Editor’s note: This is the seventh and final in a weeklong series of articles that looks at the AJC’s choices for the top 10 Georgia football players in each decade since the 1940s as selected by a panel of AJC voters. We hope you’ll enjoy seeing our choices and reading about the players as much as we enjoyed the work to present them to you. (The players are listed alphabetically.) Today: The 2010s
Deandre Baker
After a slow start to his Georgia career, Baker finished on an upswing. The Miami cornerback played in all 15 games for the 2017 Bulldogs, who lost to Alabama in the College Football Playoff Championship game. He started 12 games in 2018 but opted out of Georgia’s Sugar Bowl matchup against Texas. He would collect 84 tackles, five interceptions and 17 pass break-ups over those two seasons and parlayed them into a first-round draft selection by the New York Giants. He currently plays in the United Football League.
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Nick Chubb
Chubb signed with Georgia out of Cedartown and became part of a run on great backs that rivaled the Bulldogs of the 1980s. Despite suffering a devastating knee injury midway through his sophomore season, Chubb would rush for 4,769 yards and 44 touchdowns, second only to Herschel Walker in UGA annals. His decision to return for his senior season – along with others – is credited for catapulting the Bulldogs to the 2018 CFP Championship game.
Credit: ccompton@ajc.com
Credit: ccompton@ajc.com
Todd Gurley
Before Chubb there was Gurley, who was considered the less-heralded of two tailback signees from North Carolina in 2012. Five-star prospect Keith Marshall also came to UGA that year. Three years later, Gurley left after his junior season as the No. 4 rusher in Georgia football history. Despite missing four games because of an NCAA suspension after reports that he accepted money to sign memorabilia and then suffering a torn ACL with two games left in the 2014 regular season, Gurley finished fourth on Georgia’s all-time rushing list with 3,285 yards and third with 36 rushing touchdowns.
Credit: bsanderlin@ajc.com
Credit: bsanderlin@ajc.com
Jake Fromm
Fromm was committed to Alabama when Kirby Smart accepted Georgia’s head coaching job and followed Smart to Athens. It was a good thing for the Bulldogs as the Houston County native ended up starting for the Bulldogs as a freshman in 2017 when Jacob Eason went down in the season opener with a knee injury. All Fromm did from there was start the next 42 games in a row and finish as Georgia’s fifth-leading passer of all time with 8,224 yards, 78 TDs and 18 interceptions.
Credit: ccompton@ajc.com
Credit: ccompton@ajc.com
Justin Houston
Houston’s development at Georgia is the stuff of legend. After slowly working his way into the rotation at outside linebacker as a freshman, Houston became a starter his sophomore season and piled up 17.5 of his 20 career sacks over his final two season. Somewhat late in deciding to turn pro after his junior year, Houston was drafted by the Chiefs in the third round in 2011. A four-time Pro Bowl selection, Houston is entering his 14th NFL season as a second-year player for the Miami Dolphins.
Credit: Brant Sanderlin/bsanderlin@ajc.com
Credit: Brant Sanderlin/bsanderlin@ajc.com
Jarvis Jones
Georgia tried hard to recruit Jones out of Carver-Columbus only to see him ink with Southern Cal. A neck injury his freshman season forced Jones to rethink that decision, and he transferred to UGA. After sitting out the 2010 season, he recorded 28 sacks over the next two seasons for the Bulldogs. His 14.5 QB drops in 2012 broke David Pollack’s single-season record. He played four NFL seasons before he was waived by the Cardinals in 2017.
Credit: JOHNNY CRAWFORD /AJC
Credit: JOHNNY CRAWFORD /AJC
Sony Michel
Another rung on the ladder of great backs who came through Georgia during the transition from coach Mark Richt to Kirby Smart. Michel was a 5-star prospect when he signed with the Bulldogs out of Heritage High in Plantation, Florida. Sharing carries with Todd Gurley and Nick Chubb, Michel still managed 410 yards and five TDs as a freshman. Michel would add 3,228 yards and 28 TDs the next three seasons and join Chubb in forming one of the best running back duos in school history.
Credit: Sean M. Haffey
Credit: Sean M. Haffey
Aaron Murray
The most productive passer in UGA history had a slow start to his career. Murray signed with the Bulldogs out of Tampa’s Plant High in 2009 but was redshirted. Over the next four years, he’d pass for 13,166 yards and 121 TDs while starting every game. Murray had Georgia poised to win the 2012 SEC title, but the Bulldogs came up five yards short from defeating Alabama, which would thump Notre Dame in the national title game. Murray suffered an ACL tear his senior season in the next-to-last game of the 2013 regular season.
Credit: Jason Getz
Credit: Jason Getz
Roquan Smith
There may not have been a bigger recruiting flip in the 2000s than the one that saw this 5-star linebacker from Montezuma switch from UCLA to UGA at the last moment. The Bulldogs are forever thankful for that, as they might’ve landed their best linebacker of all time. In 2017, Smith led the SEC in tackles (137) and solo tackles (85), was named MVP of the SEC Championship game, SEC defensive player of the year, consensus All-American and won the Butkus Award.
Credit: Hyosub Shin
Credit: Hyosub Shin
Andrew Thomas
Thomas signed with Georgia out of Atlanta’s Pace Academy as a 5-star offensive line. He started every game he was physically able to play for the Bulldogs, at right tackle as a freshman, then left tackle his final two years. He was drafted fourth overall by the New York Giants in 2020 and quickly won the starting job at left tackle. In 2023, Thomas signed a 5-year, $117.5 million contract with the Giants that included a $67 million guarantee.
Credit: Perry McIntyre
Credit: Perry McIntyre
