ATHENS, Ga. — At least D’Andre Swift didn’t have to wait around long Friday.
Swift, a junior from Philadelphia, was drafted in the second round of the NFL draft Friday night. The 5-foot-8, 212-pounder was chosen by the Detroit Lions with the 35th pick overall.
In Detroit, Swift will be joined with former Bulldog Matt Stafford, the Lions’ quarterback.
Swift had been projected as a possible mid-first-round selection coming into the draft on Thursday. As it turned out, no running backs were taken until the 32nd and final pick. But the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs went with LSU’s Clyde Edwards-Helaire instead of Swift, who many analysts thought was the top back in the this year’s draft.
Nevertheless, Swift’s short wait did nothing to tarnish Georgia’s claim to the label of RBU. With the early second-round call Swift became the fifth Georgia back in the last five years to be drafted in the first two rounds. Hence, RBU, or Running Back University.
Todd Gurley and Sony Michel are the two in that group. Georgia coach Kirby Smart argues that number should be four backs in the last six years since Nick Chubb “should’ve been a first-round pick” in 2018. Chubb was selected with the third pick of the second round and finished second in the NFL in rushing last year.
Regardless, Swift continues a long tradition of the Bulldogs producing NFL-worthy running backs. Early in the day on Thursday, Georgia football sent out via its Twitter feed a list of its running backs who either got the early call from the NFL or proved incredibly productive once they got there. That list goes all the way back to the 1940s, when Charley Trippi and Frank Sinkwich were back-to-back No. 1 overall picks, and includes fellow first-rounders Garrison Hearst, Rodney Hampton, Tim Worley, Knowshon Moreno and Robert Edwards.
Not included on that list is the incomparable Herschel Walker, who actually started his career as the first-ever pick in the fledgling USFL. Four years later, Walker would go on to a record-setting 12-year career in the NFL.
This past season, Swift became the fifth running back in UGA history to break the 1,000-yard rushing barrier in back-to-back seasons. He had 1,218 yards rushing and 216 receiving with a total of seven touchdowns. Those totals would have been much higher had Swift not been injured at the end of this season. He was limited to six touches and eight total plays in his final two games because of a shoulder injury.
When Swift announced on Jan. 3 that he was turning pro as a junior, he left Bulldogs with 2,885 yards rushing and another 666 receiving. That ranks seventh on Georgia’s all-time rushing list, just behind Lars Tate (3,017) and just ahead of Moreno (2,734).
More impressive is that Swift’s first season was spent as a third-team backup to Chubb and Michel as they led the Bulldogs to the national championship game. But while his contributions were limited that first year, his impact wasn’t. He was Georgia’s leading rusher and had an electric 77-yard touchdown run in the SEC Championship victory over Auburn in 2017 and was named freshman All-SEC with 616 yards.
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