Green and Houston talk a bit more about their futures

Here’s some more NFL talk for you, starting with the biggest name.

No, A.J. Green didn’t declare for the draft. Though he did slightly amend his statement from last week, saying Tuesday that he would make a decision “possibly” after the bowl game. He has said he would wait to announce until the season was over.

Green did have a funny story about his teammates constantly asking about his pro plans:

“We had somebody talking to the team, and they had the seniors stand up. They were like, A.J. why aren’t you standing up? This is your last game!”

(A little aside: While every other Bulldog gives quick non-answers when asked about the NFL, Green will sit there and patiently answer every question about it. He was the same way about jersey-gate. Just based on what I’ve seen the past few months, and from covering him in high school, it seems Green will handle the NFL media madness pretty well, whenever he gets there.)

- Incidentally, Green, who grew up in Summerville, S.C., said he always attended South Carolina-Clemson fans growing up, and didn’t shrink when asked who he rooted for.

“Always Clemson,” he said. “Because I just don’t like South Carolina. I just don’t. I don’t know why.”

- Justin Houston is the other Georgia junior who is being scouted as a possible first-round pick. He held a firm line when asked if this could be his final game at Sanford Stadium.

“It may or it may not. I won’t know until the time gets (here),” he said. “I’ll make that decision at the last minute. That’s something I’m not – I’m worried about this week. We’ve got Georgia Tech this week, and hopefully after that we’re worrying about the bowl game.”

Georgia defensive coordinator Todd Grantham, with his NFL background, said he’s spoken to Houston “a little bit” about the pros, but plans to sit down with Houston next week.

“He’s worked hard for me. He’s taken to coaching. He’s been a good player for us. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens,” Grantham said. “I just think that’s a situation you address with each player, because each player’s different with what they should do. I’m glad he’s here, and I think he helped us. We’ll just address that after the season.”

Grantham, who has been in many an NFL team’s draft war room, had an interesting point about Houston: He thinks Houston has been helped by showing he could play the outside linebacker role in both a 3-4 and 4-3.

“What happens is, the reason the guys drop in the draft is the guy making the call cannot visualize what the guy can do for them. But if you watch our tape, they can see him doing everything they need to see him do,” Grantham said.

- Grantham went into NFL scout mode when asked about Akeem Dent. The inside linebacker is a senior.

“He has a nose for the ball. He has good strength. He has enough range that he can play in the alley,” Grantham said. “He can play with his hands and get off blocks, and sometimes when he’s engaged on a guy he can separate and get to the ball. He can find ways to get off a block. So I don’t think there’s any question he can play up there. I think as he moves forward in his career that’ll be shown.”