A total of 13 former Georgia high school graduates were selected in the 2009 NFL Draft this past weekend, including one player, William Middleton of Furman, who will be returning home. Middleton, who was selected with the second pick of the fifth round by Atlanta, played at the Marist School for head coach Alan Chadwick. “Certainly one of the hardest-working kids we have ever had,” Chadwick said of Middleton. “He was always the first one on the practice field and stayed late to work on techniques, particularly defensive back techniques. It’s easy to see with his work ethic how he got to this point.”
Troy’s Sherrod Martin, by way of Griffin High School, was the first Georgia high school alum chosen and the only picked on Day 1. The 6-foot-1, 197- pound safety was the 27th pick of the second round, going 59th overall to Carolina. Former Tucker High School and University of Georgia cornerback Asher Allen was scooped up next, going to Minnesota in Round 3. Also going in the third round was one of Allen’s SEC rivals, Jared Cook, and his Georgia teammate Corvey Irvin. Cook prepped at North Gwinnett High School, before becoming a top-flight tight end at South Carolina, and is now on his way to Tennessee. Irvin, a defensive tackle on his way to Carolina, is a product of Laney High School in Augusta.
In the fourth round, Tampa Bay chose former USC and Houston County defensive end Kyle Moore, while Tennessee took former Southern Mississippi and McEachern High School linebacker Gerald McRath. Jimmy Dorsey was the head coach at McEachern during McRath’s time with the Indians and remembers his intangibles. “The most unique thing about Gerald is that in just a short period of time he won over his teammates and coaches and just became an instant leader within our football program,” Dorsey said. “He’s one of the most well-rounded, mature, conscientious players that I ever coached.”
Joining Middleton as fifth-round selections were former South Carolina and South Cobb High School wide receiver Kenny McKinley, who is headed to Denver, former South Carolina and Thomson High School linebacker Jasper Brinkley, who is headed to Minnesota, and former Oklahoma guard and Washington High School lineman Duke Robinson, who is on his way to Carolina. Robinson’s head coach at Washington, Rodney Cofield, said his first opinion of the then-6-3, 300-plus pounder was that he was “impressive looking”, but says that the big kid had to mature. “He came here with that aggressive behavior, very young, immature, was not focused,” Cofield said. “We pulled him to the side and let him know that he’s not going to be straddling the fence, he either was going to be the man or not play at all. He made that choice that he was going to be the man and the rest is history.”
Former Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket Andrew Gardner and former Georgia Bulldog Jarius Wynn led off the Georgia high school products that were drafted in the sixth round. Gardner, an offensive tackle headed to Miami, attended Sandy Creek High School. Wynn, a defensive end picked by Green Bay, played at Lincoln County High School. Also going off the board in the sixth round was former Clemson and Douglass High School running back James Davis, who was the final Georgia high school product taken in the draft.
Like Robinson, many of the Georgia draftees had to overcome obstacles to obtain success. For Middleton, college recruiters’ biggest concern about him was his size. “He was not a real big physical-type kid, but he was kind of wiry and body strong,” Chadwick said. “The question was how much bigger and stronger he would get.”
College recruiters also had questions about McRath’s size, but another concern stemmed from a dislocated shoulder he suffered as a senior. “He made it through the year, but it was very difficult,” Dorsey said. “He would miss parts of games because it would slide out of place. Southern Miss didn’t care. They saw enough his junior year and sparkles of what he was his senior year.”
Robinson, Middleton and McRath answered the questions surrounding them, giving the State of Georgia a chance to produce more NFL players. According to USA Football, Georgia was fifth nationally with 83 players on NFL rosters at the start of the 2008 season. Atlanta was tied for fourth among cities with 12 players.
Butler can be reached at jbutler@scoreatl.com.
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