The sun has gone down on Athens, and the curtains are drawing to a close on another successful signing day for Kirby Smart in the Classic City. Georgia had already obtained verbal commitments from most of the players they needed to sign well in advance of today. So it wasn’t a dramatic finish. But when you come into Signing Day with the top-ranked class in the country, surprises are on balance more likely to be negative than positive, so that’s okay.
The Bulldog coaching staff came into signing day with several very clear objectives. For one, they needed to get bigger and deeper on a defensive line that is losing significant leaders after this season. Second, they needed to augment the large and talented offensive line class signed in 2024. Third, and perhaps utmost in the minds of many fans, they needed to find some wide receivers who can catch the darn ball. And finally, they needed to fortify depth across the roster with players who can play early snaps if necessary, develop, and ultimately take over sustaining the championship legacy of those who came before them.
By and large, those goals were accomplished. At least so far as we can tell at this juncture.
In some ways college football recruiting used to be easier. To be clear, it was never easy to manage roster limitations, predict injury patterns, and generally bring in the type of players you needed to compete for national championships year after year. But that task has become super hard, perhaps even impossible to do consistently in the transfer portal era.
Because while you may bring in a heaping helping of players to fit your system, and culture, there is a real chance that many of those players are going to decamp for greener pastures at some point in the near future. 8 out of 29 players in Georgia’s 2023 signing class have left Athens after two seasons. For the class of 2022 (current juniors) it’s 16 out of 30. In other words, the odds are very good that a lot of the players we are getting excited about this evening are going to be playing football somewhere else in the next 24 months. In the words of the great Bruce Hornsby, that’s just the way it is.
I don’t say that to discourage you about this class. It is a very solid group of football players. I am particularly excited about the haul along the defensive line, which I believe is one of the best I have seen in 19 seasons of covering Georgia football recruiting. Savannah native Elijah Griffin has the potential to be a mainstay in the middle along the lines of what Jalen Carter was, a guy who is physically able to play as a freshman and battle-tested and mature enough to be a leader by the time he is a junior. Isaiah Gibson is a little raw from a technique standpoint, but physically has the tools to become a first round NFL draft pick. If the Bulldogs can add Manchester’s Justus Terry to the mix, we could have a group which provides the nucleus of a phenomenal defense in 2026 and 2027. I would have liked to see the Red and Black add another big A gap player like Greene County’s Kevin Wynn, who ultimately signed with FSU. But it wasn’t exactly a pressing need.
I am also pleased with the five wide receivers signed today. One of the main selling points of bringing James Coley back to Athens was his ability to recruit at the receiver position. While his charges have not been able to catch a cold on the field for much of the 2024 season, he has absolutely succeeded at the recruiting portion of his job. The striking thing about this group is their overlapping and complementary skills sets. Talyn Taylor is the headliner, the type of versatile WR1 that Georgia has been missing. CJ Wiley is a bigger receiver who can create matchup issues on the outside. Tyler Williams has excellent ball skills and after the catch ability. Landon Roldan is a crisp route runner who can pressure defenses deep. And Thomas Blackshear is one of the more physical receivers you’ll see in high school.
That group is complemented by a pair of tight ends who will also be weapons in the passing game. Ethan Barbour is a future fan favorite, a guy with a high football IQ and excellent hands who will almost certainly break into the rotation in 2025. Elyiss Williams is, and I use this term advisedly, a freak. Observe:
TE Elyiss Williams
6’7” 245 pic.twitter.com/0Wt2mpyy1W— 704 Dawg (@FSFRecruits) December 3, 2024
He’s an actual Madden create-a-player brought to life. Not quite Darnell Washington-sized, but pretty close.
Elsewhere the class stacks elite talent behind the elite talent already in Sanford Stadium. Schley County’s Zayden Walker fits the mold of current Bulldog ‘backers like Smael Mondon and Jalon Walker, with a size/speed combination you just can’t teach. Jontae Gilbert and Dominick Kelly are precisely the type of long, rangy cornerback Kirby Smart has been honing for the NFL for over a decade. Rasean Dinkins and Todd Robinson are also both physical, sideline-to-sideline safeties who should slot in behind the physical, sideline-to-sideline safeties currently patrolling the Bulldog defensive backfield. Fun fact: Robinson also plays quarterback for the Valdosta Wildcats and threw for 402 yards in a playoff game against Walton High a couple of weeks ago. That’s athleting on a whole different level.
