Georgia football fan-favorite signs undrafted free agent deal

Georgia Bulldogs punter Brett Thorson has found an NFL home. Thorson was not selected in the 2026 NFL draft, but he did manage to quickly agree to an undrafted free agent deal with the Minnesota Vikings after the draft, per Ryan Fowler.

Thorson was an All-SEC selection in 2025. He recovered nicely from a knee injury that he suffered in the SEC championship to return for the Bulldogs during the 2025 college football season. Thorson ended up winning the Ray Guy award (nation's best punter) for his impressive 2025 season.

In 2025, Thorson averaged 45.2 yards per punt for Georgia. He had a season long punt of 66 yards and had half of his 42 punts downed inside the 20. Georgia fans love Thorson, who is from Australia, for his sense of humor and strong play on the field.

Georgia Bulldogs punter Brett Thorson (92) punts the ball to the Texas Longhorns

Thorson was not one of the two punters drafted despite his strong college career. One possible reason Thorson went undrafted is because Georgia uses quarterbacks to hold on field goals and not punters, which limited Thorson's experience at holding. Almost every NFL team has punters exclusively do the holding for field goals.

With the Vikings, Thorson will compete with NFL veteran punter Johnny Hekker for the starting role. Thorson has the talent to start in the NFL.

Eight Georgia Bulldogs were selected in the draft, which concluded on Saturday, April 25.