Houston is GONE.... that's a shame

The Georgia Bulldogs lost two juniors to the NFL draft as the deadline for underclassmen to declare passed last Saturday, one not-so-surprising and one not-so-surprising-but-a-tad-disappointing. Wide receiver AJ Green will be taking his talents to a team picking in the top five or six slots in the draft while DE/OLB Justin Houston will likely be drafted late in the first round or perhaps early in the second round if his workouts don’t go well. You would have to be blind not to have seen Green licking his chops for the NFL, but Houston? He is ready for the NFL, but you get the feeling that with another year in Athens learning under Todd Grantham, who made DeMarcus Ware into a beast with Dallas, Houston would be an impact player as a rookie in 2012. Georgia fans should not be angry with Houston; I’d do that same thing if I was as fast as he was at his size. Georgia fans do have every right to wistfully wonder about Houston in year two of the Grantham era in Athens.

So where will the two go in the upcoming draft? You have to think that Carolina at No. 1 might think long and hard about taking Green, a South Carolina native from just a few hours out of Charlotte. He would open up the running game and give Jimmy Clausen a viable downfield threat. Or you would think that Cincinnati might take a chance on Green, allowing the team to cut ties with TO and Ochocinco if it so chooses. Cleveland and San Francisco could also be players in the Green sweepstakes, if he is still around.

As far as Justin Houston goes, the Giants and the Bucs at No. 19 and No. 20 would be nice fits for Houston as both could plug him in to remember the glory days of getting after the quarterback. I also wouldn’t put it by Chicago to pick up Houston if he is still there, instantly giving Lance Briggs and Brian Urlacher some juice as both near the end of their primes.

Georgia fans aren’t shocked to lose both Houston and Green, but the fans shouldn’t feel bad though thinking that both could have done more while donning the red and black in Athens.