FOXBORO, Mass. — After four years together at the University of Georgia, Isaiah Wynn and Sony Michel both are headed to New England.
The Patriots used their two first-round picks in the 2018 NFL Draft on a pair of former college teammates, taking Wynn, a versatile offensive lineman, with the 23rd overall selection Thursday night and nabbing Sony Michel, an explosive running back, at No. 31 overall.
How rare is it for a team to draft two players from the same school in the first round? It hadn’t happened since 2005, when the Washington Redskins nabbed Auburn’s Carlos Rodgers (No. 9) and Jason Campbell (No. 25).
Wynn and Michel weren’t just teammates. They also were roommates, living together for their final two years in Athens along with fellow 2018 draft prospect Nick Chubb and two other Bulldogs players.
“I’ve seen how hard he works, so I was very excited for him,” Michel said of Wynn during his introductory conference call. “I shot him a couple texts. I know he had a lot going on (Thursday night), so I really couldn’t have too much interaction with him, but just talking back and forth, I was just expressing my emotions for how I felt about his situation.”
The Patriots already had two Georgia products on their roster — center David Andrews and wide receiver Malcolm Mitchell — both of whom played with Wynn and Michel in Athens.
“I’ve talked to those guys quite a bit, especially when they have their off weeks,” Michel said. “… When they had time off, we had great interaction, and those guys always come back, give back to the program. (They’re) approachable guys that you can just talk to and ask about their experience. So it was pretty cool to just get that connection and now be able to go up there and learn more from them.”
Wynn, who started at both guard and tackle in college, said he’s “very close” with Andrews, who joined the Patriots as an undrafted rookie in 2015. The two spent one season together at Georgia.
“Coming in as a freshman at Georgia, he was one of the guys who was like a big brother and took me under his wing,” Wynn said. “I just learned a lot from him coming in my freshman year, because as a freshman, it’s kind of rough just getting adjusted. David Andrews helped me a lot. He helped me a lot.”
