Roquan Smith not focused on NFL draft decision, two UGA players set to return

Roquan Smith has yet to reveal anything about his NFL draft intentions. That continued Friday, when Smith was asked if he had received a draft grade from league representatives.

While Smith, who has been projected as a first-rounder in various mock drafts, has yet to publicly announce whether he will stay for his senior season, two other draft-eligible UGA defenders announced they will come back for the 2018 season.

Both junior defensive end Jonathan Ledbetter and third-year sophomore J.R. Reed said they are planning to return to Georgia next season. Ledbetter has been a big part of Georgia's defensive line rotation and has totaled 29 tackles, with 3.5 of them coming for a loss. He also has one sack this season.

Reed has the second-most tackles on Georgia's roster with 69.

Ledbetter said he wanted to finish out his career and is hopeful his other draft-eligible underclassman teammates do the same.

"I talked about it but I’m really thinking of coming back and finishing it out with my boys," Ledbetter said. "We’re hoping to do it again. I think a lot of guys should. When that time comes we’ll figure it out."

While Ledbetter has played three years at Georgia, this has been Reed's only season with the program. After spending his first season at Tulsa in 2015, Reed transferred to Georgia and sat out the 2016 season due to NCAA rules. Reed then rose up the depth chart and earned a start in every game this season.

Earlier this season, head coach Kirby Smart said Reed turned into a pleasant surprise once he moved from the scout team to the two-deep. When Reed left Tulsa for Georgia, it was to prove that he could play at the Power 5 level.

"It's something I always believed in," Reed said. "I believed in myself and knew I could do something like this."

This story was originally published December 29, 2017 at 1:11 PM with the headline "Roquan Smith not focused on NFL draft decision, two UGA players set to return."