Georgia cornerback Kelee Ringo will enter the 2023 NFL Draft, he said on Monday night after the Bulldogs won their second straight national championship. Here’s what you need to know:
- Ringo finished his career with the Bulldogs with four interceptions and 63 solo tackles.
- The Athletic’s Dane Brugler ranks Carter as the No. 6 prospects in the 2023 NFL Draft.
- Ringo was a five-star prospect out of high school and the nation’s top cornerback as a member of the 2020 recruiting class, according to the 247Sports Composite.
Confirming the expected, Kelee Ringo told reporters in the locker room tonight that his intention is to enter the NFL draft. https://t.co/KJv9ZqaaaF
— Seth Emerson (@SethWEmerson) January 10, 2023
The Athletic‘s instant analysis:
Backstory
Ringo missed his 2020 season recovering from offseason shoulder surgery. He started for the Bulldogs the following year as a redshirt freshman, recording eight pass breakups, the second-most on the team, and 34 total tackles during the Bulldogs’ championship-winning season. He had a 79-yard interception returned for a touchdown against Alabama in the title-winning game.
Scouting report
After Ringo’s standout 2021 season, including the national championship game-clinching pick-six, some might argue that his play declined in 2022 (seven pass deflections, two interceptions). However, Ringo is still a premier athlete with impressive speed and fluidity at 6-foot-2 and 210 pounds. — Brugler
What is Ringo’s legacy at Georgia?
Ringo will forever be known in Georgia history for the pick-six that sealed the program’s first national championship in 41 years. Then he spent one more year in the spotlight, a veteran member of an otherwise young secondary, and sometimes the victim of it: As opponents tried to pass their way back into games, the ball often went Ringo’s way, such as in the SEC championship , when it seemed like Ringo gave up some long passes but in fact it was the freshman safety (Malaki Starks) who was mainly at fault.
Off the field, Ringo has a quiet and positive demeanor, using his NIL income to fund breast cancer research (his mother has battled the disease). On the field there was a feast-or-famine aspect to him, sometimes giving up a big play, but also becoming a playmaker at cornerback, a position not normally given to that. – Emerson
Required reading
(Photo: Jordan Prather / USA Today)
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