since we’ve had one out there, so we definitely need it.”
Prior to Junior running back’s Todd Gurley and Keith Marshall hitting campus a couple of years ago, Moreno was the most recent Bulldogs running back to garner as much attention as they are this season. He says he’s seen some of the Georgia backfield duo’s work.
“I’ve seen a few games,” Moreno said. “So, I’m definitely excited to see this year. I know they didn’t do as well as we wanted to last year. But at the same time, I think this year is going to be something different.”
Moreno says that Gurley nor Marshall have reached out to him yet for advice. He does say that he keeps in contact with the Georgia coaching staff, mainly wide receiver’s coach Tony Ball.
As we’ve become accustomed to over the years, the Georgia football program continues to put players into the NFL. Friday night inside the Georgia Dome was just another example of that being the case.
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