Former Bulldogs Hoping to Land Super Bowl Success with the Eagles
The University of Georgia has a well-earned reputation as a conveyor belt of talent into the NFL.
The likes of Mecole Hardman, Malik Herring, Leonard Floyd, and Matthew Stafford have gone from NCAA games with the Bulldogs to winning the Super Bowl in recent years, with many other Georgia alumni also being presented with a Super Bowl ring in seasons past.
For the 2024-25 campaign, a whopping six former Bulldogs will line up for the Philadelphia Eagles, who have Super Bowl ambitions of their own having lost, in heartbreaking fashion, on Super Sunday back in 2023.
So can the University of Georgia produce more big game hunters for Super Bowl LIX?
In the Dawg House
At least one former Bulldog has played in the Super Bowl in each of the last 23 years.
Whether that trend continues in 2025 remains to be seen, but those following the sports betting BC odds for the Super Bowl will have noted that the Eagles – a best price of +1400 with the likes of Bet365 and BetVictor – are being given plenty of support to at least reach the NFL Championship game.
To do so, they will need to exorcize the demons of 2023-24. Philadelphia became the first franchise in history to fail to reach 12 regular season wins after starting out with a 10-1 record, and in the NFL Wild Card game against the Buccaneers they were on the receiving end of a darn good thrashing.
The Eagles have been eliminated from the playoffs. pic.twitter.com/qogTbETzeD
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) January 16, 2024
But hope springs eternal, and it’s not a huge leap of faith to suggest that the Eagles will improve this time around.
In Jalen Hurts, they boast one of the most resourceful quarterbacks in the NFL, while both A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith ran in more than 1,000 receiving yards last term. D’Andre Swift and Hurts himself provide the rushing expertise, while Saquon Barkley is something of a mercurial figure that could yet pop at Lincoln Financial Field.
The concern will be that defensive corps, although the hope is that a handful of Georgia Bulldogs can help the Eagles to improve in that regard in 2024-25.
In With the New
It will be fascinating to see how new defensive play coordinator Vic Fangio helps to improve Philadelphia in that regard.
He will have a number of University of Georgia grads to call upon, with three of them – Jordan Davis, Jalen Carter, and Nakobe Dean – likely to be first-choice selections in his defensive line.
𝙎𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙤𝙧 𝙎𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 🔎 Jordan Davis
— Georgia Football (@GeorgiaFootball) June 25, 2021
Twitter: @jordanxdavis99#ATD #GoDawgs pic.twitter.com/I3hgknX0Kb
Nolan Smith Jr and Kelee Ringo will also be knocking on the door for minutes, so there’s a healthy Bulldogs feel to this Eagles defensive unit.
With Fangio, an old-school but highly effective operator, coordinating strategy, there’s every chance that Philadelphia’s defense will improve upon that which conceded at least 25 points in each of their last three regular season games in 2023-24, as well as another 32 in that Wild Card hammering at the hands of Tampa Bay.
There’s still plenty of ifs, buts, and maybes about this Eagles roster. But if all of those questions are answered in the positive, they could yet take more Georgia alumni to the Super Bowl.