Georgia’s Jake Ganus joining Vikings as undrafted free agent

It didn’t take long for Jake Ganus to find an interested NFL team after the draft.

Not selected after seven rounds, Ganus will join the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent. Ganus transferred to Georgia from UAB for his senior season and led the Bulldogs in tackles with 102, en route to being named the team’s Most Valuable Player at the end of the regular season.

Ganus will join a defense that finished 13th in the NFL in 2016 at 344.2 yards per game.

Not recruited by many Division I programs out of high school, Ganus committed to UAB and became a standout safety and linebacker with the Blazers for three years. When UAB temporarily shut down its program, Ganus transferred to Georgia and was initially seen as a backup inside linebacker and special teams contributor. He’d wind up starting every game this season and became one of Georgia’s team leaders on defense.

Ganus wasn’t the only Georgia player to agree to a deal with an NFL team after the draft.

Defensive lineman Josh Dawson announced on his Twitter account that he’ll be joining the Atlanta Falcons. Dawson had 8 tackles and a quarterback hurry as a part of Georgia’s defensive line rotation in 2015.

Long snapper Nathan Theus agreed to an undrafted free-agent deal with the Denver Broncos. Theus played in 38 games during his college football career.

Georgia had five players drafted over the past three days. outside linebacker Leonard Floyd was taken in the first round at ninth overall by the Chicago Bears. Outside linebacker Jordan Jenkins (third round, New York Jets), receiver Malcolm Mitchell (fourth round, New England Patriots), offensive tackle John Theus (fifth round, San Francisco 49ers) and running back Keith Marshall (seventh round, Washington Redskins) joined Floyd as NFL draft picks.

This story was originally published April 30, 2016 at 7:36 PM with the headline "Georgia’s Jake Ganus joining Vikings as undrafted free agent."