ATHENS, Ga. — The only quarterback to play meaningful snaps for the Georgia Bulldogs the last three years has another team now.
Jake Fromm, who surprised more than a few folks by deciding to skip his senior season at UGA, finally heard his name called in the NFL draft on Saturday, the final of the three-day event. The 6-foot-2, 220-pound junior from Warner Robins, Ga., was selected by the Buffalo Bills in the fifth round with the 167th overall pick on Saturday.
Fromm, projected to be one of the top five quarterbacks in the draft, instead was the eighth signalcaller off the board. Three quarterbacks were gone with the first six picks in Thursday’s first round in LSU’s Joe Burrow (1), Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa (5) and Oregon’s Justin Hebert (6) and Utah State’s Jordan Love also went in the first round with pick No. 26 to Green Bay.
On Friday, Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts, a transfer from Alabama, went late in the second round with the 53rd pick to the Philadelphia Eagles. No quarterbacks went in the third round.
For Fromm, it wasn’t as much about how high he could get drafted as it was having done all he could do in college.
Fromm was Georgia’s primary quarterback in all 43 games he played. The only one he didn’t start was the first one his freshman year, when sophomore Jacob Eason got the nod in the season opener. But Fromm ended taking over in the third offensive series of that game when Eason was sidelined with a knee injury, then never relinquished the position.
At the end of it all, the Bulldogs went 37-6 with Fromm under center, with one SEC Championship, three SEC title games, a College Football Playoff victory in the Rose Bowl and national championship game appearance.
Statistically, Fromm’s 8,224 career passing yards ranks fourth on UGA’s all-time list. His 78 career TD passes places him in second place on UGA’s all-time list. He ranks fourth and fifth, respectively, on UGA’s lists of career completions and attempts.
Even separate coasts, Fromm and Eason couldn’t escape each others shadows.
As the NFL draft drug on deep into the third round Friday night, and five quarterbacks had already come off the board, ESPN kept flashing back and forth to live shots from the respective living rooms of Fromm in Warner Robins and Eason in Lake Point, Wash. The two quarterbacks started both started their college football journeys at Georgia. Fromm’s ended there a year earlier than almost anybody would have predicted. Eason’s ended at the University of Washington.
Eason was selected in the fourth round by the Indianapolis Colts with the 122nd overall pick. Three picks later, the New York Jets selected Florida International quarterback James Morgan with the 125th pick. Fromm was the best player available by ESPN’s Mel Kiper after Eason was selected and lasted 45 more selections.
On the final day of the draft, Georgia also had guard Solomon Kindley selected in the fourth round (111th overall) by the Miami Dolphins.
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