Georgia's Houston, Dent Selected In Third Round Of NFL Draft

NEW YORK, Ny. — University of Georgia linebackers Justin Houston and Akeem Dent were selected in the third round of the NFL Draft on Friday. Houston was taken with the 70th overall pick by the Kansas City Chiefs, while the Atlanta Falcons picked Dent with the 91st selection.

A native of Statesboro, Ga., Houston was a finalist for the 2010 Butkus and Nagurski awards as the team's third leading tackler. He also was second in the SEC with 10 sacks (.77 average) as a junior last season. For his career, Houston recorded 125 total tackles, 20 sacks and 38 tackles for loss. His 20 sacks ranks seventh in the Georgia record book. He is the first Bulldog to be drafted by the Chiefs.

Dent, a native of Douglass, Ga., led the Bulldogs with 126 tackles as a senior in 2010 and was voted to the All-SEC Second Team. He started all 13 games for Georgia and was the team's leading tackler nine times. Dent had at least 10 tackles in seven games and finished the season ranked second in the SEC with 9.7 tackles per game. He is the eighth Bulldog to be drafted by the Falcons and the first since Thomas Brown in 2008.

Three Georgia players have been drafted through the first three rounds including receiver A.J. Green, who was the fourth overall pick by Cincinnati on Thursday. The draft concludes with rounds four through seven beginning Saturday at noon ET.

~ Georgia Sports Communications

WSBTV