Akeem Dent at a glance

His production: Dent, who redshirted in 2006 after coming out of Douglass High, started all 13 games last season and had a team-best 126 tackles, including 6.5 for loss and 2.5 sacks. He also forced and recovered two fumbles. He graduated in December with a degree in housing. He played inside and outside linebacker over his college career and has experience in the 4-3 and 3-4 defenses. At Georgia, he played inside linebacker in the 3-4. He played both inside and outside in the 4-3. When he lined up outside, he played the strongside position. He was named to the All-SEC second team by the Associated Press last season.

The skinny: He completed the bench press (lifting 225 pounds 24 times) at the NFL scouting combine, but did not participate in his position drills. "He is strong and very aggressive, and when he delivers a blow, he delivers it with great force," ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper said. "He can be a 4-3 middle linebacker." His favorite player growing up was former Falcons linebacker Jessie Tuggle, who announced the pick of Dent on Friday night in New York. He is represented by Atlanta agent Hadley Engelhard of Enter-Sports Management.