Big (6’7, 345) Juan Gaston will need some time in the Scott Sinclair strength and conditioning program that several of last year’s freshmen have been working through. But once that’s done he could also be a fixture. Cortez Smith, a 6’3, 320 pound four star prospect out of Parkview, could play either center or guard and has some of the quickest feet I’ve seen on a big lineman in this class.
Georgia prefers to add a quarterback in every class, and this year they got two. Ryan Montgomery, the highly-touted Ohio passer, was apparently taking late overtures from Florida but decided to stick with the good guys. Hezekiah Millender out of Clarke Central was a late flip from Boise State, but is an intriguing prospect. The reality of the quarterback position is that there can be only one QB1 at any given time. I cannot say that either of these guys will one day be that guy. There are already three former blue chip quarterbacks in Athens looking to replace Carson Beck. But we also never thought Stetson Bennett would become a national championship winner and Heisman finalist. And many doubted that Carson Beck had what it takes to lead the Red and Black. I wouldn’t count either of these guys out, either.
If there was a disappointment in this class it was probably the Signing Day defection of Lee County tailback Ousmane Kromah to Florida State. There was a lot of speculation today that his decision was financial, and that the Noles came through late with a compelling NIL package. I can’t say whether or not that’s the case.
I can say that for a player who said that early playing time is important Athens is a tough sell at the moment. Trevor Etienne is draft-eligible and I expect him to leave at the end of the season, though that’s not a guarantee. Branson Robinson will also be eligible, but given his injury issues seems unlikely to test the NFL waters. Cash Jones seems unlikely to leave. And Nate Frazier, Roderick Robinson, Chauncey Bowens, and Peanut Phillips are all likely to be back, unless one or more of them transfers (a real possibility I believe). Add incoming freshman Bo Walker to the mix, and the Dawgs don’t have enough carries for the tailbacks already in town (assuming a majority of them are ever healthy at the same time).
All of which is to say Kromah would have been a great addition, but was never really a necessity in this class. Which brings us to a pair of players who may be among the most intriguing in the class. Coach Smart usually saves a couple of spots for guys who aren’t likely to play early, but could develop into something special. In this year’s group that would be defensive tackle JJ Hanne and offensive tackle Dennis Uzochuckwu. Hanne spent his formative years in Germany playing soccer and basketball. Which means that he’s a 6’5, 280 pound defensive tackle with the feet and stamina of a soccer player. If you don’t find that at least a little fascinating then I am disappointed in your lack of imagination.
Uzochockwu is a former basketball player who has only played two seasons of football. But he put on 40 pounds between his junior and senior seasons and looks the part of an SEC left tackle. If he can develop the skills of one he will have been an absolute steal.
In the transfer portal era I think we’re going to see an emphasis on a couple of different recruiting trends. I think there’s a chance coaches start giving evaluation points to homegrown players. With playing time and NIL money providing ready reasons to fly the coop, there’s no reason to add homesickness to the mix. This Georgia class, with 21 recruits who played their high school ball in the Peach State, looks like what that strategy would produce. There aren’t many coaches lucky enough to be able to put together a top 3 recruiting class solely from within their home state’s borders, but Kirby Smart happens to be one who can.
Another reaction to the portal era? Signing classes are going to get bigger. If you want to build through the high school ranks you’re going to have to be comfortable with the fact that players are going to leave for more playing time or more NIL money. Coaches are going to need more shots on goal to put together a nucleus of returning players. This class is likely to go as high as 30 or even 31 players by the time all is said and done. With the amount of attrition I alluded to earlier, that’s going to be the norm. It’s a throw back to the old SEC days when schools signed everybody they could in part just to keep them from going elsewhere.
In short, the Bulldog staff has put together a big class of homegrown players, the type of class they might have signed before the advent of coast-to-coast digital recruiting and the crackdown on oversigning that occurred in the 2010s. Will this class deliver SEC and national titles? Heck if I know. I don’t know how many of them will be playing for Purdue and Syracuse by 2026. But I can say that given the challenges before then the UGA staff has once again put together an elite class, one that gives them as good a chance as anyone to hoist the national title trophy in the future. That’s the best we can ever say on this minor holiday. Until later…
Go ‘Dawgs!!!