Former Georgia star Kamari Lassiter and Kirby Smart receive glowing review from Texans HC DeMeco Ryans
It's no secret that Kirby Smart has built a dynasty football program at Georgia. Since becoming head coach of the Bulldogs in 2017, Georgia has had 63 players taken in the annual NFL Draft, including 17 players selected in the first round. That's quite an accomplishment for a college head coach and his work is […]
It's no secret that Kirby Smart has built a dynasty football program at Georgia.
Since becoming head coach of the Bulldogs in 2017, Georgia has had 63 players taken in the annual NFL Draft, including 17 players selected in the first round.
That's quite an accomplishment for a college head coach and his work is not going unnoticed by at least one NFL head coach, DeMeco Ryans, of the Houston Texans.
When asked about former Georgia star cornerback Kamari Lassiter, whom Houston drafted in the second round of this past April's draft, Ryans's compliments of the rookie turned into a rave review of Smart's football program.
“For Kamari you can tell he’s built for this,” Ryans said. “Like when it comes to the mental toughness piece that plays a lot into being a good football player at this level, you have to be mentally tough. You have to have that next-play mentality and at Georgia, Kirby has done a great job, you can tell, of raising them the right way. Kirby has done a great job with all of his guys.
"Having those guys NFL ready to go and that’s one thing you see from Georgia, year after year since he has been there, those guys are plug and play type players, and it’s a credit to him and his program and how they run things there. You get a Georgia guy you know you’re getting an NFL player.”
Cornerback isn't an easy position to adjust to at the next level, but Lassiter has made it look like a breeze. So much so, that he's expected to lock down the starting job opposite Derek Stingley Jr. as a rookie this fall.
Before entering the league, Lassiter shined at Georgia where he totaled 86 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, one sack, one interception, and 14 pass breakups in 44 games for the Bulldogs.
