Kirby Smart will have one less productive piece of his defensive puzzle as he embarks on his first year as Georgia’s head football coach.
Smart and UGA became the latest to lose a player early to the NFL, with Leonard Floyd announcing that he would be foregoing his senior season and making himself available for the draft. The linebacker had just completed his third season with the Bulldogs.
“Leonard will be missed not just by the Dawg Nation, but by me, his teammates and the rest of the ‘Wolfpack,’” said Bulldog assistant coach Kevin Sherrer, who helped coach Floyd over the last two years. “We grew close over the past couple of years. I know he will be very successful in his football career.”
Floyd had a team-high 4.5 sacks this season and was credited with a career-high 74 tackles. He was one of five finalists for this year’s Butkus Award.
His 17 career sacks are 11th in UGA history.