Georgia football: 5 great Bulldogs who didn’t quite live up to the NFL hype

A two-year starter for the Bulldogs, Johnathan Sullivan might be one of the most physically dominant players to ever play on a Georgia football defense. He came to Athens as a 6-foot-3, 313-pound behemoth who was capable of winning with power and shocking explosiveness for a player his size. And when on his game, he was incredibly disruptive.

Sullivan wasn’t always on his game in college, however. He battled bouts of inconsistency and, in his two years playing starters snaps, he wasn’t overwhelmingly productive as he notched 154 tackles and just nine sacks — though he did get 53 quarterback pressures over that time. The raw talent, however, was enough for the Saints to trade up to the No. 6 overall pick to select Sullivan in the 2003 draft.

After a holdout on his rookie contract, Sullivan was supposed to be a starter and a game-changer on the Saints defensive front. And as a rookie, he flashed his potential. He had 25 tackles and a sack in his first NFL season and earned praise for his play. However, he showed up out of shape for his second season and ended up in the dog house. Demoted from his starting job, he was traded to New England in 2006.

The Patriots weren’t able to revive the first-round pick’s career, though. He was released from New England not long after the organization traded for him and never played in the league again. In all honesty, it’s a shame that a player with the talent of Sullivan never could get it together in the pros.

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