Some of you may not have paid Georgia Bulldogs football attention before all of the Philadelphia Eagles' Dawgs showed up. We realize that. Keeping up with the Birds is a full-time job in and of itself. Some of you follow Penn State, Temple, or Villanova. Some of you may not watch NCAA football at all. We describe ourselves as football junkies. We simply can't get enough of it, so we've been following these guys before they showed up.
Some of you may not know this, but for as dominant as UGA has been for these past couple of decades, they typically always seemed to hit a snag vs. the Alabama Crimson Tide. See DeVonta Smith's heroics in that College Football Playoff Championship Game if you need evidence.
One day, however, perseverance paid off. In yet another meeting between these two proud programs on college football's grandest stage, Kelee Ringo's interception and return lifted the curse off his program and gave the Bulldogs their fourth claimed national title (1942, 1980, 2021, 2022). They also have four that are 'unclaimed' (1920, 1927, 1946, and 1968).
Things are different now for Kelee Ringo and so many of his Georgia teammates. Typically, a team that good sees its best players land in different locations all over the NFL, and it has. Kelee landed in Philly's nest, and he is joined by quite a few former teammates he began playing with in Athens, Georgia.
Kelee Ringo is among the favorites at cornerback to win a 2025 starting role.
A decent portion of Philly's defensive roster is peppered with ballers from their steadily growing Georgia Bulldogs pipeline. Jalen Carter, Lewis Cine, Jordan Davis, Nakobe Dean, Azeez Ojulari, Kelee Ringo, Nolan Smith, and newly-drafted Smael Mondon all cut their teeth collegiately in Athens.
Three important players from the 2024-25 Eagles roster who played the cornerback position are now gone. Darius Slay, Isaiah Rodgers, and Avonte Maddox now play in other cities.
That left the door open for someone to win a job in the starting lineup alongside Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean. May we reintroduce you to the aforementioned Kelee Ringo?
Philly entered the NFL Draft needing reinforcements at cornerback. They didn't select one until Round 5 at pick 145, when Mac McWilliams was the selection. He feels more like a backup slot corner with his playing style and body type, which begs the question. Who starts opposite of Mitchell on the outside?
Eagles Wire's Glenn Erby offers the perfect theory:
"The Eagles lost Darius Slay (Steelers), James Bradberry (free agent), Avonte Maddox (Lions), and Isaiah Rodgers (Vikings) in free agency and signed Adoree' Jackson. Even with those moves, Philadelphia didn't draft a cornerback until the fifth round when they selected Mac McWilliams out of UCF.
Williams (5-10, 191) will add some depth on the outside and in the slot, but he was a fifth-round pick for a reason. Ringo is the biggest winner and will have the inside track to be a starter."
There's nothing to find fault with in reading that theory. Ringo has proven to be a valuable contributor on special teams. He's been patient, but seeing the manner in which Philly handled the draft makes one wonder if they're mostly satisfied with who they already have at corner.
If we were to wager, we'd place Ringo atop the depth chart. We'd also assume he's good enough to compete with Adoree' Jackson for a starting role and win the job seeing as how he's already had a nice head start in Vic Fangio's system.
