With Georgia’s football team at full strength, and Georgia head coach Kirby Smart preparing for a potential season-opening matchup with Florida State on Sept. 12, the Georgia Football recruiting trail is looking promising.
The Bulldogs’ 2018 class is one of the most exciting in the nation, and the Bulldogs will be in the mix for many of the top players on the recruiting trail.
Here’s what you need to know about Georgia’s 2017 class.
1.
The Top Five: Georgia’s 2018 class ranked No. 2 in the 247Sports Composite and No. 4 in the Associated Press Top 100.
The 6-foot-3, 247Sports-ranked cornerback, Sam Darnold, is the top overall recruit in Georgia’s class.
Sophomore receiver, Marqise Lee, is a three-star prospect.
Junior cornerback, T.J. Green, is also in the top 5.
The 5-foot, 174-pound Green has the most offers from major programs.
In 2017, he earned honorable mention All-SEC honors after averaging 19.2 yards per reception and 9.4 yards per catch in his final two seasons at Georgia.
He also scored three touchdowns.
Lee and Green are the only true wideouts in Georgia history to earn All-American honors.
2.
Georgia’s Biggest Recruits: The Bulldogs have seven commitments who will be eligible for the 2017 season.
Georgia is the only SEC school with nine commitments this year, and five of those seven players are defensive backs.
The top four defensive backs in Georgia are all in the Top 20 of 247Sports’ Composite rankings.
Georgia also has commitments from five offensive linemen, four offensive tackles, four linebackers and three defensive backs, including a commitment from safety Malik Hooker.
3.
Georgia Can’t Afford to Lose: Georgia is loaded on the defensive side of the ball, and its defense will be an important part of Smart’s program moving forward.
The Dawgs have six commitments in the 2018 class, but they are coming off the most losses in the SEC in terms of total recruiting class.
The losses in 2018 were Alabama (247Sports Composite) and Auburn (247 Sports Composite).
The losses at the end of 2017 (247 and 247Sports) led to the departures of the three top defensive backs from the Dawgs: Malik Hookers (Florida), Malik Hooks (Georgia), and Malik Hookins (Georgia).
The loss of all three defensive players leaves Georgia with just three true wide receivers.
In 2018, Georgia lost two of its three top recruits to the ACC and one of its two true wide receiver commitments.
The other three recruits in Georgia in 2018 are the top two players from the 2017 class in the class of 2018, and all three of them are defensive ends.
4.
Georgia Could Sign the Best: The DawgNation.com recruiting rankings were released on Monday.
The 247Sports composite ranked Georgia as the No. 7 prospect in the country.
The Associated Press Composite ranked Georgia No. 3 in the same month.
The Big Ten Network, which ranks the SEC as well, also ranked Georgia number one in the 2017 recruiting class and No: 13 in the 2019 class.
5.
Georgia Has a Top-10 Defense: The defense of Georgia is among the most explosive in the ACC, and that will be the case for many years to come.
The defense has three commitments from a defensive back (Sophomore defensive tackle, SamDarnold), four linebackers (Svendrick Martin, Anthony Harris, and Anthony Zettel), and four defensive linemen (Zac Dysert, D.J., and David Moore).
Georgia is also a top five defense in the FBS in several recruiting categories.
The Trojans have three commitments in 2018.
The most important recruit in the Dawg Nation this cycle is a defensive end, and one is a true wideout.
The 2018 class includes three true safeties in senior Jalen Reeves-Maybin (247), senior Shaquil Barrett (247) and junior Dwayne Harris (247).
The 2018 linebacker class includes four true safits (Quandre Diggs, Jalen Roberts, D’Andre Elliott, and Deontae Cooper).
The 2017 linebacker class also includes four safeties (Quondarius Jones, Treyvon Hester, Da’Ron Payne, and Jalen Williams).
The Dawgz also have four safits in 2018 and three in 2019.
6.
Georgia Still Can’t Beat Alabama: Alabama is still one of SEC defenses that has not lost a game this season.
The Crimson Tide have not lost back-to-back games since Dec. 4-6, 2016, and they are 7-0 against Georgia since then.
However, Georgia’s recruiting record against Alabama is only one game behind Alabama’s.
The SEC’s two biggest rivals meet twice each year, on Sept, 11 and Oct. 11, 2019.
Georgia has not beaten Alabama in a game since 2010, when the Dawgz lost to Alabama. 7.
