D’Andre Swift a 2nd round draft pick. He’ll begin NFL career with chip on shoulder

The school that prides itself on being “RBU” has sent yet another alumnus to the next level.

D’Andre Swift became the latest Bulldog back to head to the NFL on Friday night, being selected in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions. He was the second running back taken in this year’s draft.

The Friday night selection might not sit well with Swift, at least in the short term. He posted “Say nomore” to Twitter as Thursday’s first round concluded, a likely allusion to not being a first-round draft pick.

Or perhaps it was a reference to another running back being drafted ahead of Swift. The Kansas City Chiefs drafted LSU running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire with the 32nd and final pick of the opening round Thursday night.

Swift was viewed by many pundits as the running back mostly likely to be a first-rounder — “Swift was the best running back prospect in this year’s class in my eyes,” CBS Sports NFL writer Josh Edwards wrote — and he was among the NFL hopefuls with a live video feed from his home Thursday night.

“Are you telling me out of 32 picks D’ANDRE SWIFT WAS NOT SELECTED,” former Georgia teammate and current Chief Mecole Hardman said via Twitter. “For everybody who think they know it all, I have no problem with the Chiefs pick! I trust Veach and Coach Reid in their decision process! So save all that extra stuff for some else.”

Offensive tackle Andrew Thomas became the first Georgia player taken in the 2020 NFL Draft on Thursday night, going to the New York Giants with the No. 4 pick. Offensive tackle Isaiah Wilson was chosen later in the draft by the Tennessee Titans.

Lions draft D’Andre Swift: 5 things to know

Swift’s Georgia highlight reel is lengthy, featuring everything from explosive hurdles to jukes that sent opposing defenders grasping at air. Here are five things to know about the Philadelphia native turned Bulldog great:

1. Joining the Bulldogs as a five-star recruit in the Class of 2017, Swift mostly sat and learned behind Nick Chubb and Sony Michel in his freshman season. Still, he finished with 618 yards and three touchdowns that year, averaging 7.6 yards per attempt in the process.

2. Over the next two years Swift became option 1A in what is always a talented Bulldog backfield. He ran for over 1,000 yards in each of his final two seasons in Athens, adding 17 rushing touchdowns in the process. Swift became just the fifth Bulldog with a pair of 1,000-yard campaigns, joining Herschel Walker, Chubb, Michel and Knowshon Moreno.

3. For his career, Swift ran for 2,885 yards on 440 carries. That yardage total places him seventh in the all-time Georgia ranks, while his career yards per carry of 6.56 is the best in Georgia history. For comparison, Herschel Walker averaged 5.29 yards per carry as a Bulldog (5,259 yards on 994 career carries).

4. In a skillset that surely appealed to NFL teams, Swift also showed the ability to be a threat out of the backfield in his Georgia career. He hauled in 73 passes for 666 yards during his time in Athens.

5. His relative lack of wear and tear combined with his complete skillset made Swift one of the top running back prospects in the draft.

This story was originally published April 24, 2020 at 7:24 PM.